Associated Press Published

Former Byrd Speechwriter to Discuss Late Senator

In 1958, voters sent Byrd to the U.S. Senate, where he would remain from 1959 until his death in 2010 at age 92.

Author and former speechwriter for West Virginia’s late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd plans to discuss the myths and reality of the influential Senate leader next Thursday in Charleston.

David Corbin, who worked for Byrd for 16 years and another decade for other Senate leaders, wrote “The Last Great Senator: Robert C. Byrd’s Encounters with Eleven U.S. Presidents”.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History says he will appear in the Culture Center at the Capitol complex in a free evening program open to the public.

He holds a Ph.D. in labor history, and has taught for the University of Maryland.

He also authored books about the West Virginia’s southern coal fields from 1880 to 1922 and a history of the battles between unionists and coal companies.