Books
On Tuesday, Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Famer Cokie Roberts died at the age of 75, due to complications from breast cancer. The lauded broadcast journalist left behind a series of books on American history and family life that will last for generations. Let's take a look at six books by Cokie Roberts you can read to remember the legendary journalist.
Born Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs in New Orleans, Louisiana on Dec. 27, 1943, Cokie Roberts received her unique name from her brother Tommy, who could not pronounce "Corinne." After graduating from Wellesley College with a B.A. in Political Science, "[s]he married New York Times correspondent Steven V. Roberts in 1966," according to the U.S. House of Representatives' History, Art & Archives. Roberts began her career in broadcast journalism at CBS in the 1970s, where she worked as a foreign correspondent, before moving on to NPR in 1978, and ABC News in 1988. She received the Edward R. Murrow Award in 1990, and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2000, among other honors.
Roberts wrote four books in her lifetime, and co-authored two more with her husband. Her writing focuses largely on the lives of American women, while works produced with Steven V. Roberts center on their interfaith marriage and family.
Roberts is survived by her husband and their children, Lee Roberts and Rebecca Boggs Roberts, as well as six grandchildren.
'We Are Our Mothers' Daughters'
Published in the mid-1990s, Cokie Roberts' We Are Our Mothers' Daughters looks at women's lives side-by-side, showing the achievements each generation adds to her family legacy, and exposing how far we have yet to go.
'Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation'
A must-read American history book, Cokie Roberts' Founding Mothers examines the lives of Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, and other revolutionary women.
'Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation'
Picking up where Founding Mothers left off, Cokie Roberts' Ladies of Liberty focuses on the women who continued the American experiment, including Eliza Hamilton and Theodosia Burr.
'Capital Dames: the Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868'
The companion to Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty, Capital Dames examines the lives of Southern women who left Washington, D.C. during the Civil War, and those who remained behind as the city transformed into a war camp.
'From This Day Forward,' written with Steven V. Roberts
Married from 1966 until her death in 2019, Cokie and Steve Roberts co-authored this book together, following their first 30 years of marriage. From This Day Forward combines observations on the Robertses' relationship with commentary on marriage in the U.S. more broadly.
'Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families,' written with Steven V. Roberts
The Robertses learned to balance each other's religions throughout their long marriage, celebrating Jewish and Christian holidays side-by-side. In Our Haggadah, the couple provides a script for interfaith families celebrating Pesach together.
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