Pocono News Section

John P. Cosgrove Honored in Pittston

John P. Cosgrove Honored in Pittston - Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 11:00PM EST

Reported by: Joe Holden
Thursday, Jul 30, 2009 @ 11:00pm EST
PITTSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY- A lifetime of work with the national press carries some weight, and we mean pounds! More than a thousand books were donated to a local library.

It's the personal collection of a legendary local journalist. Eyewitness News spoke with John P. Cosgrove, a Pittston native who made quite a contribution.

More than six decades of work came to Pittston. John P., as he's known, donated books, photos and documents.

In looking at the photos, some are rather old and historic. And then you look closer and you notice some of the people in them, JFK and John P. Cosgrove, John P. and Harry Truman, the man is sharing quite a legacy.

Once president of the National Press Club, a man who has met every president since Herbert Hoover, Pittston native John P. Cosgrove donated his collection of books, pictures and documents to the Pittston Memorial Library.

For the first time, Cosgrove got a good look at the memories of a life spent working in Washington, D. C. ÒI'm just impressed I said. I can hardly wait to see the next display you're putting up. I'm impressed with it, and I didn't realize how significant it is,Ó he said.

At 90, Cosgrove's passion for story-telling is apparent. Besides, what else do journalists really do anyway? ÒSomebody said one time, how do you remember all the things that happened? Somebody said if you knew where he came from, nothing happened,Ó he said.

And that's partly the reason Cosgrove left Pittston all those years ago, off to a life of covering national politics, world wars, and everything in between.

The story behind the story now lives at the Pittston library. Cosgrove backed up the gift with a $50,000 donation.

But major changes in the media worry Cosgrove, as he put it, things are a shadow of what they once were. ÒI don't know how we're going to cover it like we used to and it concerns me, I'm concerned because the free press is very integral in democracy and our way of life. The free press lubricates the wheels of democracy and lubricates them,Ó he said.