Chester Robert “Chet Huntley was born on December 10, 1911 in Cardwell, Montana, the only son and oldest of four children born to Percy Adams Huntley and Blanche Wadine Huntley. His father operated a telegraph for the Northern Pacific Railway. He died from lung cancer in March 1974 at the age of 62 at his home in Big Sky, Montana.  

He began his radio career at Seattle’s KIRO AM. He eventually landed the nightly news anchor job at NBC. Huntley reported from New York and David Brinkley reported from Washington, D.C. 

David Brinkley was born on July 10, 1920 in Wilmington, North Carolina, the youngest of five children born to William Graham Brinkley and Mary MacDonald Brinkley. He wrote for the Wilmington Morning Star newspaper during the early part of his career. He moved to Washington, D.C. and took a job at NBC News, became its White House correspondent and would later join Chet Huntley on October 29, 1956 on the NBC nightly news cast. He died because of a fall at his home in Houston, Texas on June 11, 2003 at the age of 82. He is the father of Columbia University Provost, Alana Brinkley, and of Stanford Professor, Joel Brinkley. 

“Good night, Chet. Good night, David. And good night, Tuskegee Times..”

 In the words of my dad, “You must honor the chair whether it is sitting, walking or lying down.”