Triad Today

When Jim Longworth began his broadcasting career in 1970, most people only had three TV networks to watch. There was no Paramount+, Hulu, or Netflix. There was no such thing as DirecTV, and less than 10 million households even had cable. What folks DID have was a plethora of local television programs to watch. There were programs that featured news makers and sports stars. There were shows targeted to women and children. And, there were locally produced specials and documentaries.

“I was lucky enough not just to be influenced by local programming, but to be a part of it as well,” Jim told me.

That luck included everything from running studio cameras, to reporting, doing weather, and producing prime time specials, such as a half-hour show with legendary comedian Red Skelton, which was taped before a live audience at WFMY in 1978. Jim produced and appeared in his own kids’ show in Charlotte, then hosted a live, daily talk show in Richmond before starting a production company which produced and syndicated public affairs programs that focused on everything from healthcare and education, to business and government. It was all leading to his most enduring venture in his own hometown. I sat down recently with Jim to reflect on the upcoming 1,000th episode of Triad Today.

Pam: When did you create Triad Today, and why?

Jim: I came back home to Winston-Salem in 2002 to help look after my parents, and one day while watching TV with my dad, I realized that with the exception of news, all other local programs had pretty much disappeared from the Piedmont broadcast landscape. That’s when I created Triad Today, and we’re now in our 21st year.

Pam: Do you remember the first broadcast?

Jim: Do I remember it? How old do you think I am? 

Pam: 70.

Jim: You didn’t have to answer that. It was a rhetorical question.

Pam: OK, so what was the first show like, and how has Triad Today changed over the years?

Jim: he first broadcast was on October 3, 2003, and it featured a debate over the proposed baseball park in Greensboro. Former Mayor Jim Melvin spoke in favor of the project, which soon became a reality. Before leaving the studio, Melvin said to me, “This is kind of a third-rate setup you have here.” 

Pam: Did you take offense at that remark?

Jim: No, because he was right. During that first year, the Triad Today studio set consisted of a plain black wall, a grey drape, and three director’s chairs. It looked like we were shooting the show in a bus station basement.

Pam: Bus stations don’t have basements.

Jim:  What are you, a CNN fact-checker? 

Pam: In spite of the sparse studio set, along the way you managed to win the prestigious Spectrum of Democracy Award, and were recognized by Congress for your commitment to voter education. How did those honors come about?

Jim: Because during every election cycle I give free air time to candidates in high-profile races, including interviews with folks like Senator Elizabeth Dole and her challenger, the late Kay Hagan. We’ve also had candidates for Governor come from all over the state to appear on Triad Today, and we’ve featured a number of Congressional candidates from Piedmont area districts.    

Pam: In every show you also interview community leaders who focus on a wide range of topics. But the most popular segment each week is the Roundtable. How did that evolve?

Jim: I called it the Roundtable because I would throw out topics and then have local journalists and civic leaders comment. During the first year, the Roundtable gang consisted of former WFMY legend Lee Kinard and news reporter Leonard Simpson. Later I expanded the Roundtable to include two regulars (journalist Ogi Overman and civic leader Keith Granberry), along with a rotating panelist from the world of business, politics, education, and the arts.  

Pam: At the end of each Roundtable segment, you comment on a funny item in the news, then embellish it with a humorous twist. How did that come about?

Jim: I stole that from the late great David Brinkley who as host of “This Week” on ABC, would end each show by commenting on a funny news story. 

Pam: Your jokes don’t always go over though, right?

Jim: No, and thanks for reminding me. That’s correct. Sometimes the Roundtable gang laughs and sometimes they groan.

Pam: Can you give me an example of a funny one?

Jim: “The Greensboro Science Center just announced the addition of a sloth to their exhibits. The sloth will sleep at the center at nights, but he’ll keep his day job at the post office.”

Pam: I don’t imagine local postal workers appreciated that joke.

Jim: No, so I apologized to them on air. I would have mailed my apology, but…

Pam: Never mind, I get it. In addition to interviewing various community leaders each week, Triad Today has also featured a number of celebrities. Who were some of your favorite special guests?

