For more than 30 years, Hal Wingo wrote and edited stories about the famous people who appeared in the pages of LIFE and People magazines. At 7:00 p.m. Saturday, January 12 he will share the stories behind the stories of some of the world’s best-known personalities, ranging from Charles Lindbergh to Lyndon Johnson and a wide variety of television and film actors. His recollections of those people, from the silly to the inspirational, are a journey through the lives of those who shaped our world.
An entertaining storyteller, Wingo’s career started in 1963, when he began working for the weekly LIFE magazine in New York City. A year later, LIFE sent him to its Beverly Hills bureau, the heart of America’s film industry.
In 1967, his career took a more serious focus as LIFE sent him to Hong Kong, where he directed the magazine’s coverage of the Vietnam War until 1970 when he returned to New York.
When LIFE suspended weekly publication in 1972, Wingo joined the development team at Time Inc, leading to the 1974 launch of the weekly People. As the first news editor, he supervised 70 correspondents from around the world, reporting and writing for People.
A native of Texas, Wingo graduated from Baylor University in 1957 and later served nine years as a member of its board of regents. He currently serves on the board of The Council for America’s First Freedom in Richmond, Virginia and is a recognized speaker about religious freedom and its guarantee in the First Amendment.