Talk:Robert A. Hatch

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Robert A. Hatch, 75, Journalist Who Promoted 'Sesame Street', Dies

By MARGALIT FOX Published: June 23, 2006

Robert A. Hatch, a public-relations executive who helped shepherd "Sesame Street" onto the air in 1969, died on June 16 at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 75.

The cause was heart failure, his brother, Stanley, said.

A newspaperman by training, Mr. Hatch joined Carl Byoir & Associates, a major public relations firm, in 1957, eventually becoming a vice president there. In 1965, on leave from the firm, he became deputy director of public information for the Peace Corps, which was then just four years old. Mr. Hatch was named the Peace Corps's director of public information in 1967.

Returning to Byoir, Mr. Hatch became the account executive for the Children's Television Workshop in 1969. (Founded in 1968, the organization, which produces "Sesame Street" and other educational programs for children, is now known as the Sesame Workshop.) Mr. Hatch joined Children's Television Workshop as its vice president for public affairs in 1972.

Before a single episode of "Sesame Street" was broadcast, Mr. Hatch helped solicit support for the idea of television as an educational tool among parents, in Congress and though it seems surprising today, among educators themselves.

Robert Adrian Hatch was born in Salt Lake City. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Utah State University in 1952 and later studied at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. After service in the Air Force, he worked as an editor for Copley News Service.

Mr. Hatch's first marriage ended in divorce. Besides his brother, of Santa Barbara, he is survived by his wife, the former Linda Pollard; two children from his first marriage, Jennifer, of Upper Nyack, N.Y.; and Graham, of Lisbon; and a sister, Elaine Thomas of Sacramento.

In 1986, Mr. Hatch bought two weekly newspapers, The Lakeville Journal in Connecticut and The Millerton News in New York, which he published and edited until 1995.