Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to the latest edition of one hundred He Had
Gordon Podcast. Today a conversation with ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts.
Since the nine nineties, she's covered many of the world's
top stories for both NBC and ABC. She has been
decorated for her work, including winning numerous Emmy Awards as
(00:42):
well as the prestigious Peabody Award for her reporting on
the killing of Brianna Taylor. Roberts has an upcoming book
titled Lessons Learned and Cherished, The Teacher Who Changed My Life.
She's been married to Today Show weatherman Al Roker sent
and a big special thanks to Deborah for keeping our interview.
(01:05):
The day we were scheduled to talk, Al was recuperating
at the hospital, and she took time out from being
by his side, found a waiting room and kept our appointment.
We started off by talking about growing up in her
home state of Georgia. You know, I'm a small town
Georgia girl, from a little town called Perry, south of Atlanta,
(01:27):
down near Macon. A lot of people haven't heard of it,
but it's like near the Warner Robbers zero for Space Um.
And you know, I grew up in a large family,
nine kids, eight siblings, seven girls, two boys, and um,
what's interesting is in now always my husband Owl always
finds is so shocking because he grew up in Queens
Um and his experience was very different growing up, and
(01:49):
he was he's obviously older than I am, but he
shocked that. I remember segregation, and I was growing up
at the very tail end of aggregation. But I remember
colored waiting room at the doctor's office. I remember going
to the grocery store and seeing the very obvious distinction,
you know where if you know, a white person came along,
(02:11):
you know, my mom looked back off and let them
go through the grocery line. Um, their fate memories, But
I do remember that now, as I was getting into school,
desegregation was happening, and just integration and um, you know,
school and teachers and friends and all of that. Not
thinking so much about that, but I do remember that
and remember what that was like watching my parents have
(02:34):
to deal with that. But I also remember what it's
like to to um, you know, to feel sort of
carefree and have a you know, really lovely family. You know,
we were very close, and you know, church was always
very important, you know, church every Sunday, UM, the Girls Scouts.
I mean, all of those things that anybody would remember
in their childhood. And so most of my members are
(02:54):
just those fun, care free members and you know, fried chicken,
colored greens, and you know you're addressing on Sunday morning. Yeah, dressing,
there's a real there's a real Southern experience. I would
go down to Birmingham, Alabama quite a bit when I
was younger. UM, many of our relatives were in Birmingham.
(03:15):
And then I spent a lot of time where you
started your career in Columbus, Georgia. My uncle retired military
Fort Benning. So so tell me a little bit about
as you kicked the career in UM and and and
did you always want to be a journalist. You know,
it's interesting. I remember when I was growing up, I
(03:38):
like everybody, you know, so many people at that time,
you know, the family dinner sometimes centered around the evening news.
So we watched Walter Quen County because CBS was the
only network we could get, because that was long before cable,
And we watched every night, you know, the the uh
reporters and the evening news and what was developing at
that time. And I remember our notice seeing the diversity
(04:02):
that was slowly beginning to happen in um, you know,
the seventies, I guess, and you know, Connie Chong had
hit the scene, Lim Tucker had hit the scene. Michelle Clark,
a young black reporter who sadly was later killed in
a plane crash, was there, and I remember watching and
being intrigued by this. One of my cousins says, I
always remember coming over and I was trying to get
(04:24):
your sister and me to go out of the house
and maybe try to slip out and go, you know,
do something with the boys. And you were like glued
watching the news. It was so funny. So I was
captivated by it. And by the time I was in
high school, I knew I wanted to do something, um,
you know, not so much a newspaper reporter, but I
wanted to do something that involved public speaking. Maybe the news.
(04:46):
I wasn't quite sure. And by the time I went
to the University of Georgia, which was a big step
for me because that was, you know, a big school,
and you know, I had grown up in small town Georgia,
I took my very first journalism class and I was
mitten I was like, Wow, this is amazing. And I
had these great professors who talked about the importance of
this business and what it was all about and shedding
(05:09):
light on you know, dark subjects and all of that.
So I knew then that was what I wanted to do.
