|
A Conversation with Barbara Walters
Presented by Anderson's Bookshops (a ticketed event)
DATE: Wednesday, May 28
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Pfeiffer Hall, North Central College
310 E. Benton Ave.
Naperville
MORE: Customers who purchase Ms. Walters' book, Audition
($29.95), from Anderson's may also buy a $5 event ticket to the program
and booksigning. One companion ticket (no book) may also be
bought for $10 which includes admission for one and a coupon toward the
purchase of Audition.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: "I want to
be you." My stock reply is always: "Then you have to take the whole
package."
And now, at last, the most important woman in the
history of television journalism gives us that "whole package," in her
inspiring and riveting memoir. After more than forty years of
interviewing heads of state, world leaders, movie stars, criminals,
murderers, inspirational figures, and celebrities of all kinds, Barbara
Walters has turned her gift for examination onto herself to reveal the
forces that shaped her extraordinary life.
Barbara Walters's
perception of the world was formed at a very early age. Her father, Lou
Walters, was the owner and creative mind behind the legendary Latin
Quarter nightclub, and it was his risk-taking lifestyle that gave
Barbara her first taste of glamour. It also made her aware of the ups
and downs, the insecurities, and even the tragedies that can occur when
someone is willing to take great risks, for Lou Walters didn't just
make several fortunes-he also lost them. Barbara learned early about
the damage that such an existence can do to relationships-between
husband and wife as well as between parent and child. Through her
roller-coaster ride of a childhood, Barbara had a close companion, her
mentally challenged sister, Jackie. True, Jackie taught her younger
sister much about patience and compassion, but Barbara also writes
honestly about the resentment she often felt having a sister who was so
"different" and the guilt that still haunts her.
All of this-the
financial responsibility for her family, the fear, the love-played a
large part in the choices she made as she grew up: the friendships she
developed, the relationships she had, the marriages she tried to make
work. Ultimately, thanks to her drive, combined with a decent amount of
luck, she began a career in television. And what a career it has been!
Against great odds, Barbara has made it to the top of a male-dominated
industry. She was the first woman cohost of the Today show, the first
female network news coanchor, the host and producer of countless
top-rated Specials, the star of 20/20, and the creator and cohost of
The View. She has not just interviewed the world's most fascinating
figures, she has become a part of their world. These are just a few of
the names that play a key role in Barbara's life, career, and book:
Yasir Arafat, Warren Beatty, Menachem Begin, George H. W. Bush, George
W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, Bill and Hillary
Clinton, Roy Cohn, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, Katharine Hepburn,
King Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Henry Kissinger, Monica Lewinsky, Richard
Nixon, Rosie O'Donnell, Christopher Reeve, Anwar Sadat, John Wayne . .
. the list goes on and on.
Barbara Walters has spent a lifetime
auditioning: for her bosses at the TV networks, for millions of
viewers, for the most famous people in the world, and even for her own
daughter, with whom she has had a difficult but ultimately quite
wonderful and moving relationship. This book, in some ways, is her
final audition, as she fully opens up both her private and public
lives. In doing so, she has given us a story that is heartbreaking and
honest, surprising and fun, sometimes startling, and always
fascinating. |
