Ordering Information
$29.95, 6 x 9, hardcover, 272 pages, full color photo section
ISBN: 978-1-942155-45-4
ebook ISBN: 978-1-942155-46-1
audiobook ISBN: 978-1-942155-49-2 : Read by the author!
To order copies visit Casemate IPM or Pathway Book Services.
Publication date: May 24, 2022
Award-winner:
Finalist, Narrative Nonfiction, 2022 Independent Publishers of New England “IPNE” Book Awards
Every Life a Story
Natalie Jacobson Reporting
by Natalie Jacobson
Description
Throughout her forty-year career in broadcast television, including thirty-five as a reporter and anchor on Channel 5 in Boston, Natalie Jacobson told the stories of countless lives. Now she tells her own. Every Life a Story takes readers behind the scenes of the extraordinary career of a woman who rose from an immigrant childhood in Chicago to become the first woman to anchor the evening news in Boston. Natalie was among the most trusted people of greater Boston. Her viewers thought of her as family.
Natalie brings readers on an uplifting journey possible only in America. When faced with no girls need apply, she saw a challenge, not an obstacle. Her father had set an example of fortitude, educating himself and rising from cab driver to president of Gillette North America.
Generations of viewers recall Natalie and her husband Chet Curtis as “Nat and Chet,” beloved co-anchors of NewsCenter5 on WCVB-TV Boston. The New York Times referred to them as “the de facto first couple of Boston, very likely the city’s best-known conveyors of news since Paul Revere.”
Their lives seemed an open book as trials of sickness, death, pregnancy, birth, parenting, working motherhood, and eventually divorce played out on a very public stage.
Ultimately, this book offers a sharp contrast to today’s divisive media landscape. Believing EVERY life is a story, Natalie feels, “This book is as much your story as it is mine. We reporters were there to give you information that was accurate, information to help you make informed decisions. We invited you to be part of it and you were. I used to hope when you tuned in to our newscast, you took a deep breath and relaxed, feeling you were among friends. You were home. I hope this book brings you the same comfort.”
Readers’ Comments
“There’s a reason generations of New Englanders faithfully turned to Natalie Jacobson. She has a gift, and they sensed it. For Natalie, it was always about the audience. What do they want asked, what do they care most about, what worries them at night? Natalie knew this because she was one of them. On the news, ‘Nat’ was having a conversation with friends and neighbors every night. It might seem like a simple idea, but for those of us lucky enough to have witnessed her at work, it was magical.”
—David Muir, Anchor, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir
“She is the sweetheart of Boston TV who became its grande dame. She brought us the news for all those years with grace and compassion. Now she brings us the details of her own life, the triumphs and the heartaches, the same way. It’s what made us all fall in love with her in the first place.”
—Dick Flavin, Writer/Commentator
“A beautifully written love letter to Boston, to the hardiness of the human spirit through the pain and loss and joy of the struggle. And most of all, it’s a testament to the truth, trust, and service that news should embody. Any Bostonian, any woman, any American will relate to this personal journey, and her courage and tenacity as a newswoman will remind us of what we’ve lost and what news, and human, integrity ought to look like.”
—Marcy Carsey, Award-winning TV producer, Carsey Werner Company
“No one has a better eye for the life and soul of Boston than Natalie Jacobson. I saw first-hand her devotion to accurate news and her ability to tell the human stories behind the headline.”
—Dr. Tim Johnson, Retired Medical Editor, WCVB and ABC News
“The offspring of a Serbian-American family whose father became head of Gillette North America, Natalie herself rose to unprecedented heights as a pioneer woman journalist. She embodied the highest ideals as the face and voice of the best of what a local television station could be.”
—Paul La Camera, President and General Manager WCVB-TV 1994–2005
“A role model for the ages, Natalie continues to inspire all of us to fearlessly seek the truth and to treat one another with compassion.”
—Michelle Dillon, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, University of New Hampshire
About the Author
Natalie Jacobson, born Natalie Salatich, was the first in her family to go to college. She earned a BA degree in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire in 1965 and lived the next two years in Bangkok, Thailand. Returning to a war-torn US, she entered the world of broadcast journalism working at two Boston stations on license renewal, interviewing hundreds of people to “ascertain the needs of the community.” It was an unusual beginning, which connected her with her viewers.
Following work as a producer, Natalie joined the fledgling Boston station, WCVB-TV, as a reporter in 1972. During her thirty years at Channel 5, most notably as co-anchor of their evening news, she enjoyed a unique relationship with the people of New England. She was honored over the years with several Emmys for her reporting and in 2007 received the Governor’s Award, the highest award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS); the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA); another from Suffolk University; the Yankee Quill Award from the Academy of New England Journalists; and the Sisterhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Natalie is a licensed pilot and enjoys golf, cooking, boating, and gardening. Most of all, she enjoys being a grandmother to Olivia and James. She resides on Nantucket, Massachusetts.
