A Reporter’s Journey:

A Reporter’s Journey: One Enjoyable Life is the story of a young Los Angeles journalist, Bob Rawitch, who found himself at the age of 22 as a reporter on the Metro staff of the Los Angeles Times in 1968 when most staffers were twice his age or older. During the late 1960s and 1970s, he wrote about all the evolving social movements--civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, the anti-Vietnam War movement and more. His book shares some of his favorite stories. He was among the first journalists to report on the extensive criminal activities of leaders of the controversial Church of Scientology. He covered Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown, four-time governor of California, in his first run for office to an obscure community college board of trustees. He investigated the Small Business Administration’s gross mismanagement of hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster aid to homeowners—and widespread cheating by those same homeowners—after the 1971 Sylmar, California, earthquake. Another favorite was a story on the rampant criminal activities in Rock Springs, Wyoming, an old-style wild west town in the late1970s. For four years he covered the Los Angeles federal courts, Justice Department and other federal agencies, which included reporting on the Los Angeles mafia, better known to the feds as “the gang who couldn’t shoot straight.” He was personally nominated for a Pulitzer Prize twice. At The Times he was a moving force to diversify the overwhelmingly white male newsroom and created the Minority Editorial Training Program, which has trained close to 400 journalists of color over 40 years. As an editor, he was an innovator who started and oversaw two regional editions of the paper with close to 150 editorial staffers. He was a leader of multiple statewide journalism organizations in California, including the California First Amendment Coalition, the California Society of Newspaper Editors, and the California Freedom of Information Committee, and for three years he served on the national board of the Society of Professional Journalists. In a second career, he worked as a senior executive for one of the best-known crisis management and strategic communications firms in the United States, providing consulting services to many Fortune 100 companies facing their most vexing problems. His story is one about family as well. From Russian/Polish roots in the 18th century, his story exemplifies the American dream. From penniless immigrants two generations ago, to hardworking middle-class lives for their children, to college-educated success stories in his generation. Bob, his wife and three adult children among them have 10 college degrees and have had successful professional careers. They are the realization of the American dream.