The recent headline, “’On Point’ Host Tom Ashbrook Dismissed For Creating ‘Abusive Work Environment’” crashed the studios of WBUR radio, Boston’s NPR news station. As a veteran of 16 years on the show, there have been accusations made going back more than a few years of his bullying and manipulating co-workers as host of the very popular “On Point” radio show. The announcement has polarized his listening audience, so as it has become more than just a local news story some of the less memorable and less publicized facts of his life is in order.
1. Behind the scenes, Ashbrook constantly and consistently berated his co-workers.
An accusation like this is certain to lose more than a few devoted listeners, but Ashbrook has pleaded ignorance of the matter. One accuser said that it was almost impossible to distinguish what a normal workplace environment was and what was acceptable to Ashbrook. His on the air personality definitely was more than a little controversial, so for that side of him to show itself in the workplace shouldn’t really surprise anyone. The current question to be answered is why WBUR went along with it for so long.
2. Ashbrook sees himself as a “caring and decent” person in spite of the accusations.
His response to the accusations is he is a, “flawed but caring and decent in all my dealings with others.” This is a potential admission of the sexual harassment claims made against him since “flawed” is a broad concept that can cross many dimensions of one’s personality. The allegations themselves have been recent, but the alleged inappropriate actions go back a number of years.
3. He recently married again in June of last year.
His new wife, Cathryn Clüver, of the Harvard Kennedy School faculty, introduced herself to him via Twitter. His former wife was a victim of cancer and succumbed to the disease in 2014. Ashbrook is now 61, and apparently he believed enough time had passed so he could move on.
4. Ashbrook is a farm boy.
Well, that is where he grew up in the area of Bloomington, Illinois. His rural roots did not stop him from getting into Yale, where he majored in American History. Given the accusations against him, it seems odd that his continuing education led him to India, where he studied the Gandhi’s independence movement at Andhra University.
5. He was a producer of English-dubbed kung fu films.
Apparently his journey to India in his younger days enamored him to the Eastern style culture. He spent a good number (10) of his early years traveling in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and India. He worked for the South China Morning Post has a journalist and made a modicum of money from his kung fu film dubbing. In those early years of his life, kung fu movies were beginning to become very popular, particularly with the ascension of Chinese-American actor Bruce Lee.
Ashbrook’s life has taken several turns — from Midwestern farm boy, to Eastern globetrotter, to the host of an NPR radio show. The jury is still out on the accusations, but regardless of the outcome it will likely be seen by him as just one more turnoff events in a rather eventful life.
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