So I got a fire in my belly. At the
University of Georgia, I did internships at Georgia Public Television
and all of those things that you do to get ready,
and one of my advisors, who was sort of a
mentor at the time, helped me get my very first
job at w t v M in UM Columbus, Georgia
(05:33):
w t v J or w t v M, because
I worked at two different stations. One was w TVM
and TV think it was w t VM, the ABC affiliate,
and um that was my first job, and and and
television and UM I knew the path was going to
be local television work my way up. I also knew
that I had network television on my mind, but I
(05:53):
had to pay my dues, and so that's kind of
where it started. I'm curious as you look now, because
you go from Columbus to Knoxville to Orlando and then
to the network, which is traditional and the skipping to
a higher market, a higher market, and then somebody notices
you and says, hey, you should you should be at
the network, young lady. Um. But when you look at
(06:15):
journalism today, it is certainly different. I wouldn't say good, bad,
or otherwise until I hear your answer, but it's certainly
different than what you and I were taught and what
you and I uh have been used to for many
many years. Give me a sense of how you see
it today. UM. I remain very proud and very committed
(06:37):
to what I do because I think it's so important
and I think I bring a voice and I bring
a knowledge to the to the business. So I remain
very dedicated and excited about what we do and optimistic.
I am, though, on the other hand, very concerned. I
feel that we are a lot one Oftentimes when I'm
working on stories or you know, The Morning America, any
(06:59):
of the the broadcast platforms that I'm working at at ABC,
I feel that I often with the younger crowd. You know.
When I say that, with the younger crowd, I have
to sort of stop and remind them of, you know,
how we want to approach something, because that of course
UM confers more objectivity or um, you know, just making
(07:19):
sure that we do sort of a broad sweep and
how we are presenting something for the audience to understand
and frankly, to be honest with you, also the idea
that you know, this is a very very diverse country,
and having come from the South and working in New
York City, I can sometimes bring a sensibility that I
think sometimes my colleagues may not think about. I'm thinking
(07:40):
about those folks down south, those folks who might be
seeing politics very differently, and those sometimes those are people
that I know, and that doesn't mean that they are
you know, dunces and all of that. So I feel
like I tried to bring a sensibility that sometimes could
be lost in in in in this climate that we're in,
and I sot think that, you know, the seriousness sometimes
(08:02):
it is lost. I feel like there's a lot of
lighter the a lot of lighter stuff, uh these days.
And then what I'm accustomed to and what we grew
up accustomed to, some of those light stories. You know,
we could get them like as a as a you know,
a show ender, but people, and I'm deeply concerned about
that um, and I think that, you know, we we
(08:23):
have to keep pressing. We have to keep pressing, particularly
now in this environment that we're in, this very polarized environment,
I think that it is even more important for us
to remember that we've still got to try to be
as objective as we can and present all points of view,
even if we don't always necessarily like them. And I
think that we all do that, and we've always done that,
but I think it's even more challenging these days. So
(08:46):
I'm concerned. But I also feel like that that at
our core and most of the networks, at our core,
we still do pursue those values. But the younger folks
are coming up with Google and you know, with Instagram,
and I don't think that they see the fact binding
in the same way that we do. Yeah, And it's
all equal for them, right in terms of sourcing and
(09:09):
TikTok for them is as credible as the New York
Times or any anyone else that you would associate with
with doing research. UM, let me ask. Being a network
correspondent is not an easy gig. You know, I tell people,
that's your your bags at the door. You can get
a call like that, you know, You're lucky if you
(09:31):
have a beat. But if you are a true kind
of correspondent that bounces around, you start it at NBC
in or there for five years and then you go
to to ABC. Also, particularly for people of color, particularly
for women. Until lately, I will say, navigating corporate America
(09:52):
and navigating network news is not easy either. I'm curious, um,
for one who has done it now for quite some time,
how that's been for you. Well, first of all, I
didn't realize it had been as long as it's been.
Thank you for reminding me of that. I learned about
fifty years ago. Um, you know, it's been. It's been interesting.
(10:13):
I mean I certainly came up in this business knowing
that as a woman, as a black woman, UM that
you know, the odds were sort of stacked against us
because we were really dealing with a lot of inequality.
