Hello there. This is Mark Bowerline with another conversation.

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Cal Thomas has been a steady voice in the households of many millions of Americans for many years.

He is the author of The Things That Matter Most and Uncommon Sense.

I'm focusing on his books.

This is a book show.

And he now has a record of what he has heard and witnessed in his distinguished career, lengthy career, entitled A Watchman in the Night. What I've seen over

50 years reporting on America. That's our topic today. Welcome, Mr. Thomas. Thank you, Mr. Mark.

Nice to be with you. First, a biographical question. Why did you become a journalist,

columnist, in the first place? Did that hit you when you were very young?

There was no counseling available at the time, and so I was just drawn into it. Well,

I started in radio when I was 16, about two weeks after my voice changed, and then I joined NBC

News in Washington as a copy boy around the age of 19 while I was still in college, and depending

on your view of the media, worked my way up or down from there. I was a reporter for the first

half of my life and then became a columnist in 1984. And it's probably one of the few professions

...