Lawrence E. Spivak
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Lawrence E. Spivak (1900–1994) was an American publisher and journalist who was best known as the producer and moderator of NBC's Meet the Press, a position which he held from the program's inception in the 1940s until his retirement in 1975. During the program's early years he appeared alongside pioneering female journalist Martha Rountree. When the program premiered, Spivak was already fairly well-known as the publisher of The American Mercury, which was then a still relatively mainstream publication best known as the literary home of H. L. Mencken rather than the radically racialist publication it was to become during its final, dying years.
Spivak was well-known for his rather dapper appearance, which uniformly featured a bowtie and heavy-rimmed glasses. He asked the first question of the Meet the Press guest and then handed off to the other journalists on the panel, which usually totalled four during his time on the program.
