© 2026 New Hampshire Public Radio

Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Own a business? Expand your reach and grow your audience by becoming an underwriter on NHPR.

Civil Rights Reporter Karl Fleming: 'Son of the Rough South'

Cover of <i>Son of the Rough South: An Uncivil Memoir</i> by Karl Fleming.
Cover of Son of the Rough South: An Uncivil Memoir by Karl Fleming.

Journalist Karl Fleming's new book is Son of the Rough South: An Uncivil Memoir. Born in the South and raised in an orphanage during the Depression, Fleming became Newsweek's lead civil rights reporter at the height of the movement in the mid-1960s.

His stories reflected the turbulence of the era. He wrote about major events such as the Birmingham church bombing, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Miss. While at the 1966 riots in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Fleming was severely beaten.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.