Larry King

 Larry King died this weekend. Given the litany of medical ills he suffered over the course of his life, it is a wonder that Larry King lived to be 87 years old. He endured multiple heart attacks, a stroke, cancer and more. 

Larry King spent a quarter of a century on CNN with his weeknight talk show airing at 9 PM Eastern time with his trademark square glasses and suspenders. King became so iconic in his role that he frequently made appearances in TV shows or movies where a character becomes famous enough to be interviewed on TV. 

Larry King was sometimes derided for asking his guest soft ball questions and not being a more hard hitting journalist. But Larry King was there to have a conversation with his guest and his easy going conversational style engaged his guest to be perhaps more forthcoming with an honest answer than a more confrontational approach. 

Odd factoid I did not know or had forgotten: Donald Trump was a guest host on Larry King's CNN show. Since Larry's biggest advice for an interviewer is to listen, I can't imagine how a Donald Trump hosted show would go.

My experience with Larry King began before he became a mainstay on CNN. Before going to television, Larry King hosted a radio interview show on the Mutual Broadcasting System that aired on stations across the country that started at midnight on the east coast. One of my first paying jobs in radio was working at a Greensboro station, WBIG. And my job was running the board during the Larry King show. It was a part time gig.  

Modern day radio being mainly computer run, I imagine "running the board" jobs are a thing of the past. Basically, running the board meant being in the control room/studio, running station ID's at the top of the hour and local ads through out the hour with some on air work with time and weather checks.  Also taking transmitter readings to make sure the station was still on the air at sufficient power. 

And I would listen to Larry King. On radio in his younger days, Larry King was less congenial that his more folksy TV persona. He was still friendly but he would not suffer fools who called into his show. He would not hesitate to cut off a caller who was rambling, off topic or just plain boring. 

His show on CNN was always a brisk hour. Larry's time with his guests was less an interview and more of a conversation. And he treated each guest with respect regardless of their position. Celebrities and presidents sat in Larry's guest chair to have a chat over the course of an hour.  

A lot of talk show hosts today seem to seek the attention of the camera away from their guests. Larry King was of a passing breed that remembered the guest was the true star of the show.

Let's wrap up this post with a clip of Larry King from The Simpsons.