Marvin Barrett

Who was Marvin Barrett?

Marvin Galbraith Barrett was an American author and educator known as an authority on broadcast journalism.

Barrett was born in Des Moines, Iowa. His father, Edwin, was a radio actor and taught communications at Drake University. Barrett graduated from Harvard University in 1942. He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946. In 1952 Barrett married Mary Ellin Berlin, daughter of Irving Berlin.

Barrett worked as a contributing editor to TIME and Newsweek magazines, executive editor of Show Business Illustrated, and managing editor of Show Magazine.

For many years, Barrett was the director of the DuPont-Columbia Survey of Broadcast Journalism. He received the Sigma Delta Chi Award for distinguished journalism for its 1975 report Moments of Truth.

A near death experience in 1984 inspired Barrett to keep journals, and resulted in his 1999 book Second Chance: A Life After Death.

Barrett died in Manhattan as a result of congestive heart failure.