Nancy Gershwin: News Stories

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It's been said that journalism is the first rough draft of history. I feel grateful to have covered some of the events and met so many people whose personal stories became the fabric of history as we now know it - very private people whose lives were suddenly played out very publicly as headline news.

	Hitler's Secretary: Traudl Junge was Hitler's youngest personal secretary. For years after the war, she lived in relative obscurity, until she published her memoirs of her life with the Fuhrer. This is her first U.S. broadcast interview, in 1989. Hitler's Secretary part 1 (video 9:59) Hitler's Secretary part 2 (video 7:26)
	Marina Oswald: Marina Prusakova met a boy at a dance in Russia, married him and moved to the United States. She was just 21 years old, poor, barely speaking English, a mother of 2 small children when the eyes of the world were upon her as the widow of JFK assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. In this world exclusive interview, she states that her ex-husband adored President Kennedy. Marina Oswald part 1 (video 9:32) Marina Oswald part 2 (video 5:27) Marina Oswald part 3 (video 4:15)
	Starkweather Murders: Caril Ann Fugate was a 14-year-old living in Lincoln, Nebraska. She became known as the accomplice of spree killer Charlie Starkweather whose murder rampage terrorized America's heartland in the 1950's. She is the youngest female in U.S. history to be tried for first degree murder. 3 decades later, I spoke with her in her first exclusive interview. She still maintains her innocence. Starkweather Murders (video 12:50)

STORY EXCERPTS

Berlin Wall:
In 1989 the world changed. While I was flying back to the states from the interview with Hitler's Secretary in Munich, demonstrations in Eastern Germany had escalated. Upon landing, I did a round trip back to Germany to produce a week of stories live from the fall of the Berlin Wall. Amidst the crowds, chaos, lost luggage, and exhaustion, there was exhilaration in knowing that history was being made and recorded: Families reunited after nearly 3 decades, shopping sprees in the west, and finally, tens of thousands of East Berliners flooding across borders as celebrating crowds dismantled the wall, piece by piece. In the weeks and months that followed, the world would be different. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics would not survive. Germany would be officially reunited. The Iron Curtain and the Cold War would be a closed chapter in history.
Berlin Wall (video 1:35)

Unabomber:
The hunt for the Unabomber was one of the FBI's most costly investigations, but it wasn't the FBI who first identified Ted Kaczynski. After "The New York Times" and "The Washigton Post" printed the Unabomber Manifesto in 1995, David Kaczynski and his wife Linda recognized the beliefs and writing style as those of David's older brother. With the help of a childhood friend turned private investigator, they handed a completed case to the FBI. This is an excerpt from "Behind the Unabomber" which I directed for Lifetime.
Video Coming Soon

Additional Stories

	9/11 Around The World: Life as we knew it changed irrevocably after September 11, 2001. But in the immediate aftermath of the attacks - for one brief moment - the world seemed united. 9/11 Around The World (video 2:07)
	Telly's Tale: This story has little to do with world events. It is actually about the other-worldly. It's probably my favorite story from a show I executive produced called, "The Extraordinary." Telly's Tale (video 6:44)
	George Gershwin Tribute: This is a two-part tribute to George Gershwin - on the 50th anniversary of his death - that I did for the "Today" show. Michael Tilson Thomas, who hosted, and whose father actually took piano lessons from George, was at the time conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. We shot the special at his home in London where he also hosted a beautiful home-cooked dinner. Who could ask for anything more? George Gershwin Tribute part 1 (video 6:11) George Gershwin Tribute part 2 (video 6:06)
	Confidential Magazine: Before there was The National Enquirer...before there was TMZ....there was Confidential Magazine. Once both dreaded and scandalous, it's now more like a nostalgic romp through Hollywood in the 1950's. Confidential Magazine (video 16:44)

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