Wayne Slater, biographer of George W. Bush and Karl Rove, died on December 20. He was 74. The cause of death was severe injuries stemming from a car crash in Williamson County, Texas. From 1984, Slater had been an Austin-based political reporter, first for The Associated Press and then, starting in 1985, for the Dallas Morning News, becoming the Austin Bureau Chief in 1987. He covered the rise and reign of two Texas governors: Ann Richards (1991–1995) and George W. Bush (1995–2000). Slater spent 16 months on the road full-time covering Bush’s first presidential campaign.

According to the Dallas Morning News: “He tapped into emerging computer technologies, persuaded Dallas editors to let him hire research assistants and created the first searchable database of state campaign finance, years before the Texas Ethics Commission achieved the same. Later, Slater reported extensively on the rise of the Christian right and the use of federal grant money by then-Attorney General, now Gov. Greg Abbott, to prosecute irregularities in collections of mail ballots, mainly by defendants in Northeast Texas who were African American.”

Slater retired in December 2014, after extensively covering the Texas gubernatorial race of Greg Abbott versus Wendy Davis, wherein Slater debunked key portions of Davis’s self-styled biography.

He was coauthor (with James Moore) of Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential (Wiley, 2003) and The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power (Crown, 2006). Upon hearing of Slater’s death, former President George W. Bush stated (in a written statement): “Wayne Slater was a hard-working and insightful reporter. He understood Texas politics better than most and contributed a lot to his field. Laura and I send our sympathy to Dianne [Slater’s wife].”

 

Suzette Winter, who produced more than 30 biographical films for television, died December 1. She was 90 years old. With her husband, Gene Feldman, Winter released TV movies under the “Hollywood Collection” umbrella. Key works include Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond (1990); Audrey Hepburn Remembered (1993), for which the couple earned a 1994 Emmy nomination; Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man (1999); and four episodes for the Biography series on A&El about Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Roger Moore, and Charlton Heston (1995–1997). Feldman predeceased her in 2006. The Hollywood Collection remains in syndication.