Gary O'Blog

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Posted by: Gary O'Brien

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 11:11 AM

Happy New Year! Hope 2009 is off to a great start! Took a week's vacation between Christmas and New Years. It was a nice break to spend time with family and friends. I don't usually take time off as I don't want to miss an exciting or interesting guest that might be available during that time, but I have to admit I feel a bit refreshed as I returned to work yesterday. Thanks to Eric Loy who filled in for me the day after Christmas, and to Jim Lewis who filled in for me last week. It was fun to replay some of the best guests of the past year. The first couple weeks of January are usually slim pickens too for guests as many did a lot of press before Christmas and then took time off. So, as I work to fill in the white spaces on the January calendar with interesting people, there will be a few 'best-of's' this week. Among them are Gerlado Rivera (who I was pleased that he visited with me for the hour a few months back), legendary fitness guru Jack LaLane, who at age 91 is more fir than most of us can ever dream of being, David Stanley, Elvis Presley's step-brother who was there through it all in the 70s when Elvis may have been at his best and his worst. His stories are truly fascinating from someone who was there. I always study the work(s) of my guests in advance to be as prepared as possible for their visit. If they know that I am knowledgeable of their work and have read their book, seen their movies, etc. they tend to open up more and we have a great visit. I have to say this past year there was no guest I studied harder for than Geraldo Rivera. I have always been a fan of his investigative reports and discussing them would be fun and easy. However, his book on the issue of immigration entitled "His Panic" was detailed and very opinionated. I bet I studied the issue and read his book twice taking notes the two weeks prior so we could have an intelligent conversation on the issue and if I felt I needed to challenge him, I could do so with facts to back it up. We had a wonderful conversation and we agreed on some things and disagreed on some...but it was rewarding to be able to hold my own talking to Geraldo. I don't think I ever felt so physically drained after an interview as I did after that one. Discussing and maybe arguing immigration with Geraldo Rivera? No doubt there was pressure there, and in the end he said it went very well and that I could call him any time. That response was very rewarding. Looking forward to a great 2009 with more interesting people and celebrities. In about 7 weeks we will celebrate our fifth anniversary on the air and am working on a special show!

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