Lillard Hill | |
|---|---|
 14th Dalai Lama with Hill in 1959 | |
| Born | Lillard Lee Hill Jr. July 29, 1922 Ada, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | December 8, 2009 (aged 87) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Education | Northwestern University,[1] Texas Christian University[2] |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1940s–1980s |
| Spouse(s) | Betty Sue Stringer
( m. 1946; died 2005) |
| Children | 4 |
Lillard Lee Hill Jr. (July 29, 1922 – December 8, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist, diplomat, and statesman who worked in radio and television in Oklahoma and Texas and served as a foreign correspondent for Voice of America and worked for the United States Information Agency and the US State Department.[3] [2][4]
Hill reported on and interviewed notable international figures including India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[3] Hill was the first journalist to interview the 14th Dalai Lama after his escape from Tibet.[2][3]
Early life, education, and marriage[edit | edit source]
Hill was born on July 29, 1922, in Ada, Oklahoma where he contracted polio at age 8 and first used a cane and later a wheelchair to assist in mobility.[3]
Hill attended Texas Christian University in the early 1940s where he met Betty Sue Stringer. They married in 1946.[3]
Broadcasting career[edit | edit source]
Hill began his broadcasting career at KADA (AM), a radio station in Ada, Oklahoma serving as a newscaster in late 1930s and early 1940s.[3]
In 1943, WBAP (AM), a radio station in Fort Worth, Texas founded and owned by Amon G. Carter, founding publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, hired Hill who joined the announcing staff broadcasting news from a downtown Fort Worth hotel. In 1948, Hill became one of the first Texas television news anchors when Amon G. Carter established the first Texas television station, WBAP-TV, where Hill served in the role of anchorman due in part to his "great speaking voice".[3][1]
Hill was a pioneer in creating remote interviews for local broadcast. He appeared in the first color television broadcast in Texas.[2]
In a 1953 study of adult radio and television listening habits in Texas, Hill was among the highest ranked local newscasters.[5]
Voice of America[edit | edit source]
In 1954, Hill moved to Washington DC with his family to become a correspondent with Voice of America. He and his family would later spend time stationed with Voice of America living in New Delhi, India, Burma, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Malawi.[3]
While stationed in Burma, Hill lead the in-country Voice of America team as Director of the Burma Desk during the time Burmese diplomat U Thant served as United Nations secretary general. Hill also served for two years as World Wide English Editor for Voice of America.[2][4]
Other activities[edit | edit source]
Hill and his wife were among the founders of the first Unitarian Church in Fort Worth, Texas.[2]
Retirement[edit | edit source]
Hill retired from the U.S. Foreign Service with the rank of ambassador.[2]
Death[edit | edit source]
Hill died at his Fort Worth, Texas home in 2009, at the age of 87, after suffering from post-polio syndrome.[3]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Newscaster Lillard Hill to Return to WBAP Program". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. January 14, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Lillard Lee Hill Jr.(1922-2009)". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 18, 2009.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Jones, Nathaniel (December 16, 2009). "Lillard Hill was pioneer in North Texas broadcasting". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Souvenir Program of the Twelfth Burma-Bucknell Week-End, February 26, 27, and 28, 1960, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania" (PDF). bucknell.edu. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ↑ Whan, Forest. "The North Texas Radio-Television Audience of 1953" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. A. H. Belo Corporation. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Lillard Hill at The University of North Texas Portal To Texas History
- Hill appears at the 2:12 mark in a video documenting the 25th anniversary of The Texas News.