Fighting the odds Frank Church

"Fighting the odds: Idaho Senator Frank Church"

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | 12:30-1:30 p.m. 
Whitewater Room, Idaho Commons

Presenter: 
Rod Gramer - Alumnus, Journalism and History

Abstract
Four-term Sen. Frank Church was one of the leading figures in Idaho’s first century and would make any short list of the most important U.S. senators of the past 50 years. From advocating for wilderness areas to opposing the Vietnam War to investigating the CIA, Church was a leader on a host of difficult issues – and he did so representing a state where his views were not always in the majority. In his political career and personal life, he fought the odds until his untimely death in 1984. This presentation, by one of the authors of the authoritative biography of Church, will look back at Church’s life and legacy 30 years after his death.

Biography
Rod Gramer is president of Idaho Business for Education, a business group dedicated to improving the state’s education system. Gramer spent 38 years as a reporter, newspaper editor and television executive. He worked for The Idaho Statesman for 14 years, serving as political editor and editorial page editor. He then spent 10 years as executive news director at KTVB-TV, Boise. He was also executive news director at KGW-TV in Portland and most recently served as general manager of Bay News 9 in Tampa Bay, Florida. An Idaho native, Gramer earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and history from the University of Idaho, where he was editor of the Argonaut. He is the co-author of Fighting the Odds: The Life of Senator Frank Church, recently reissued by Ridenbaugh Press.” He recently published a political thriller called “The Good Assassin.” Rod and his wife, Julie, also a UI graduate, have two children. They live in Boise.