Jim: The Rev. Jesse Jackson was a great guest. In fact, we did an entire half hour with him. I recall asking him if voter apathy was the biggest problem in America, and he said, “No. Voter suppression.” Golfing legend Arnold Palmer was another memorable guest. He was a real gentleman and could make you feel like you were the only person in the room. Then there was Ed Asner who made a pass at you right in front of me. In fact, he actually licked the side of your face.

Pam: Yeah, that was interesting. So, who was your most memorable guest, or the most famous person you ever interviewed?

Jim: Well, there’s a difference between most famous and most memorable. Over the past 54 years, I’ve been fortunate to interview hundreds of really famous folks like Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, and Bryan Cranston. But when it comes to the most memorable, then hands down, that was NASCAR legend Richard Petty. 

Pam: Why?

Jim: Triad Today was only about ten shows into the first season and still trying to attract an audience, so Richard agreed to appear and promote Victory Junction, which was yet to open. The night before taping, Richard’s secretary called me and said that he and Kyle had to fly to Detroit for a sponsor meeting and because of that, Richard wouldn’t be able to do my show. I was devastated because Richard would have put Triad Today on the map, plus we had promoted his upcoming appearance. Nevertheless, I went ahead with the show, and midway through taping, I heard a commotion just outside the studio door. In walked Richard, who promptly sat down next to me and did the interview. Afterward, I learned that he had left Kyle in Detroit and took a plane back to Greensboro that morning just so he could do my show. Off camera I said to Richard, “I really appreciate your being here, but why would you leave an important sponsor meeting in Detroit to be on my little TV show?” “Because I give you my word,” said Richard. To this day and until the day I die, I’ll always get goosebumps when I remember that moment. It says all you need to know about The King.

Pam: What’s the goal of Triad Today, and has that changed over the past two decades?

Jim: Some things have changed, like my waistline and the color of my hair, but our mission has never changed, which is to facilitate discussions with movers and shakers who help to impact our community in a positive way and improve quality of life for every population. Sometimes that involves making folks aware of job training opportunities or reminding them of the importance of mammograms and wellness exams. Sometimes we promote the arts and cultural activities, and other times we help to lobby for much-needed legislation and public policy initiatives, like the work we did to push for reparations for victims of forced sterilization.  

Pam: One last thing. Why is it that you’ve never invited me to be on Triad Today?

Jim: Because I don’t believe in nepotism. I learned that from Ricky Ricardo who never wanted Lucy to perform in his nightclub. 

Pam: OK then Mr. Ricardo, let’s see what happens the next time you want something from me.

Jim: On second thought, how’d you like to be on the show next week?

Pamela Cook-Longworth is president of Pam Cook Communications and the reluctant wife of Jim Longworth. Triad Today airs Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on abc45, Sundays at 11 a.m. on MY48, and streams on wfmy+.

Six years ago, then-13-year old Tyler Hughes, of Clemmons, got on his ATV and proceeded to speed along a snowy, curvy road. The ATV flipped over on him and the roll bar severed his left arm. Tyler’s mom quickly applied a tourniquet to her son’s arm and surgeons were able to re-attach the limb. A local newspaper titled its story, “Quick Thinking Mom, Skilled Doctors Made the Difference.” Obviously, everyone was happy that young Tyler survived the crash, but a more appropriate headline would have been, “Boy Should Have Never Been on ATV in the First Place.” To that end, in July of 2018, I wrote a column calling for ATV laws to be more restrictive, but my words fell on deaf ears.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, over 4,000 people died in ATV accidents between 2004 and 2021, and 504 of those were in North Carolina, most of who were children and teens. Meanwhile, lucky crash victims like Tyler were among the 517,000 ATV riders who made it out of the emergency department injured, but alive. The problem is that no one seems to care about statistics. Lawmakers refuse to outlaw ATVs, parents continue to purchase these death traps for their kids, and young people continue to make poor decisions when riding them. And that brings me to our most recent ATV-related tragedy.

