Les Crystal’s NewsHour legacy as a great boss and a friend

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• Judy Woodruff:

  We want to close tonight remembering one of our own, a man at the heart of the "NewsHour" family.

  Few people have had as much of an influence on the "NewsHour" as Les Crystal. Always behind the camera, Les led the way to transforming this program.

  He came to us after a 20-year career at NBC, where he served as executive producer of "The Nightly News" and then president of NBC News. He joined Jim Lehrer and Robin MacNeil in 1983 to expand the half-hour "MacNeil-Lehrer Report" into the "MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour," the first national nightly newscast to do so.

• Les Crystal:

  The half-hour had been very successful, but I think the appetite had been there to do more than just a single subject.

• Judy Woodruff:

  The show won countless awards, a Peabody and Emmys, during his tenure. Les had a deep commitment to public media.

  As executive producer of the show, he guided generations of journalists to tell the most important stories. He was driven to get to the truth and tell stories from across the globe that were often ignored. To us, he was a great boss, smart, kind and generous with his wisdom and time.

  Linda Winslow was the show's deputy executive producer during Les' tenure. She succeeded him as executive producer.

• Linda Winslow:

  He had an amazing ability to relate to other people as human beings, not as whatever their job description said they were.

  And the entire "NewsHour" staff was one big extended family, as far as Les was concerned. He shared our joys. He attended our weddings. He made our babies smile. And he mourned our losses. He was, in a word, a real mensch. And I'm going to miss him dearly.

• Judy Woodruff:

  A loving husband, father and grandfather, Les helped create the "NewsHour" family. Together with Jim and Robin, they instilled a passion for getting to the heart of the news that remains the core of the program today.

• Jeffrey Brown:

  Les was a role model as a journalist, as a leader, most of all as a decent human being. He took me under his wing long ago, first as a mentor, then as a colleague, and for many years as his friend.

• Elizabeth Farnsworth:

  How would I describe Les Crystal? Sweet, calm, supportive, determined. Les expected the best from us. And, because of his own kindness and his skill, we wanted to give him the best.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And he was the consummate editor.

• Paul Solman:

  He was infuriatingly scrupulous, poring over scripts like a medieval scribe. He could be in the middle of five conversations and phone calls. He'd take yours, and yours was the only call in the world.

  I mean, who loves their boss? But — and I'm not exaggerating — in the case of Les Crystal, everybody did.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Les' demeanor defined his leadership style.

  Charlayne Hunter-Gault It's hard to separate the professional Les from the personal, because he was always calm. He was always a rock of stability, whether it was a stressful time, when we were in a war zone and he was giving us instructions, or whether we were just sitting and chatting.

  He was always the same: strong, rock of stability and just wonderful.

• Judy Woodruff:

  When Les stepped down as executive producer, he took on the role of president of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. In this job, and even after officially retiring, he devoted his life to ensuring the financial backbone to keep the "NewsHour" strong.

  He was a dear friend to me and everyone he touched at the "NewsHour."

  Les Crystal died after a long struggle with brain cancer and then pneumonia. He was 85 years old.

  It's hard to say goodbye to him. We are overwhelmed with memories today.

  And to Toby, Les' wife, to his three children, Brad, Alan and Liz, and his grandchildren, we send all of our love.

  The "NewsHour" wouldn't have become the "NewsHour" without Les Crystal.