Christian Williams

Christian Williams is an American journalist, television writer and yachtsman.^[1] A former Washington Post editor during the Watergate era, he later created two television dramas and is the author of two books including the Ted Turner biography “Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way."

Journalism

Williams joined The Washington Post in 1972 as an assistant editor of the Style Section. When the cast and crew of the Robert Redford movie All The President's Men descended on the newsroom to conduct research for the film, Williams served as the assignment editor on the article about the experience behind the scenes. "It was the age of cool. And suddenly we were cool," Williams said. “You could put out nine calls on deadline at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and get nine callbacks in a half an hour. People were paying attention.”^[2]

He was arts editor at the paper from 1976-1980.^[3] In 1981, he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for a series on Isidore Zimmerman, wrongly imprisoned for 25 years.^[4] In 1984, he joined Bob Woodward’s investigative team.^[5]

Television

In 1986, ABC produced a three-hour movie of the week, Under Siege, written by Bob Woodward, Richard Harwood and Williams based on their terrorism reporting.^[6] After Williams and Woodward penned an episode of the NBC crime drama Hill Street Blues, Williams accepted full-time employment in Hollywood.^[7]

With David Milch, Williams created Capital News, an ABC drama based on The Washington Post. Williams also created Hercules: The Legendary Journeys which became a worldwide hit in syndication. He was not involved in the production of the series. Williams was co-executive producer of the HBO funeral-home drama “Six Feet Under” when the show was nominated for “Outstanding Drama Series” in 2002.^[8][9]

Books

Williams chronicled the founding of CNN in the 1981 Ted Turner biography “Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way.”^[10] Williams' 2016 book “Alone Together: Sailing Solo to Hawaii and Beyond” recounts his solo sail two years earlier to Hawaii and back in his 32-foot sloop “Thelonious.”^[11]

References