Um at that time while I was beginning of the business,
and we didn't see as many women as executive producers
(10:34):
and senior producers and things like that that that would
give you encouragement. So I knew that it was a battle,
and I knew that I had to work harder to
get You know that you know half as far with
that one position and work hard of it. Some of
my colleagues I short of knew that, but I think,
just like you growing up, that wasn't a surprise. I
knew that was sort of the state of the industry
(10:57):
and that I had to be better. I had to
be um more resilient. I felt like I had to
have a little more tenacity because we didn't have as
many of us. When I came to NBC. Cassandra Clayton
was on the beach there too, working as a as
a correspondent that she was leaving. So we're losing a
black woman, and we're getting a black woman coming in,
but we're not necessarily adding to those numbers in the
(11:18):
same way. So um, I felt that, you know, there
was a certain amount of pressure for me to do it,
to get it right, to represent and so I but
I took that and I went with it, and I
wasn't angry about that because I knew that was part
of the deal. As I went along, of course, we
started to see more representation, more women. I remember, you know,
(11:39):
Susan Zarency at CBS, Meredith White at ABC, Phyllis McGrady
at ABC. There were these star women who were on
the scene. Of course, Dallian Story and Barbara Walters and
Carol Simpson and all these women who were making their
stand on air as well. It started to feel a
little better and a little more comfortable and a little
bit more possible. So as I went along, and I
(12:01):
kind of think, I just maybe I'm born with a
sense of optimism anyway, maybe that was just sort of
what I picked up in my family or just who
I am internally, But I I felt optimistic each step
along the way. So at NBC when I went off
to go cover the Persian Gulf War, and I volunteered
to do that because I wanted to get my foot
in the door and I wasn't getting good assignments, and
(12:23):
I volunteered to this young reporter, you know, fresh in
the company, wants to go cover the war when a
lot of my veteran colleagues did not want to do it.
That was a big feather in my cap because not
only did I go over there and get some great
experience and tell some good stories, I came back with
a newfound sense of you know, not only confidence, but
I think with reverence, you know, amongst my colleagues and
(12:44):
my bosses. So that was kind of a step up
for me. And I recognized, because I had that fire
in my belly that the key to success for me
was going to be about stepping outside my comfort zone, pushing, pushing,
being ready to work, being ready. As you said that
those bags packed, and I did a lot of that.
I mean, my romantic life suffered because you know, I
(13:07):
just you know, I'm dating somebody, but it didn't really
take off because then I've got to go to uh,
you know, Idaho next week, and I've got to go
do this story and I've got to go to a
prison in the interview this this guy on death row.
So that just sort of became my life. And um,
I any time I had a stumble, any time I
I had a screw up on air, I saw that
as an opportunity to try to get better. I'd rather
(13:29):
than lick my wounds and get so frustrated and distracted
by it, I just thought, Okay, the next is going
to be better. The next one. I got it. Now
I understand what I did wrong in that report, or
now I understood what I could have done better. So
I think for me, um, that lifted me and helped
me because I think I projected this feeling of hunger,
(13:50):
of excitement and intensity about what I was doing. So
then when I did get the call from Barbara Walters
at ABC saying, I've been noticing your work on Dateline,
I'd love for you to come over and join us
because they were sort of expanding their roster. First of all,
almost faid it that, bro, this is Barbara Walters. You
know what I heard Barbara on the calm. But I
(14:12):
also knew I was ready. I was ready to take
that step to a broadcast broadcast and I watched since
I was a kid, and so I knew then, okay,
it's incompetent upon me to step up even more. And
it was very hard because those were the days of
Peter Jennings and you know, Barbara Walters and all of
those you know, correspondents and anchors at ABC who were really,
(14:33):
really at the top of their game. And I had
to step up and be at the top of mine.
And so it just challenged me. And I think along
the way you just pushed me to try to be
better and try to be better. But I wouldn't get
distracted by the noise. What was it like to I
remember when you when you said that, I remember getting
a note they had done an article on me in
(14:54):
the USA today, and I got a note from Brian Gumble.
And I had admired Bryant forever that used to wake
up and watch him and try and take a little
notes and see you know, um, and it was so
exciting to know that you are now a colleague and
appear um. What was it like to walk the halls
(15:15):
and see Peter Jennings or get the call from Barbara Walters?
What was that like? Because it's it's heaty in the beginning. Yeah,
it's hetty. But I will tell you this if I'm
gonna be you know, candid. It was difficult because they
were not warmest. They want the warmest people because they
were you know, they were Peter. Peter was very good
at what he did. But he made it very clear,
(15:36):
you know, don't come in here if you don't know
what you're talking about. And and he would challenge you.
