Longtime Capital District anchor releases book
If you tuned in to the news on a regular basis during the past few decades, chances are you remember Ed Dague.
An instantly recognizable figure to longtime Capital District residents, Dague has seen many of the events of the 20th century, local and otherwise, from behind the news desk at channel 6 and later channel 13, and now he’s releasing his first book looking back on his career, Six and Eleven, after the two newscasts he anchored and produced.
Dague took his leave of the anchor’s chair due to a battle with chronic pain, one he still wages today. That made penning the book a challenge, sometimes forcing him off his medications to keep a clear head. He managed the task by treating it as an assignment.
`I had to push myself to write,` Dague said. `When the pain is really bad you find it most affects is your concentration… I’m really kind of pleased with the book, but I wasn’t when I was writing it.`
But it is clear Dague wants to look beyond his health and even his own life. Though there is an autobiographical element to the book, `Six and Eleven` also contains Dague’s thoughts on the television news business ` past, present and future. Those looking for a tell all memoir will likely be disappointed.
`I don’t really take on anybody, because I don’t really have any anger,` he said. `Part of what I wanted to do is a of a period of journalism that’s now gone…television is never going to have that kind of impact again.`
For Dague, it is obvious that with the advent of the Internet age the relevancy of the television newscast has diminished, no longer able to easily outdo other mediums when it comes to speed and image. But he’s also candid about the importance of print media, and how the two can complement one another. With the newspaper business in a lurch, the ex-newsman worries for the future of journalism as a whole.
`Television absolutely requires newspapers…we read the papers to find out and go shoot it,` he said.
Dague recalled one instance when, much to the chagrin of station managers, he advised viewers looking for details on the state budget to buy a newspaper the next morning because an issue so complex couldn’t be covered in 30 seconds.
`Part of my idea with that was to show how small television staffs were,` he said of the book. `I think ownerships deliberately misled the public on how large the staffs were.`
But for those who want to follow in Dague’s footsteps, his book offers unique insight on interviewing techniques and the nuts and bolts of the business. It’s something that might be of use to journalism students, and its informative content is why Three Lakes Publishing picked up the book.
For that local outfit, `Six and Eleven` is the only release of the year. The publishing house focuses on quality over quantity, said company partner, former `Times Union` managing editor and local media mainstay Dan Lynch, who also wrote the book’s introduction.
`Ed is a very smart guy, he has seen a lot, thought about it a lot, and has produced a book that ought to be of great interest to anybody who has any interest in the interaction of public affairs and the news media,` Lynch said. `It was just the kind of book that we want to publish.`
Dague remarked that penning the book’s 172 pages was far from the type of writing he was used to, boiling down stories for the nightly newscast. Still, he said he’s happy with the result.
`I had never thought of writing a book, it was not my plan to write a book, but when Dan Lynch called it sounded like a good idea,` he said.
`Six and Eleven` is available on amazon.com, area retailers and forpeoplewhothink.com. Dague will also be appearing for a number of book signings in the coming days:
Saturday, Dec. 11, at Border’s in Clifton Park, 1 to 3 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 16, at the New York State Museum on Madison Avenue in Albany, noon; Friday, Dec. 17, Clifton Park Library, 11:45 a.m.; Friday, Dec. 17, Open Door, Schenectady, 5:30 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 18, Borders in Saratoga, 2 to 4 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 19, the lobby of the Homestead Funding Building, 8 Airline Drive, Albany, 2 to 4 p.m.; Monday, Jan. 31, Schenectady Library, noon.“
