Bernard Mahler Timberg was born July 25, 1945, in Washington, D.C. He earned his B.A. (1971) in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley, his M.S. (1976) from Iowa State University in journalism and mass communication, and his Ph.D. (1979) from the University of Texas, Austin in radio-television-film.



While at Iowa State, Timberg worked with Professor James Dow of the Department of Foreign Languages on his Master of Science degree. Dow also had an interest in local folklore and oral history. Timberg's creative thesis was titled "Voices of Iowa: a Descriptive Thesis" (call no. ISU 1976 T481) and was a series of radio programs which included stories and oral history traditions from around the state of Iowa. His storytellers included Albert Parks Butts, who reminisced about his time working for the railroad; Orville K. Snav (a.k.a. Al Crowder), who owned a satirical company in Mason City that produced BunaBs, which apparently had no practical use; Mabel Bartenhagen, who recounted her years working on Mississippi river boats; and Abe Mezvinsky, who discussed his life story and his memories of living in Russia before emigrating to the United States.



After receiving his Ph.D., Timberg taught at many schools around the country, including the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Queens College of the City University of New York, Rutgers University-Newark, Radford University, Virginia Tech, and East Carolina University. He continued to write and produce radio and television programs and published many books and articles on the media, mental health issues, and Jewish studies, among other interests.



Timberg was married to Judy Tooley. He had two children, Eli and Katie, and two step-children, Sonya and Carla. He passed away July 23, 2010.