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LA JOLLA, California (Press Release)—Larry King, the most stable figure in a medium not known for its constancy, will be the 12 noon Author Lecturer at the 15th Annual San Diego Jewish Book Fair on Sun., Nov. 8 at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla.
King is the Emmy Award winning host of CNN’s highest rated program, Larry King Live, the first worldwide phone-in TV talk show. Dubbed “the most remarkable talk-show host on TV ever” by TV Guide and “master of the mike” by Time Magazine, and well-known for his trademark suspenders and unmistakably avuncular voice, King will present his recently-released memoir Larry King: My Remarkable Journey. A book signing will follow.
At the age of 75 plus, King marvels at his staying power for half a century on radio and TV. Today he is a nightly fixture in the lives of millions of viewers around the world, but his beginnings were quite humble. Born in Depression-Era Brooklyn in 1933 to Jewish immigrant parents, King was profoundly influenced by the death of his 44-year-old father when he was nine years old, at which time his family was forced to go on relief. Larry remembers that his first pair of glasses was purchased by the government.
The young Larry Zeiger was known as Zeek the Creek the Mouthpiece because he never stopped talking. Mesmerized by the medium of radio, rejected by the military for his bad eyes, and not interested in college, King left home and moved to Miami, where a combination of persistence and good luck helped him achieve his dream of working in radio. He got a break filling in for a deejay at a Miami station, took the name of King when he was told his name was too “ethnic,” and launched his five-decade career.
His next job found him broadcasting live from Charlie Bookbinder’s Pumpernik’s Jewish deli for one hour each day. He interviewed anyone who was available, making even the restaurant staff sound interesting. One day, Bobby Darrin walked in, then Jimmy Hoffa, then Danny Thomas – and soon King was a celebrity in his own right, at least at the local level.
In 1964, when he got his first local TV show in Miami, he was emcee at a reception to welcome Jackie Gleason to Miami Beach. That night, Gleason and King discovered that they had much in common – Brooklyn, ethnicity (Gleason's was Irish) , absent fathers, no telephone – and their friendship began. Gleason eventually decided to appear on King’s midnight television show. After spending five hours talking on air, Gleason asked King what was impossible in his profession. King responded, “Frank Sinatra doing my radio show for three hours on one night.”
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At the time, Frank Sinatra was the biggest star in the world and he never returned phone calls, let alone agreed to do interviews. But Sinatra owed Gleason a favor, and Gleason cashed in the favor for his friend Larry King. The following Monday, promptly at 9 pm, five minutes before King went live, Sinatra arrived at the station in his limo and spent three hours talking on air with King.
King has done over 40,000 interviews on radio and TV: every US president since Richard Nixon (and their wives); world leaders from Margaret Thatcher to Nelson Mandela; controversial figures including Monica Lewinsky and O.J. Simpson; and sports figures, entertainers, and eyewitnesses to history’s greatest moments.
Bill Maher says, “King is the master at getting people to open up and tell their own story, and finally he has done it himself.” Bill Clinton says that King’s autobiography “tackles perhaps his most interesting subject yet: his own story.” King is unabashedly candid about the less savory elements of his life: his lost jobs, his smoking habit, his various health problems, his tendency to womanize, his eight marriages, the children he fathered but didn’t raise (one of whom he met only once – the “child” was 33 years old), having been down to his last $2 when he won $8,000 at the racetrack, the financial indiscretions that resulted in his 1971 arrest for grand larceny, and even getting thrown out of his son’s Little League game for arguing over an umpire’s call.
King is also honest about the fortuity of his success – being in the right place at the right time, having help from the right people, and coming to maturity when television was in its infancy. But there is no discounting King’s determination and dedication. Kirkus Reviews says that King had “the archetypal American life… a regular neighborhood guy who rises to the top through sheer gumption and force of personality.” At 75, he has the same enthusiasm each day as he had as a boy announcing cars driving on Brooklyn streets.
In addition to his broadcast credits, King founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars and provided life-saving cardiac procedures for needy children and adults. King also established a $1 million journalism scholarship at George Washington University’s School of Media and Affairs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
King is married to singer/actress Shawn Southwick-King and is the father of Andy, Larry Jr., Chaia, Chance and Cannon and stepfather to Danny Southwick.
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