Eric Sevareid

SCANDINAVIAN-AMERICAN HALL OF FAME
1993 INDUCTEE

Eric Sevareid, one of America’s most respected journalists, is inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame for significant contributions to journalism.

Arnold Eric Sevareid was born November 26, 1912 in Velva, ND. Of Norwegian ancestry, Sevareid maintained a strong bond with Norway throughout his life.

He began his journalist career as a copy boy for the Minneapolis Journal, quickly becoming a reporter, while he attended the University of Minnesota. He continued studies in London and Paris after graduation, joined the Paris edition of the New York Herald and in 1939 became a radio correspondent for CBS, covering the war in Europe. While traveling to Burma during the World War II, his plane was shot down and he had to be rescued from behind enemy lines.

Later he covered presidential elections, United Nations meetings, and was a radio and television commentator, reporter, and columnist. The author of “Not So Wild a Dream,” he retired in 1977.

Mr. Sevareid received both the National Press Club and Peabody news awards and two Emmys. He is a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame and the Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Following retirement he was a consultant to CBS News in Washington. Eric Sevareid died July 9, 1992, at age 79. His daughter Tina Sevareid Kennedy accepted his award.