Late last month Layne Jones and Jayden Reynaldo hopped onto a 4-wheeler and went for a piggyback ride along a local highway in Transylvania County. The boys, both 16 years old and both members of the Eastern Randolph High School football team, suddenly lost control, ran off the road, and crashed into a tree. They were killed instantly. To compound the tragedy, there’s no indication that their deaths will yield any significant reforms when it comes to the sale and use of ATVs. If that weren’t the case, then legislators would have already paid more attention to the aforementioned statistics and widespread warnings by reputable individuals and organizations.

For example, at a 2010 meeting of the American College of Surgeons, it was reported that when comparing ATV accidents versus motorcycle accidents, the same injury from an ATV crash is 50% more likely to result in severe injury or death. The reason? Motorcycles are mainly operated by adults and ATVs are mainly operated by minors. Shockingly, under North Carolina law, children as young as 8 years old can operate an ATV if the engine is less than 70cc. Hey, while we’re at it, why don’t we just let children operate handguns, so long as it’s a small caliber? 

State lawmakers need to get off their collective asses and enact serious ATV reforms, including: no one under 16 can operate any kind of all-terrain vehicle; you must have a valid North Carolina license to operate an ATV; and, anyone between 16 and 18 must be supervised by an adult when operating an ATV.  

After Tyler Hughes crashed his 4-wheeler in 2018, I interviewed a pediatric injury prevention specialist for my Triad Today television show. He stated clearly that, “Parents should keep their children away from all ATVs.” Yet what did 13-year-old Tyler tell a Winston-Salem Journal reporter while he was recovering from surgery? He said, “I can’t wait to start riding again.” Tyler could be forgiven for his disregard of the dangers that ATVs present. Lawmakers and parents cannot.

Actress Angela Lansbury with Jim Longworth and his wife Pam Cook at the Women in Prime event

Something delightful happened in the fall of 1984. On Sunday night, September 30, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, CBS premiered Murder She Wrote, a light-hearted drama series about Jessica Fletcher, a widowed mystery novelist who helped Cabot Cove law enforcement solve murder cases. For 12 seasons, the show was comfort food for hungry viewers, and a ratings hit for the Tiffany Network. It spawned a series of TV movies, and after four decades, re-runs of the hour episodes are still on the air. It was a show that quickly achieved cult status and made a global superstar out of a once-shy theatre actress from England. That actress was my friend Dame Angela Lansbury.

I first met Angela when I produced and moderated Women in Prime, an event for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in March of 2007. It was a special evening I put together for the Academy to recognize outstanding TV actresses and female producers, with Angie as the honored guest. That night we had a wide-ranging conversation about opportunities for women in Hollywood, and about the barriers they face in grabbing those opportunities, such as gender and age discrimination, and stereotyping.

Speaking of which, Murder She Wrote producers originally offered the part of Jessica Fletcher to All in the Family star Jean Stapleton, but when she turned down the role, they reluctantly turned to Angela. That’s because they had stereotyped Angie as a theatre actress and thought the multiple Tony winner and Oscar nominee would not want to do television. They were wrong, thank the Lord.

During its first five seasons, Murder She Wrote was a perennial top ten favorite, and in its subsequent six seasons, it never fell out of the top 15. But CBS in all of its wisdom decided to tinker with the prime time line-up in season 12 and move Murder She Wrote from its Sunday night perch to Thursdays, where it fell to #58 in the ratings. Realizing its blunder, the network returned Murder She Wrote to Sundays for what would be its last few episodes, including the series finale which was broadcast on May 19, 1996. Lansbury then starred in a series of four Murder She Wrote TV movies, after which Jessica Fletcher retired from network fare in 2003, but continues to solve murders in re-runs.

My friend Angela Lansbury passed away in October of 2022 at the age of 96, but I will always remember our time together at the TV Academy’s Women in Prime event. What follows are highlights from our conversation that night.

JL:  I think all of the early Murder She Wrote episodes were written by men, and you were outspoken about the fact that men didn’t always write for women the way they should. Did you ever get any women writers?

AL:  We never had women writers. We never did. I wanted to have women writers. Thank goodness my brother was the story editor for a while because at least he knew what I was wanting to achieve in the way of helping Jessica to grow out of Cabot Cove, and put her foot in the larger pond, get out in the world and interact with more interesting people. He enabled me to do that, but we couldn’t go very far afield with that format.

