Spartan Profiles: Jay Schadler

AMERICA’S HITCHHIKER

            America, as seen from the front seat of a hitchhiker, emerges as a more benign place, “Much safer and more open than I had been accustomed to reporting,” admits Jay Schadler, ’74, Emmy Award-winning correspondent and anchor for ABC News 20/20 and host of National Geographic Presents.

            In 1996, an hour-long PrimeTime Live documentary was based on his hitchhiking from his home on Plum Island, Newburyport, MA, to Santa Monica, CA, via 35 rides in 10 days. He then spent three years hitchhiking along the San Andreas Fault, the Continental Divide, the Lewis and Clark expedition route, the deep South, and coast to coast—turning his video experiences TaleLights episodes on Bravo. “I felt not just the great diversity but also the unifying themes of America,” says Jay. “I learned more about racial tension and harmony in one ride than in a year of O.J. coverage. I met everyday folks. There was a lot of wisdom—if you listened.”

            In his two decades on television, Jay has defined adventure journalism, having tracked Bengal tigers in India on elephant back, pursued poachers on the Silk Caravan route, mountain-biked the Belize rainforest, trekked across the glaciers on Mt. McKinley, and mountain climbed in China in pursuit of stories. “I’ve gotten lucky,” he says of his work. “I get lots of home time and the kind of work that feeds my soul.”

            A native of St. Joseph, he credits MSU with opening his life perspective. “I tell everyone that college was phenomenally wonderful,” says Jay. “The moment I arrived at MSU, I sensed that I had the freedom to be what I could be, to be an authentic person. MSU offered an incredible palette of professors and ideas. I was able to find a small, close-knit coterie of friends and professors within this huge school with all its resources. Not once did I feel any hesitation in talking to a professor.”

            After MSU, he interned on Capitol Hill, and found out he did not enjoy inside politics but did enjoy the media coverage. After a teaching stint in Ohio, he got his break from MSU alum Jack Hogan, ’57, with his first break as a television anchor. He also touts a teacher, MSU alum Mary Ann Robinson, ’57, with guiding him during his youth.

            Today he dabbles with digital photography and also astronomy, having installed an observatory atop his home, which he shares with wife Jorden and two children. “The three years (hitchhiking) changed my life,” he says. “It was such a powerful experience. Every time you open another car door, you got another glimpse into America.”