How Many Grandchildren Does Dan Rather Have?
For over half a century, Dan Rather has been a leading voice in journalism — both literally and metaphorically — as the longtime "CBS Evening News" anchor from 1981 to 2006. Although now a nonagenarian, age hasn't stopped him from still embarking on work now and again. Rather released a book in 2020, has his own series titled "The Big Interview with Dan Rather," and continues to keep followers abreast of current events on his various social media channels. The legendary journalist also found time for his family outside of the newsroom.
Rather has been married to his wife Jean Goebel for over 60 years, and it's no secret that her support has been tremendous in his career. In May 2020, he told Closer Weekly just how much that support meant. "...I don't think there's any secret about it. You have to work at it, and having two wonderful children has helped. Mostly thanks to Jean, they have grown into very good adults ... But I never take it for granted. I'm still working at it. Because if for any reason Jean left me, I wouldn't be worth a damn." Per the outlet, Rather and Goebel's children, Robin and Danjack, went on to great successes as well and are parents too.
Dan Rather is a proud grandfather
When it comes to his two grandsons, Dan Rather is full of admiration for them. Whether he is celebrating graduations or appearing at SXSW with them, Rather is an integral part of his grandsons' lives. His two grandkids are Martin and Andrew (Andy) Rather. Though he doesn't have any great-grandchildren (yet), he told Grand Magazine that he hopes someday he might. "I'm hoping to live long enough to see my great-grandchildren but you know I'm at the age where I don't even buy green bananas," he told the outlet. "We'll see how that goes."
Rather told Closer Weekly in 2020 that his grandson Andy had been in Nepal to do public service work during a break from college. Meanwhile, Martin has studied at Harvard Law School after having done his own share of journalism work — following in his grandfather's footsteps. According to Martin's MuckRack profile, he has even co-written work with his grandfather. Per that profile, some of his work has been seen in outlets such as MSNBC, the Gotham Gazette, and the New York Daily News. He also started the "The Underreported" series.
Grandfather and grandson launched a scholastic prize together
As a student at Rice University, Martin Rather and his grandfather Dan Rather launched an education prize to help support improvements in Texas education. In 2016, they began awarding $10,000 to "a student, teacher, community organization or administrator in Texas that provides the best idea to improve Texas Education," per the University of Texas at Austin. Rather told the Texas Standard in 2020 that, as a native Texan, he cares deeply about the state's educational system.
"As a product of Texas public schools, it grieves me every year when the ranking of public schools in the nation come out," he told the outlet. "In some recent years, Texas has been as bad as 39th, or even worse, in the 40s." Before the prize officially launched, Rather told TIME in 2015 that Texans were not created to be "39th in anything," in reference to the state's educational system ranking. The 2022 prize, according to the University of Texas at Austin, was awarded to program director Christopher J. Kazanjian of Kidz n' Coaches from El Paso Community College.