JL:  In 1987 you wrote Positive Moves: My Personal Plan for Fitness and Well Being, and I heard that the book was inspiring for a lot of women. Speaking of which, tell me about the feedback you’ve received from women who said you had a positive impact on their lives.

AL:  I’ve had some wonderful feedback from the theatre roles I’ve played, and from the movie roles I’ve played, not so much with The Manchurian Candidate. It took me years to live down THAT role [laughs]. I started Murder She Wrote when I was 59 years old, coming up to 60, and I got into television because I felt I hadn’t made any real money in the years I had been in the theatre and movies, and the time had come for annuity, you know? [laughs] You have to think about these things. And so, I got into television, thank God. But I was lucky to fall into an extraordinary role, a role model for women of my age. Women had never been represented in the way Jessica Fletcher approached her middle age, and for the first time, those women really counted for something. But the interesting thing was, it wasn’t just women that I heard from. It was also men. Middle-aged men and older men adored Jessica, and to this day they still do. But the mail I got from women was just astronomical, and I still get it. It’s quite extraordinary. Women just decided they were going to be like Jessica Fletcher. They became writers, and they pulled themselves together. They lost weight thanks to the book, and they became absolutely fascinated by what was possible for women of our age to attain. So, the feedback was tremendous.

At the end of our panel discussion, I asked Academy Chairman Dick Askin to present Angela with a plaque that recognized her as a “Pioneer for Women in Television”.

When the deafening standing-room-only applause died down, Angie thanked the Academy and then I took the opportunity to thank her for helping me get my wife Pam to the altar. I explained that following our first meeting, Pam was none too impressed with me, nevertheless, I persevered. I learned that her all-time favorite TV show was Murder She Wrote, so I packed up my entire VHS collection of Jessica’s mysteries and dropped the tapes off to Pam at work. Soon afterward she agreed to go out with me, and eventually we tied the knot. Angela laughed and said, “What a wonderful story! I can’t believe it.”

There’s no telling just how many lives Angela Lansbury touched, and how many people she helped along the way. One example occurred during the filming of a Murder She Wrote episode. As the story goes, guest star Van Johnson could see how the grueling production schedule was wearing on his buddy Angie. He told her she had made enough money and didn’t have to keep working and suggested that she should just walk away. Angela told him she would not think of quitting because hundreds of people depended on her for a living. That was Angela in a nutshell. It’s no mystery to know why she was so beloved. She was always thinking of others. Always a team player. Always giving us all she had to give. It’s a nice sentiment to remember on this 40th anniversary of Murder She Wrote.

TV crime shows often depict plea deals as a method of catching a murderer by offering less jail time to an accomplice in exchange for his testimony. Seldom, however, do we ever see plea deals offered to the main criminal himself. After all, why make a deal with someone you’ve already got dead-to-rights? Yet that’s what happened last week when Forsyth County prosecutors offered a plea deal to Aquavis Hickman.

In April of this year Hickman, then a 17-year-old student at Parkland High School, walked to the front of his classroom and began shouting profanities at his female teacher who was seated at her desk. All of a sudden, he landed a hard slap to the right side of the teacher’s face. He then stepped back and asked if she wanted another slap. “I don’t want it,” she said. Nevertheless, Hickman then slapped her again, this time so hard that it snapped her head back and knocked her glasses to the floor. Hickman then danced around shouting, “Ain’t nobody coming. You just got slapped. Go back to teaching.” The shocking incident was captured on video by a student in the classroom.

This was not Hickman’s first time acting out. Earlier in the year he had threatened another teacher with violence and, according to the district attorney, “joined two other people to cause a riot at the school.” Yet shortly after his arrest for slapping his teacher, the Forsyth County D.A. seemed resigned to trying Hickman as a juvenile. Later, when Hickman’s second offense came to light, prosecutors charged the young man with five felonies including two assaults on government officials, communicating threats in connection with the slapping incident, inciting a riot, and second-degree kidnapping.

