NORMAN CORWIN, POET LAUREATE OF RADIO, DEAD AT 101

Norman Corwin, often described as radio’s unofficial poet laureate for his moving, semi-documentary dramas, died Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 101. A close friend of Chicago poet Carl Sandburg, his writings seemed in tune with Sandburg’s free verse. On VE day, May 8, 1945, CBS broadcast his On a Note of Triumph, which began with the narrator, Martin Gable, intoning: “So they’ve given up. They’re finally done in. And the rat is dead in an alley back of the Wilhelmstrasse. … Take a bow, G.I. Take a bow, little guy. The Superman of Tomorrow lies dead at the feet of you common men of this afternoon. … This is it, kid, this is the day! … Seems like free men have done it again.” The documentary, A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin won the Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Feature) in 2006.