Let’s talk about the AGONY first. Yesterday morning I committed what might very well be the most maddening mistake in my thirty years at radio station WGTD. I hasten to add that I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but what set this one apart was that it came in an interview where the stakes were pretty darn high. The guest in question was Suzy Favor Hamilton, a superbly gifted runner (and three time Olympian) achieved tremendous success in her career despite contending with mental issues that would eventually be diagnosed as Bio Polar Disorder – difficulties that at one point compelled Hamilton to leave her husband and young daughter for a wild life in Las Vegas as a call girl. The story of her professional and personal disintegration and inspiring recovery is told in her memoir Fast Girl- and I was tremendously excited to be able to speak with her about her compelling story. And because hers is such a complicated story, I actually sat down and mapped out the questions I was intending to ask her.
As I sat down and prepared for the interview yesterday morning, I suddenly noticed in the most recent confirmation email that the interview was now slated to last only ten minutes rather than the original twenty. That might not seem like a big deal, but even a 20 minute interview is shorter than most of my interviews- and a 10 minute interview is so brief that one doesn’t want to waste a single moment- which means that prep is even more necessary. As I frantically reworked (and shorted) my list of questions, I also decided that I would dispense with any introduction and would add that later- which meant that I wouldn’t do my customary “this is the interview with Suzy Favor Hamilton- air date to be determined- and we begin in 3 …. 2 …. 1…. “, at which point I would press the record button and begin. (The intro is actually for the sake of the guest more than for me- so they are completely clear about when the interview is actually starting, at what point ‘tape is rolling.’) In this case, I just said the briefest of greetings and then told her that we would just start with the first question in order to get as much conversation as possible in those ten short minutes.
We began ….. and although I was a bit nervous, the interview had a nice easy flow to it. Ms. Hamilton was an interesting and articulate guest, plus she had the down-t0-earth warmth of a woman born and raised in Wisconsin. We had to move very briskly from question to question, with no time for followups, but otherwise it felt great.
8 minutes into our interview, news director Dave McGrath tiptoed into the production room to look at something on the AP computer in the corner. Then he noticed something amiss and tapped me on the shoulder- and pointed to the screen just off to my right.
It was blank.
I had forgotten to hit <Record>
Nothing up until then had been recorded.
If you had been standing there, you would have seen me drop my head into my hands in utter anguish.
I looked at the clock. It was 7:28 – and we had what’s called a “hard out” at 7:30, which means that the guest has another interview immediately afterwards, and I had to end on time. That meant that I had time for only one more question – which meant only one question and answer would be recorded. The moment she finished whatever she was saying, I hit record and asked her to sum up her recovery and what had made it possible …. which she answered succinctly ….. and that was it. She was gone. And instead of a 10-minute interview, I had an interview that lasted a grand total of one minute and forty seven seconds.
In retrospect, what led to my mistake was the disruption of my normal routine – combined with a fairly potent case of nerves. (Obviously, an interview about a track star who becomes a Las Vegas call girl is going to take me well out of my comfort zone as an interviewer.) That’s all it took for me to make one of the dumbest, most regrettable mistakes of my whole radio career.
Fortunately, I didn’t have too much time to feel sorry for myself because I had to run home and rehearse with cellist Ryan Anderson (a former voice student of mine) who was performing on that day’s Music and More concert at First Presbyterian Church. I think it was the best thing for me to be able to immerse myself in the gorgeous music of Tchaikovsky and Schumann and two demanding scores that really pushed me to the limits as an accompanist. Ryan and I ran through both pieces and then it was time to head downtown and deliver the goods to an audience. And I’m happy to say that we did exactly that. Ryan played spectacularly well- I managed to keep up with him fairly well – and the Music & More audience was warm and appreciative. Ecstasy!
You know what they say about climbing back on the horse that’s just thrown you out of your saddle? I had to run from the Music & More program back to WGTD for a rare afternoon phone interview with someone perhaps even more famous than Suzy Favor Hamilton. Diana Nyad first gained fame back in the 1970s as perhaps the world’s finest long distance swimmer. Then beginning at the age of 30, she left the water and spent 30 busy years as a broadcaster and journalist (including some well received work on NPR). It was not until she turned 60 that she found herself drawn back to swimming and – after several unsuccessful attempts – managed to accomplish something that no man or woman had ever managed to do: swimming the 111 miles between Cuba and Florida. It was a triumph that garnered her world wide fame – and it wasn’t long thereafter that she sat down to pen a marvelous memoir titled Find a Way.
As I sat myself down at the same production board where I’d committed my grievous error earlier in the day, I felt the same sort of nervous butterflies in my stomach – but I took a deep breath and vowed that no dumb mistake would ruin this interview. I reached for the phone (unlike the earlier interview, in this instance I was calling the guest) – dialed the number – and to my horror I heard the beeping sound of a fax machine. I had the wrong number! I grabbed my laptop, brought up my email account, and found an email from the book agent through whom I had booked the interview; in it she had told me to dial a different number then the one she had originally given me. Hurriedly, I dialed the new number – and nearly cried with happiness when Ms. Nyad answered after the first ring, happy to finally be hearing from me. (I was calling about two minutes late- and when you’re a guest waiting for the phone to ring, two minutes feels like two hours!) Fortunately, I didn’t allow the flubbed phone number to fluster me too much – and this time around I managed to hit the <record> button! And I am thrilled to report that what ensued was an interview that exceeded all of my hopes and expectations. Ecstasy again!
The day held other fun as well. Thursday was the day that we finally got our new air conditioner …. and that evening I did something I’ve wanted to do for the longest time- I played trivia at Toad Hall in downtown Racine. I was partnered with Brian Schalk and Anne Mollerskov, two veterans who really knew what they were doing …. while I mostly sat there with a dazed look in my eyes like that famous Brady Bunch episode where Cindy Brady goes on a TV quiz show and completely freezes in front of the camera. I wasn’t quite that pathetic but almost!
So it was a checkered day of wins and losses … and I should probably be grateful for the two heaping helpings of Humble Pie that the day served up for me. What I’m even more thankful for, however, are the moments when I could smile and say under my breath “Yes! I did it!” There’s nothing like life’s small catastrophes to help you better appreciate those moments when things go right!