He would ask you these questions about a story you're
working on or whatever. And it was almost like a
trick kind of question, just to play with you a
little bit. But I think because he felt that the
standard is so high here, I want to know you're ready.
It was almost as if you had gone from you know,
the minor leagues in baseball to the big league and
(16:01):
um and not no shade to NBC, because I certainly
felt that I was doing that there. But if you remember,
at that time, ABC was writing high none of the
dominant and so that was like, you know, that was
the top of the game. And Barbara was lovely, but
she was tough. I'll never forget the first time I
sat on the set with Barbara. And at that time,
you would degree it with Barbara and you downs, so
(16:23):
they would they would introduce your story, and you sit
there and you come out and you sort of talk
about your story at the very end of what the
latest is on it. And I sat there and I
was sort of nervous, and I was all done up
and I looked great, and I had my notes and
I was waiting to talk to Barbara. And Barbara leaned
over and said something to me, like, you know, glad
to have you here and so forth, and she grabbed
my notes and she threw them off the desk, and
(16:45):
I was like, oh, is this hazing some kind of
crazy hazing. She said to me, you know what you
want to talk to me about. Let's not sit here
and read notes. Let's talk. Let's have a conversation. You
talk to me about your reporting. And that was like moment.
First of all, I think she wanted to challenge me
and say, I believe in you. You've got to believe
in you. Let's not you know, do that. Let's be comfortable.
(17:08):
Let's but she was challenging me also to just feel
confident about what I was doing. So there were some
tough moments. It was heavy. It was great seeing all
of these people, but they it was tough. It was tough.
Network news is not fuzzy. It's not not fuzzy by
any means. And also, let's be clear too, after they
(17:28):
you know, kind of patch you on the head and
say welcome and all that you are competition to a degree. Yeah,
that's exactly right. So they're only so warm and fuzzy
other than you know, they look at you and say, hmm,
I wonder if they're gunning from my seat. So exactly,
it's interesting. The sharks. Somebody said to me at one time,
you're swimming with the sharks, and I think it's true.
(17:49):
I mean, as wonderful as the job is, politically it's
an ugly place. Let's just be honest. It is what
it is. UM. One of the questions before I bring
in how your love I got a little better when
you met this guy. But but let me ask you this, UM.
I remember when I first went to NBC, there were
a lot of black reporters that didn't want to do
(18:09):
black stories. They didn't want to get pigeonholed. They didn't
want to and I conversely didn't mind doing them because
I felt like, well, if I don't do them, they
get done. I'm curious to your thoughts on that, because
there is a fine line of not wanting to be pigeonholed,
right you say, Look, I can talk about the economy
just as well as this person too, but there's an
(18:30):
obligation I think for us to bring stories from our
community that get no shine. I think for me, I
didn't really focus on it one way or the other.
I didn't feel strongly that I don't want to report
those stories. But I think I felt strongly that I
just wanted to be in a category of I could
report anything. So I don't know that I felt comfortable
in the very beginning of looking for stories in the
(18:52):
black community to tell, because I think you're right. I
think those stories were difficult to bring sometimes and would
be lost, uh, you know, on the year maybe your
executive producer. I mean, there were plenty of times when
there was a story that was very obvious that involved
the black community, you know, some kind of environmental you know,
pollution or something like that that was very clear, and
(19:13):
and those connections were made. But I think for me,
I just made it very clear that I wanted to
report on anything and everything, so I didn't necessarily go
in that direction. I didn't spurn those stories, but I
didn't pursue those stories either. All right, let's get to
the guy that turned that love life around and everybody.
(19:33):
Most people know that you and Al Roker have been
married for quite some time. Um, just quickly tell us
about you know, how how he met and clearly wooed
you somedy shape or form quite sometime twenty seven years
this year at twenty seven years. Wow. Um, you know,
I kind of like to hear Al's version of the
(19:54):
story because it's always quite funny. But Alan I worked
alongside each other, and the way we met is that
he he was filling in on the Today Show for
Willer Scott and I was filling in for Debora Normal
and we got to know each other and he knew
I was this new young black reporter who had started.
And he was very friendly and very lovely. And it
happened to be my birthday or the next day was
going to be my birthday. And he said, oh, well,
(20:15):
you know, somebody taking him out to lunch or something.
