Emmy award-winning journalist Charles Bierbauer died at his home in Spruce Pine last week.
Bierbauer, who spoke Russian and German, worked as a correspondent in the former Soviet Union and in Washington, D.C., as well as several other assignments. He was 83 years old.
Bierbauer moved to Spruce Pine with his wife, Susanne Schafer, herself a retired Associated Press journalist, after retiring from his second career as an academic at the University of South Carolina.
Schafer said she remembers meeting Bierbauer for the first time when they were both reporting on a story in Germany. Schafer was struck by Bierbauer’s humility and selflessness.
“It struck me that I’d never seen a broadcast journalist who, when we were out on a story, would say to his people, you know, his cameraman and his sound man and the women, ‘you guys go get a bite to eat and then I’ll go later,’” she said. “He always put other people first.”
Schafer was also impressed with Bierbauer’s skill as a reporter.
“And his ability to read a situation and go directly on television and record it succinctly, carefully, and with no bias, has impressed people around the world,” she said. “His years at CNN were remarkable.”
Schafer noted that reporting live from very complicated news events without getting the facts wrong can be quite difficult.
“One of his most amazing reporting events was the night when the Supreme Court came out with their decision on Bush v. Gore, which was the hanging chad in Florida,” she remembered. “And this was in a freezing cold night. He stood there, and he was able to read that judicial (decision), and you can go back, and he was able to make sense out of the most difficult legal words. … I mean, his talent was just immense.”
Bierbauer’s work overseas brought some less-than-welcome excitement sometimes, such as when he was arrested in Russia while reporting on an anti-Soviet protest.
Bierbauer then went on to have a second career as an academic, teaching journalism at the University of South Carolina.
“He had been throughout his career also working as a teacher. He always had mentorships with younger journalists going on,” Schafer said. “My husband was able to really be the kind of educator that students didn’t and don’t forget.”
Bierbauer continued to advise journalism students whenever he could into his retirement. Last summer, he took time to meet with two interns for the Mitchell News-Journal to advise them on their future plans. Macie Greene and Sarah Atkins, both students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, remember Bierbauer as being very kind and supportive of their ambitions.
“He was really eager to give advice to me and Sarah,” Greene said. “I remember him saying that we needed to stick with journalism because not a lot of people do. He also talked about how to take every opportunity you can and not to miss an opportunity because you are set on (doing) one thing.”