16 year old Elizabeth DeutschEach week Bob is joined by Dan Gediman, the Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. to discuss one of the original essays from the 1950s radio series. This week’s featured essay is by Elizabeth Deutsch, the series’ youngest essayist. When Deutsch was 16, she won a This I Believe essay contest in the Cleveland Press newspaper. Her prize was a trip to New York City to meet Edward R. Murrow and record her essay for broadcast on the original series. Deutsch’s essay talked about her search for philosophical and spiritual beliefs that would guide her as an adult. 
essayist Elizabeth Deutsch EarleShe went on to become a professor of plant breeding at Cornell University and Bob talks to her about how her beliefs have changed and remained the same since she won that contest more than fifty years ago. Click here to read a transcript and to listen to the audio of her original “This I Believe” essay – and to find a link to Deutsch’s contemporary essay recorded in 2005.
I like this story so much. It was powerful to hear Elizabeth Deutsch Earle reading her essay as a 16 year old, and then discussing her views today. Her essay from 1954 was so beautifully written and clearly from a mind containing wisdom beyond her years. I thank her for sharing her thoughts, and thank you for the story.
Tina