And I was still relatively new and I said, no,
not really, and he said, well, you know what, let's
let's make a day maybe you know, Friday or something.
Let's go out. Um. Now, Al was married at the time,
and he was just being very friendly. But over the
course of time we would bump into each other from
time to time, and he was really lovely about just
sort of wanting to make sure I was okay, you're
(20:37):
this new reporter. Um, I kind of know what it's
like out here, how is it going. So he was
an ear that I could turn to if something was
going badly, and every now and again something was and
so I could relate to him and I and the
fact that he listened and wanted to listen was, first
of all, just really lovely. Over time, I moved. I
joined the Atlanta Bureau and I'm in the Miami Bureau,
(20:59):
and I sort of moved DeLong and we stayed in touch,
but that was sort of bit. And then over time
he um divorced and he or was in the process
of divorcing, and I wound up movie back to New
York and we you know again. He would probably tell
you he's thinking, Wow, maybe one of these days we
can go out. I'm thinking he's a nice guy, you know, Okay,
(21:20):
i'l broker. He's great. And then the Barcelona Olympics were
happening in nineteen I don't even remember what year ninety two,
and Um, I asked, how would you mind I'm going
to be gone for about three weeks. Would you mind
maybe go into my apartment and picking up my mail
and put it on the kitchen counter, Maybe water my
plants once or twice. He's sure now in his mind
he will tell you that he's thinking, this is my
(21:43):
opportunity to make a new UM. So when I came
back home, he had left me some fresh flowers. He
had stuck my refrigerator, and let's try. I thought, he
was a nice guy, like that's a very sweet gesture.
But he did ask me for a date at some
point after that, and we went out on the date,
and um, it was a very slow burn, I would say,
(22:03):
But over time I just began to think, this is really,
really a lovely guy. He he loves his mother like
you wouldn't believe. He's a very family guy, talks about
his family all the time, has very similar values to me.
I grew up in the South, he grew up in
the Northeast, but both of us very connected to our family.
Is very much interested in this work that we're doing.
And so we just sort of hit it off over time,
(22:24):
and before you knew it, he has sort of you
know what's great about Al Roker? And I say this, um,
you know, not not for the Hollywood kind of glibline
that so many people give. I don't know, and it's
hard in this business to find somebody like this. I've
never heard anyone say he's all right, or you know,
(22:48):
he's he's a snot or you know. I mean genuinely,
everyone speak so highly of Alum and we shouldn't know. Um.
Al had a little health difficulty recently. Uh he announced
he has some blood cloths, but he is on the mend.
We are happy to say, and and we should know
that you were so sweet and kind to take time
(23:09):
to keep this interview. You're in the waiting room waiting
for al to get discharged, so just let everybody know, Um,
you know that he's doing well and on the mend.
We certainly are sending our prayers. Well. We are so
grateful to say that he is on the mend. And yes,
it's a very scary thing to deal with blood pots,
and many people have written and commented on Instagram that
they either have or know somebody who's deal with those,
(23:32):
so it was very scary. But we are so happy
to say that, thanks to prayer, great medical team and
a great great medical team in hospital here, that he
has done well and is recovering. Um, he's got I'm
trying to get into slow down, his his thoughts of
where we're going. He's got to take eat for a
little bit. But now, but we're just happy to say
(23:53):
he's he's doing well and responding well. The hopefully we'll
get him back to the owl that we all know.
He's already making fun of me and and you know,
busting my chops a little bit. So that tells me
that he started to feel like his own self. Let
me ask you one other thing about two talents in
the house. I don't I don't care how lovely Al
can be. You know, we all have a bit of
an ego. If you're a talent um, how how did
(24:17):
you guys or did you even maybe I'm being presumptuous.
Have to manage that because you know, everybody gets used
to what talent gets um, you know, wondering about that.