In North Carolina, such crimes can carry a prison term of up to 7 years. That means, under the law, Hickman could serve as many as 35 years behind bars. But hold the presses. Last week prosecutors offered Hickman an unbelievable plea deal. If he pleads guilty to all five charges, then all charges will be consolidated into a single Class “E” felony. Speaking with the Winston-Salem Journal, Hickman’s attorney Andrew Keever said that under the terms of the consolidated deal, a judge could give his client a suspended sentence and put him on probation. How nice.

This plea deal flies in the face of logic or justice. Back on May 8, Forsyth District Attorney Jim O’Neill, Winston-Salem Police Chief William Penn, and Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough held a news conference at which time they announced a zero-tolerance policy ”for any activity that threatens public safety in schools.” Kimbrough and Penn must have been shaking their heads in disbelief upon hearing of Hickman’s plea deal. For now, Hickman and his attorney are considering the deal, but they’d be fools not to take it. Meanwhile, the trial is set for September 9 in Forsyth Superior Court.

Speaking with the Journal back in April, Michelle Jordan, a magnet school coordinator at Brunson Elementary said, “People aren’t born to do what that young man [Hickman] did,” and she indicated that the way to prevent such behavior is by hiring more school-based social workers. With all due respect to Ms. Jordan, I believe that some kids ARE born to do exactly what Hickman did, and no amount of counseling will cure him. Of course, Hickman’s attorney would disagree with me. Andrew Keever told the Journal that since the slapping incident, his client, “has made significant changes in his life.” I guess that means since Hickman hasn’t assaulted or kidnapped anyone while awaiting trial, then he must have reformed. 

Thanks to the plea deal, Hickman’s teacher has now been slapped in the face three times: twice by Hickman, and once by the district attorney.

I know this isn’t a profound thought, but athletic events should be about athletics not social issues, scandal, or controversy. The Olympics should be a competitive celebration of individual achievement, and for the most part, it is. Simone Biles, for example, was fun to watch as she displayed individual excellence, and the athleticism of America’s synchronized divers was jaw dropping. But this year’s Olympic games have also been marred by distractions of one kind or another. 

Before the athletes even suited up, billions of viewers had to first endure a parade of drag queens who went on to recreate a perceived living version of The Lord’s Last Supper. Later came the Canadian drone scandal, the controversy over the gender of an Algerian boxer, and a misogynist announcer who implied that female athletes are best suited to housework. Also tainting the fun was pollution of the Seine River, terrorist threats, bomb threats, a COVID outbreak in aquatics, the possibility of bedbug infestation, a rise in the number of tiger mosquitos, a Japanese gymnast sent home for smoking, Caitlin Clarke omitted from the women’s basketball team, raw meat being served at the Olympic village, Chinese women swimmers allowed to compete after having been found taking PEDs only weeks before, and the discovery that an Australian surfing judge was friendly with one of that country’s surfers. Bottom line: controversy is not fun, and it distracts from the games.

So, what’s the solution? Twenty years ago, late-night icon David Letterman offered a way to improve the Olympics. He invited 10 medal winners from the 2004 Olympics to help him present his Top 10 list. The category was: “Top Ten Ways to Make the Olympics More Fun.”

• 10: (Cara Kirk, silver medalist in the 400-meter swimming relay): “Gymnasts allowed to smoke during floor exercises.”
• 9: (Lindsay Benko, gold and silver medalist in swimming): “Require Dutch track and field team to wear wooden shoes.”
• 8: (Rulan Gardner, bronze medal weight lifter): “Replace pummel horse with a real horse.”
• 7: (Ally Cox, silver medal winner in women’s rowing): “Long jump, followed by high jump, followed by wide jump.”
• 6: (Patricia Miranda, bronze medalist in free-stye wrestling): “Try to make every event a little more like Yahtzee.”
• 5: (Pete Cippoloni, gold medal winner for men’s Rowing): “High dive tank full of sharks.”
• 4: (Susan William, bronze medalist for women’s triathlon): “Loser slots at the Olympic village.”
• 3: (Maurice Green, bronze medal winner in the 100-yard dash): “Instead of the National Anthem, play something by Usher.”
• 2: (Sarah McMahon, silver medalist in women’s free-style wrestling): “We got badminton. What could be more fun than that?”
• 1: (Gary Hall, gold and bronze medal winner in swimming): “Two words — Nude Fencing.”

