A biography of Max Soliven is coming soon

November 10, 2011 is a red letter day for the family of the late Sir Maximo V. Soliven as it is the day that his official biography entitled “Maximo V. Soliven: The Man and the Journalist” written by our good friend Nelson Navarro (who did many other biographies, most notable amongst them is the biography of Vice-President Emmanuel Pelaez entitled “What’s Happening to our Country: The life and times of Emmanuel Pelaez” and Rodolfo & Elsa Pelaez, a 20th Century Legacy) will be launched at the Manila Peninsula’s Rigodon Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

No doubt Sir Max Soliven was a media icon who led a colorful life, covering the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War and covering all the Presidents from Ramon Magsaysay Jr. to GMA until his death five years ago on Nov. 24, 2006. I still have a DvD copy of my TV interview with Sir Max and every now and then I watch it just for the memories.

Indeed the memory of Sir Max will forever be etched in my heart for journalism was never on my radar screen until I fetched him in Mactan Airport to be the speaker of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (CCCI) where I was vice president-external. It was then that he asked me to help him promote the new newspaper called The Philippine STAR which came out on July 28, 1986. A few days later Sir Max was with us in Cebu and asked me to join him and taught me about the importance of being a journalist.

By this reading, I will be on a visit to Paris, France, so I’m taking the opportunity of promoting the biography of Sir Max in this column through excerpts from his book as sent to my by Sir Max’s daughter Sara Soliven de Guzman. Call this a “sneak preview” of the book which I am reprinting here.

“On Television: Max had a reason to believe that his latest spate of good luck would go on indefinitely. Because of his newspaper column, he was famous and popular. But venturing into television brought him farther in terms of self-fulfillment and satisfaction than he had ever felt. He had appeared on television as far back as 1966, perhaps earlier, and in radio programs in the mid-1950s, but having his own weekly show on the nation’s largest TV channel was something else.

“Once a week on Tuesday nights and for a full hour, Max was aware that he was reaching a few million viewers even in those early days of television in one shot, more people than those who used to read him in three months in the largest newspaper of the land. The thought was simply staggering. On “Impact,” as everybody had become aware, Max stood at the very center of the nation’s affairs, exchanging views, even disagreeing openly, with the most powerful people in the land, including President Marcos and other would-be presidents.

“It also gave Max some secret satisfaction that in the new medium, he was perfectly competitive with everybody in the business, including his old friend, Doroy Valencia, who stayed on in Channel 5. Valencia might have more readers in print as in the past years, but on television Max was broadcasting from the leading station with a bigger reach across the nation.                

“In March 1972, some six months before martial law, Max was on top of the television game, drawing practically everybody who had anything to say about the country or those people wanted to see and hear. His rivals in the business of punditry-on-television were Emil Jurado’s “Face to Face” and Francisco Tatad’s “Contact Point,” both on the smaller Channel 9, and clearly pro-Marcos. Kit Tatad was Marcos’ press secretary and in September, it was he who would read the Declaration of Martial Law to a stunned nation. Providing the only real, if friendly, competition was Louie Beltran’s “Straight from the Shoulder” on Channel 11.

“A general idea of the aggressive and agenda-setting programming of ‘Impact’ may be gleaned from its logbook in early 1972: January 4 — Five of the nation’s top opinion makers — Louie Beltran, Amando Doronila, Alfio Locsin, Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil and Tony Siddayao — were asked to forecast what lay ahead for the nation. They all said it was bleak.

“January 25 — Senator Gerry Roxas, president of the Liberal Party, gave another scathing view of the state of the nation. With everybody worried about the proliferation of private armies, dared President Marcos to unmask the leaders of these armies, many of them Marcos’ allies, and disarm them. This demand fell on deaf ears. February 1 — Again, Marcos obliged Max and agreed to appear live with six housewives on the state of the economy.

“One of the women was the young Josie Trinidad-Lichauco, who would become a prominent opposition figure in the Edsa period. Marcos ‘out-talked’ the housewives. As in the first show, Max was a respectful host to Marcos.”

I guess this should motivate you to get a copy of this book. I originally wanted to do a continuation, however I need to come up with a story on my visit to Lourdes and Paris this week.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through http://www.philstar.com