It's it's something we have to calibrate regularly. To be
honest with you. Now, we were very fortunate that, you know,
I went over to ABC at the time we were
getting married. So I was really happy about that because
(24:39):
we didn't have that internal um, you know, competition at
the same network, and I did something totally different than
Al did. Network correspondent, news magazine correspondent. For the most part,
he did weather in some celebrity interviews. Now his portfolio
has expanded, but for the most part, we kind of
stay in our separate lanes. But we're also very defensive
(25:01):
of our networks. So if I made a comment about
somebody on his network, who I think didn't necessarily do
a great job on an interview, he gets defensive or
if I if he makes a comment about something going
on at my network, UM, I get defensive. And there
have been one or two times, not often, one or
two times where we were up for an interview, UM,
(25:22):
and you know, somehow I was trying to pursue an
interview and that person There was a time, whether it
was a very famous singer who wanted to interview without
and I thought she and I had already agreed that
maybe I was going to do this interview, and next
thing I know, she I hear that OWL is going
to get the interview, and he wasn't even pursuing it,
but it came up, and that was a major moment
for us. I remember the kids. I was upset and
(25:43):
the kids were like, Daddy, why aren't you taking interview?
Overhead was talking. So we've had a couple of moments
like that. But I think for the most part, we've
learned that, you know, what, what we talked about at
home stays at home. We can share those comments and
we but but what's great about it is we understand
each other because we understand the industry, and we know
what's happening to each other, and we are both pulling
(26:05):
for each other. And that's that helps because you really
have to understand what this industry is about. Some people
outside will not understand either the drive or all of
the things that come with it, and so that it's helpful.
Last question before we get to your new project, UM,
what's it like? I mean, when you get to Al's level,
the scrutiny on on just you know, the spotlight that
(26:27):
stays on you, digging into your private life. I know
that you UM recently, and I bring this up because
my mom um had Alzheimer's at the end of her life.
She went into thank God, her eighties before she got it,
and thankfully she never never, never forgot who I was. Wow,
it was it was a blessing because I don't know
(26:47):
how I would have handled that. But she spoke of
your sister who passed of complications of Alzheimer's. I'm I'm
wondering how UM, it is for you to have a
spotlight shown on your private life, and UM, the obligation
sometimes even if you don't want it, that is just
naturally there. It is tough and I have to tell
(27:10):
you to that my mother had Aldheimer's as well as
my sister, so it was like a double whamming for us.
It was very tough. I'm aware. I mean, you know, Alan,
I don't see ourselves as like big celebrities or anything
like that, but we are aware that we are in
the public eye and that things do get picked up
and particularly ed right now with social media the way
it is, you know, we we know that if I'll
(27:31):
tweet something, I mean I get on him all the time,
you know, out, don't tweet that out. Don't put that
out there right now because maybe somebody said something and
he feels like being kurt, and I know, don't do
that because somebody is going to pick that up and
go with it. You know, years ago that wasn't a worry,
but now everybody's searching social media for something to go with.
So we're we're we're acutely aware of that. And even
(27:53):
with als health crisis, I was very aware of that too,
and I said to him, you know, you need to
just sort of pace yourself and when you're to say something,
because people will pick it up. I mean, it's it's
shocking to me how um every now and again, if
there's something significant or insignificant. Um, you know, some tabloid
will pick up one of his Instagram posts and and
then one of mine and they'll make a story. So
(28:16):
we are very much aware of that. And so I
I think Al because he you know, Alice to shooting
the cup from the hip, and he's just kinda say
whatever and whatever, think later. Because he's just the guy
who's very transparent. I have to remind him regularly pull
back a little bit. Somebody may pick up on that.
It may not come across like you wanted to, and
let's not cause a controversy. But we don't need to.
(28:37):
So we're aware of it. I mean, as Al said.
But on the other side, on the flip side, I
get a great table at a restaurant, So there's the responsibility,
but right there's the perk. Yeah. Let me let me
get finally to uh the new project that is upcoming.
This is not your first Rodeo four book. In you
and Al had a joint book. I've been there, done that,
(28:58):
family Wisdom for modern times. But you have a new
book coming in May. Um. It's interesting. My mother was
a teacher, um lessons learned and cherished. Tell me about
what the book is you. You've also engaged a number
of people to help you with it. I'm so excited
about it. You noticed that broke into a smile, because
this is truly, truly a baby that I'm birthing. Alan,
(29:19):
I wrote a book together, but this is my first
solo project, and I have kind of wanted to pin
something and I didn't know if I wanted to talk
about my childhood or you know, kind of the memoir route,
and I didn't have anything really shocking, uh to tell
people that would sell a book. But I know that
there are things that I'd like to talk about, and
I just happened to be, you know, brainstorming with um,
(29:40):
you know, my agents, talking about you know, when I
give speeches, and I talked about my sixth grade English teacher,
Mrs Dorothy Hardy, and how she just lit a fire
in me and just changed my life by saying that
she thought I was smart and had something on the
ball and I will just never forget that. And every
time I mentioned that story to people, or just in
(30:00):
and chatting with somebody at a cocktail reception, everybody lights
up with the story about a cherished teacher. So I
then they said I think we're onto something here, and
and it just became this idea of rather than jealousy,
and I came up with the idea, I guess, rather
than just tell my story, which you know is limited.
