Never Give Up: A Prairie Family's Story

"Tom Brokaw is known as one of the hardest-working, most successful people in broadcast journalism. His success is attributed to his work ethic, his instinct for identifying the significance of the news in the lives of ordinary people, and his reputation for always showing up for others. In this heartfelt family story, Tom shows the values and lessons he absorbed from his ancestors, parents, and others who settled in South Dakota and worked hard to build lives on the prairie during the first half of the twentieth century. At the center of this story is Red Brokaw, Tom's father, who left school in the third grade. At the end of his life, Red surprised his family by recording his memories about the Brokaw ancestors who obtained land in South Dakota under the Lend-Lease plan and started a hotel called the Brokaw House. As a boy Red worked there, and then on construction jobs, developing a talent for machines. At a high school play, he fell in love with the girl playing the lead, Jean, whose father had lost the family farm during the Depression. They married, and struggled financially. Their son Tom was born in 1940, and two other sons followed. Red had a philosophy: Never give up. Never complain. After the war, Red got his big break. The Army Corps of Engineers began to build great projects, including dams across the Missouri River, magnificent structures like the Fort Randall and the Gavins Point dams. Red rose to become a Foreman on the dam project, and the Brokaws moved to towns created to house workers, where the family became part of a vibrant community life"--