Interviewees: Richard E. Byrd, naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration Richard Casey, Baron Casey, Australian politician and diplomat Robert C. Tyson on U.S. steel industry profits Rufus Early Clement, the sixth and longest-serving president of historically black Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia Horace Mann Bond, American historian, college administrator, social science researcher, and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond Sam Ervin, American politician, a Democrat, he served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974 Samuel Leibowitz, Romanian-born American criminal defense attorney, famously noted for winning the vast majority of his cases, who later became a judge in New York City Selim Sarper, Turkish politician. A graduate of Robert College of Istanbul, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey. He was also Turkey's ambassador to the United Nations. Samuel James Ervin, Jr. known as Sam Ervin (September 27, 1896 -- April 23, 1985), was an American politician, a Democrat, he served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A native of Morganton, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often told humorous stories in his Southern drawl. During his Senate career, Ervin was a legal defender of the Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, as the South's constitutional expert during the congressional debates on civil rights. Unexpectedly, he became a liberal hero for his support of civil liberties. He is remembered for his work in the investigation committees that brought down Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954 and especially his investigation in 1972 and 1973 of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation in 1974 of President Richard Nixon. Ervin's description of himself as a "simple country lawyer" has become synonymous with self-deprecation by those who are actually savvy. The Andy Griffith character in Matlock often described himself as a simple lawyer before cleverly solving a case. Saturday Night Live featured the skit Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer in which a caveman from prehistoric times becomes a lawyer, yet remarked how strange and frightening the modern world made him feel as he convinced a jury to acquit his client. In the cult classic "Heavy Metal" animated film, Ervin is parodied in the short where aliens have come to Earth, he is seen at the meeting of officials discussing what should be done, he is seen with glasses, bushy eyebrows and a distinct Southern accent. In 2001, Steve Bouser, a North Carolina journalist who interviewed Ervin, wrote a one-man play titled Senator Sam. The play is set on Ervin's porch in Morganton during the evening of Richard Nixon's resignation. Sam recalls his life, both personal and political. The play debuted in Morganton in 2001. In 2005, The Blowing Rock Stage Company in Blowing Rock, NC produced a new production starring Gary Lee Smith that later toured several states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ervin

• published: 07 Oct 2012
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