Ed Bradley, O.J. and Me

By Daniel D. Ziegler

Ed Bradley is gone but remembered by me.

In early June of 1994, when I was working at Turtle Lake Resort near Union City, Michigan, and the news was still fairly fresh that we were now a nudist resort, it attracted the attention of not only the local newspapers but eventually was picked up by the national wire services as well. The wire services picked up on it when one of the local papers told of how one of our members, an ordained minister, was booted from his church when church authorities found out he was a nudist. When the wire services picked up that story, our phones began going crazy.

One of the many reporters that called during this frenzied time was none other than Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes. He wanted to do something on nudism for 60 Minutes, but something different from the usual sensationalism that we all had seen on TV up until then. Inspired by the story of our minister member, what he had in mind was a piece focusing on the personal and spiritual growth aspects of the nudist lifestyle. "Wow!" I thought. "Here is a man who understands." This was right down my alley too and perhaps I would finally get a chance to express my thoughts on nudism to a national audience.

Being the spokes person for the resort, he and I talked on the phone on a couple occasions, making sure we were on the same page and getting together on dates, etc. But it never happened.

June 12, 1994.
Enter O.J.

It was then that the whole O. J. Simpson story broke and for the next several weeks, that story monopolized the news. I called Ed Bradley a couple times during all that and not surprisingly he told me that the O. J. story was now the hottest thing going, and even though he still wanted to do the piece on nudism, it would have to wait. I never heard back from him.

Thanks, O. J.!

November 9, 2006.
Good bye, Ed. We almost did it... but, ironically, sensationalism won again.

Dan Z.


To receive a free e-copy (PDF file) of my book NAKED BEFORE GOD: A Look At Healing, Self-discovery and Spiritual Growth Through Social Nudism, go to http://less-onsfortruth.com/ or email me ddziegler44@yahoo.com