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The Good Times (Magill Book Reviews)

THE GOOD TIMES is a worthy successor to GROWING UP. Under the tutelage of his mother, Baker learned that he should never be a quitter, and that no matter how successful he thought he was, he should not become complacent. His mother was poor because her husband had died young. There was no place in her world for idle moments in which to feel self-important; there was only room for hard work. Baker did his best to make her proud of him. As he progressed from newsboy to the college paper at Johns Hopkins, his aptitude for newspaper work began to surface.

In 1947, Baker began his career at the BALTIMORE SUN as a police reporter. He seemed to be completely out of his element on the mean streets of Baltimore as he came face-to-face with homicide, corruption, and prejudice. The killing of a black person did not even matter to the authorities. Baker remained on the police beat for what seemed to him an eternity. He saw other reporters who were hired after him get promoted to inside jobs where they could write newscopy. Eventually, however, Baker’s day came, and he was given a chance as a rewrite man. Baker talks about what he wanted to achieve at this time in his life in a very moving and reflective manner. He draws vivid portraits of the newspaper world and the characters that inhabit it.

Baker went on to be named London correspondent for the BALTIMORE SUN. He writes poignantly of how out of place he felt in this foreign environment. He was intensely conscious of his responsibilities: He was married and a father; as a family man he had to make everything right. After being in London for about a year, he was made White House correspondent for the SUN and after that Washington bureau reporter and columnist for THE NEW YORK TIMES.

The last chapters of THE GOOD TIMES focus on powerful political leaders such as Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and Richard Nixon; there are insightful character sketches which show these familiar figures in a fresh light. Baker reserves the very last chapter for a tribute to his mother. She died in 1984 and was buried in Morrisonville, Virginia, alongside other relatives. Baker reflects on everything he learned from her and how her lessons served him well through hard times and good.

Sources for Further Study

The Economist. CCCXII, July 22, 1989, p. 77.

Library Journal. CXIV, May 1, 1989, p. 84.

Tile New York Times Book Review. XCIV, May 28, 1989, p. 1.

People Weekly. XXXII, July 31, 1989, p. 66.

Publishers Weekly. CCXXXV, April 28, 1989, p. 66.

Time. CXXXIII, June 5, 1989, p. 83.

The Wall Street Journal. June 12, 1989, p. A 12.

Washington Monthly. XXI, July/August, 1989, p. 55.

The Washington Post Book World. XIX, May 28, 1989, p. 3.

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