I mean, I've got a teacher, and I've got some others,
maybe I talked to other people and just find some
(30:22):
you know, well known people, well established people, people who
become successes and hear their story about a teacher, and
particularly ed because coming out of the pandemic, there were
so many stories about a the realization that teachers do
such amazing work because parents were having to jump in
and be the fact that they were just overwhelmed and
exhausted and just felt that they you know, didn't feel appreciated.
(30:45):
And then suddenly, you know, they started to feel like
political pawns and teachers were just really under assault in
a way. And I thought, if ever there was a
time to just herald teachers and talk about what they
do and what they need, this is the time. So
I just started reaching out to anybody and everybody, and
and and my my publisher, Ndscape, which is an imprint
(31:07):
of Disney, thought maybe in a couple of years we
should aim for and I said, no, this book can't wait.
This book has to come out sooner than later. And
they said, well, you know, I don't know. It's kind
of hard to sort of do. And I said, listen,
this is what I do as a journalist. This is
what I do. I I you know, and you know
we call him crashes. We're crashing the story. I mean,
we're gonna work. I said, I will send. I will
(31:28):
spend my summer crashing for this story. And then of
course I started to get panicked. I can I really
do this? Can I really do this? But everybody I
turned to. Octavia Spencer has become a friend of mine
because I've interviewed her a couple of times. I emailed her,
would you want to do this? Oh my gosh, let
me tell you about Mrs. She starts going on about
her teacher. Um. I reached out to Danielle Blue, the chef,
(31:48):
just because I know him and we sit on a
board together. He starts telling me about his teacher. Into
the own France. Um, anybody I bumped into Jimmy Allen,
the musician, the country music star. I saw him at
the Morning America. I mentioned it. He said, oh my gosh,
Robin Roberts, Brooke Shield to my hand. I just started
reaching out to anybody and everybody, and I thought I
am onto something. And before I knew it, I just
(32:11):
had a collection of people. And then I reached out
to Oprah and Oprah said, anything I am in life
is because of teachers. Let me know when you want
to talk. And I thought, oh my gosh, this is amazing.
And so from there and I just went, you know,
almost anybody I asked said yes, Um, Spike Lee, tiny Lee, Um,
a Melody Hobson, Um. A lot of these folks, you know,
(32:34):
Al Roker gave me his story, as I said, Robin
Robert some of the folks at Good Morning America. It
was just amazing. And so this is in my mind
a love letter to teachers. Well indeed, and uh coming
this may lessons learned and cherished and any of us
who have been blessed to have those people who genuinely
(32:55):
educate us, but but more specifically feed us. That's exactly encouragement.
You know, nurture us, um and give us what you
need to step out in the world and really believe
that you can make it. As as Oprah said, said
that was a time when people when teachers poured something
into your soul. It wasn't about the uh that aligeable
problem and all of that that you might remember. It
(33:17):
was about a teacher who poured something into your soul.
And these stories are remarkable. They're uplifting, some are a
little heartbreaking, some are a little funny. They were just
great stories that I hope will encourage us to cherish
teachers more and also to remind teachers of how treasured
they are. Debra is a pleasure to have you on,
so my best to Alan, thank you again for making
(33:38):
time today. It was such a pleasure great seeing you again.
A big thanks to Deborah. You can catch her on
and Good Morning America on ABC and look for her
new book, Lessons Learned and Cherished The Teacher Who Changed
My Life. Coming Out this May one hundred is produced
(34:04):
by ed Gordon Media and distributed by I Heart Media.
Carol Johnson Green and Sharie Weldon are our bookers. Our
editor is Lance Patton. Gerald Albright composed and performed our theme.
Please join me on Twitter and Instagram at ed L
Gordon and on Facebook at ed Gordon Media.