I don’t know about nude fencing, but the IOC actually has enacted changes over the years to make the Olympics more fun. The problem is that in doing so, the committee has created controversy of its own by diluting and disparaging the true spirit of the ancient games. Sure, beach volleyball is a fun activity. So is ping pong, flag football, break dancing, and badminton. But those so-called “sports” don’t belong in the Olympics, and neither do men’s and women’s basketball for that matter. After all, the Olympics should test individual achievement by amateur athletes. What we have now are professional teams competing against each other. Don’t get me wrong, it’s exciting to watch Lebron and his teammates demolish foreign roundball squads, but those games belong in a world basketball tournament not in the Olympics.

Today it seems that just about anything can become an Olympic sport. Comedian Tracy Morgan recently told Jimmy Fallon that he was, “Competing in a knish and roast beef contest.” Don’t laugh, it might come to pass. At any rate, I hope that when the next summer Olympics rolls around it will be devoid of controversial distractions and inappropriate “sports,” so that we can just focus on more traditional events, like nude fencing.

Growing up in the 1950’s we had one television set in the house, and most of the time Dad and I had it tuned to westerns. But once a year Mom made us watch the Miss America pageant, and that was OK with Dad because he got to see women in swimsuits. Mostly though we all watched to see if Miss North Carolina would win the title. Later this month Triad viewers can watch as one of our own competes in the sister pageant to Mrs. America.

Though it didn’t receive national attention until much later, the “Mrs.” America system of pageants has been around in one form or another since 1938, and it was created to celebrate married women and their families. One of its spin-off programs is the “Mrs. American” pageant in which our state’s representative for 2024 hopes to win the national title and go on to compete in the Mrs. World pageant. This year’s Mrs. North Carolina American is High Point native Madeline Stewart, an interior designer and dance instructor who now lives in Blowing Rock with her husband Ian. I caught up with Madeline recently to talk about her background, her legacy connection to pageants, and her support for a special organization.

Jim: Where were you born?

Madeline: I was born in Chicago in 1993, but we moved to High Point when I was really young so this is where I grew up and spent most of my life.  

Jim: What do your parents do for a living?

Madeline: My mom is a doctor but most importantly, she’s one of my best friends. My dad is an independent sales rep for the Sherrill Furniture brands. I actually started my career in the furniture industry traveling with him during the summer months while I was in college. It was a great opportunity for me to learn sales and marketing firsthand. 

Jim: Did you watch the Miss America pageant on TV when you were a little girl, and, if so, what was your impression?

Madeline: Absolutely! I remember seeing the women on stage and thinking what an honor it would be to represent my state at a national level. I remember thinking those women were so beautiful and elegant, and as a young girl, those are the women that I looked up to. But most importantly, I remember looking at my mom’s headshot on my nightstand from when she was first runner-up for the Mrs. Illinois America title in 1991 and realizing how incredible it was that she could have been walking on a state-level stage. 

Jim: You are a very accomplished dancer, so when did you first show an interest in competitive dancing? 

Madeline: I started when I was young, but didn’t really appreciate dance until I grew into my teenage years. When I was younger, it was more about just having a fun atmosphere to learn and grow. But as I got older, I started to make friendships that were critical for me during that stage of my life. Dance became a way for me to express myself emotionally and just get lost in the music. It also was an opportunity for me to spend some time with my mom. She was in medical school while I was growing up, so for me to have one-on-one time with her doing something that involved hair, makeup, rhinestones, long car rides, and costumes was really special as a young girl. I also think the competitive aspect of dance really helped me with my self-esteem. I developed confidence every time I walked out on a stage to perform in front of hundreds of people. That’s the mindset that I’ll be taking with me to Las Vegas this month. I truly feel I am a storyteller and performer at heart, and I have a strong mission and purpose for competing in pageantry just like I did when I competed in dance. I’m hoping that fun and genuine side of me continues to come through on stage to the judges. 

Jim: You are an ambassador for Project HEAL. Tell me about that organization and why it has a special place in your heart in terms of your personal experience.

