THE PERCEPTION OF FAME

“Fame” is relative. It depends on who you ask, about whom and when. After nearly a half century on the air in various ways, shapes and incarnations. I am still referred to by the vast majority of those asked, as “Who?” “Fame” is also subjective. It too elicits a response of, “Who?” Funny how that works. Just as Art is in the eye of the beholder, fame is often found in the same place. Ones level of fame is directly related to the amount of fawning someone else wants to do. By virtue of the fact that I was fortunate enough to work at a few top tier radio stations in some pretty enormous markets (Philly, Chicago & Dallas - 3 of the top 5) and I got to spend 25 years doing a syndicated network morning show on 260 radio stations across the country and in the Caribbean, it was clearly evident that I possessed the sometimes supernatural ability to “be in the right place at the right time.” To ask me who was the most famous person I've ever met is a loaded question. I've had the good fortune to meet pretty much everybody and I can't narrow it down to one. I can, however, narrow the experiences down to a few of the most memorable and it's inevitable that I will leave some folks out. Let me give a few notable examples: I did a two-man morning show in Philly in the late 70's. My partner, Sonny Fox, was also the program director so he did his half of the show from his apartment, 6 miles away, via telephone line and then came into the radio station to direct programming. We were never together in the studio but we tried to create the image of us sitting right next to each other. Pure “Theater of the Mind.” One of the advantages was that, whenever we had a celebrity guest, they could bypass the nonsense of fans and staff following them around a radio station and just go to his apartment. One day were were interviewing and entertaining Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead who came into the apartment, walked through the living room to the bedroom where he emptied the underwear drawer onto the bed, poured in an ounce of weed and began separating the stems and seeds. We all smoked and, I assume, did the interview. I'm pretty sure it was fun. We had another interview set up for the opening of the movie “High Anxiety.” We were lucky enough to snag the writer, director, star. As I drove my little, yellow Karmann Ghia to Sonny's apartment, I couldn't help but notice a limousine tailgating me on the highway. I took the exit to the apartment and the limo followed suit. As I pulled into the apartment complex I tried to park my car only to have the limo speed up and pull in front of me and stop. The door opened and I saw someone get out and run towards my car. I too stopped and open my window to be greeted with a hand to shake and, “Bob Leonard! Hi......Mel Brooks, I'm a star!” We went inside and did one of the funniest and funnest interviews of my entire career. At the end of the interview, I said, “My dad is a huge fan and told me to give you a kiss for him. Jews kiss......c'mere.” He stuck out his face and “mugged” as I kissed him on the cheek and the photographer snapped. My dad kept that picture on his office wall until the day he died. The first time I met David Crosby was at Sonny's apartment. It was the late 70's and, as you might expect, we got high. The 2nd time I met him was while at the ABC Radio Network. We had both quit doing drugs by that time and we shared our experiences with quitting. The third time we met, we threw everyone else out of the room and just “shot the shit” for about an hour. It was a delightful chat. I liked David Crosby. There were others while I was in Philadelphia and Chicago doing “local” radio. Things picked up once we got the network (SMN/ABC) up, running and somewhat established. Since we were the first ones to broadcast our 24 hour programming by satellite, we had to prove ourselves and build a solid reputation. Others were trying to do what we did and we prevailed. We built a spotless reputation and, with the solid variety of formats, became a desired destination for any celeb going through Chicagoland. There were many who came through but a few stand out in my ever fading memory. Former President Jimmy Carter was my guest 3 times over the years. Once in person and twice on the phone. He always remembered my name and was always a joy to talk to. What you saw was what you got with Mr. Carter. He was about as genuine as you could find. A very nice man. Deepak Chopra was in the studio and having a great time but was due to call CNN for an interview. When I put on a record, he called CNN and told them he had to reschedule. He was having too much fun and decided to spend the entire hour with us. Mariah Carey was being interviewed by one of the other formats in the building, one morning, and I found out so I approached her road manager in the hallway to let him know that we played her music and that I'd like to chat with her. As he was explaining the intricacies of their schedule and reasoning why she couldn't do it, Mariah walked out of the studio and heard him. “I'll make time,” she said, looking at me and adding, “Do you have a studio?” There was a free production room where the two of us spent the next 40 minutes having an absolutely delightful conversation. One of my favorite interviews, however, wasn't even on the air. When I moved to Dallas, I joined the JCC (Jewish Community Center) which was near my apartment and had a great gym. Somebody found out I was with the media and asked if I would introduce a guest that was coming to speak to the membership. I said I'd be glad to and I was introduced to Dr. Carl Sagan. Carl and I talked for more than an hour and a half before the show and found that we had a lot in common. His family and my family both came from the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn (just buildings apart) and we both sang the praises of marijuana before it became fashionable and, quite logically, legal. He had “billions and billions” of great stories. Then, there was that day in 1977 when I got to ride, in a limo, to the premier of “Star Wars” with Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. For its time.....What a movie! If I've learned anything at all from my celebrity encounters it's that people are, generally, the same. They are, with some notable exceptions, nice, down-to-earth people who are just doing their jobs and looking, like the rest of us, for some semblance of normalcy in a dog-eat-dog world. If you mention my name to any of the celebrities I've met over the years, they will have the same response. They will look you right in the eye and ask, “Who?” image