"Sidelights"

Journalist Sally Bedell Smith began her career covering network television for the New York Times and TV Guide for several years before establishing herself as a respected celebrity biographer. She had already written one book, Up the Tube: Prime Time TV and the Silverman Years, before penning her highly regarded biography In All His Glory: The Life of William S. Paley, the Legendary Tycoon and His Brilliant Circle. Published in 1990, In All His Glory chronicles the life of Paley, who owned and managed the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) network for many years. Smith gives a detailed account of both Paley's business dealings and his lavish personal life; as Christopher Buckley noted in his commentary on the biography in the New York Times Book Review, "her superb and thorough reporting uncovered all the unpleasantness along with the greatness."

Smith has gone on to write several more biographies and behind-the-scenes look at seats of power, including Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill, Diana in Search of Herself: Portrait of a Troubled Princess, Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House, For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton in the White House, Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, and Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life.

In All His Glory narrates how William S. Paley became involved with CBS as a young man, while it was still a struggling radio network centered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He produced a half-hour program called The La Palina Smoker that featured a husky-voiced woman. The show proved so popular that the sponsor, La Palina Cigars, saw sales of its products skyrocket. It was the first of many successes in which Paley demonstrated that programming was the key to becoming tops among the networks. Under his direction, CBS became a major network and made a smooth transition to television, though Paley initially resisted the new technology.

While not minimizing his true triumphs, Smith suggests in her book that Paley sometimes took credit for the creative ideas of others, such as longtime CBS president Frank Stanton. She also discusses Paley's two marriages, his numerous affairs, and his extravagant lifestyle. Smith also includes commentary on many of Paley's friends and acquaintances, including pioneer news reporter Edward R. Murrow and writer Truman Capote. Reviewer Leah Rozen wrote in People that Smith's work "is thoroughly researched and crammed with telling details, killer quotes and rousing anecdotes."

Smith's next subject was Pamela Churchill Harriman, whom she scrutinized in her 1996 unauthorized biography, Reflected Glory. Described variously by New York Times Book Review contributor Ben Macintyre as an "upper-class English party girl and gold digger," "globe-trotting mistress of rich men," "show-biz socialite," and "queen of the American Embassy in Paris," Harriman was a prominent figure whose first husband was the son of Winston Churchill. She became notorious for her many adulterous affairs with millionaires, aristocrats, and powerful politicians--among them Averell Harriman, heir to a railroad fortune and a prominent diplomat, who...