Madeline: I struggled with an eating disorder for years during my time in college. For some reason, I never felt good enough or accepted, and started to lose weight to combat those feelings. Once I saw my body with less weight, I couldn’t stop the mental battle of continuing to lose weight. I disguised this struggle as a health journey and became obsessed with size and numbers. My body started shutting down and I developed terrible anxiety and isolation. One of the main things I struggled with was accepting that I needed help and how to start the healing journey. Project HEAL is an eating disorder nonprofit that gives individuals hope and healing options when struggling with an eating disorder. It was founded in 2008 and offers treatment placement, cash assistance, meal support, and insurance navigation. It’s a safe environment and opportunity for people who are struggling with an eating disorder to find hope and healing.

Jim: Many girls and young women are obsessed with being skinny. Does that concern you?

Madeline: Absolutely, I had one of the young girls in my dance class open up to me recently about struggling with her body weight and comparison, and she’s only nine years old. I believe young women are growing up in an age where social media places additional pressure on girls to have the perfect image and the perfect body. Because of this, we’re starting to see eating disorders show through at younger ages. It’s important for us as mature women to be confident in ourselves and watch what we say about our bodies around the younger generation. The best gift we can give them is to be comfortable and content in our own skin. That’s why it’s really important for me to share my story and show young women that I’m not competing in this pageant as a woman who’s obsessed with her weight and image, but instead, as a woman who can relate to that struggle and is an overcomer. I’ve spent so many years hating my body. It’s only when I finally dropped the stress of focusing on weight and body image and started to focus instead on health and wholeness, that I was able to stand tall as the woman God created me to be. My body isn’t bad, it never has been, I just had to have the strength to see it in a positive light and choose to give myself grace and be present. That’s why I wanted to compete in pageants, to share my story, stand with confidence, and show other women they can do the same. 

Jim: Let’s circle back to your mom, Dr. Sherry Ryter-Brown who competed in the Mrs. Illinois America pageant. What life lessons have you learned from her?

Madeline: I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve been able to learn from my mom is empathy and authenticity. She is 100% her fun and upbeat self at all times, whether it’s as a mom, physician, or a friend. She has a goofy side and a fun personality that she’s not scared to show people, and I think this gives her an amazing sense of relatability to her patients and friends. For me, there are times where I have to balance being professional with my fun and upbeat personality, so finding that balance is something I’ve definitely learned from her! I also want women of all ages to feel comfortable talking to me, especially about body image and disordered eating. I think my vulnerability about sharing my struggles and my journey is something that will encourage and inspire women. I learned the importance of talking about my story and testimony from my mom.

Jim: Why is having pageants for married women important, and what would it mean to you to win the national title?

Madeline: I didn’t grow up competing in pageants, so for me to have the opportunity to compete later in life now that I’m married is incredible. The Mrs. America system is one of the longest-running pageants for married women, so it’s an honor to be able to represent North Carolina for the national Mrs. American title. Winning would mean the world to me, especially to have the chance to represent women who have struggled with their bodies. I think having someone who’s strong, healthy, outgoing, and comfortable in their own skin would have a huge impact. I’ve had such a positive experience with the Mrs. America system, I would love to travel to other states and encourage women who may be interested in pageantry to compete and start chasing their dreams regardless of their age.

Madeline will compete for the national Mrs. American title on August 27 in Las Vegas where she will be judged on her beauty, costume, evening gown, swimsuit, interview, and how well she photographs. Anyone who has ever met Madeline knows she will excel in all six categories, but if my dad was still alive, he would only care about the swimsuit.

At about 1:45 p.m. this past Sunday, Joe Biden released a statement on social media in which he announced that he was not seeking re-election. A half-hour later he followed his first post with a second one in which he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him. All of this was the result of Biden’s now infamous debate debacle, which raised questions about his mental and physical fitness to serve. And it came after nearly three dozen Democratic lawmakers called for him to get out of the race. Perhaps the final straw was former Speaker Nancy Pelosi telling Uncle Joe that the polls showed he couldn’t beat Trump and that he would hurt down-ballot candidates in the process. 

Biden’s weekend announcement took some folks by surprise, while others wondered why he took so long to bow out, especially with the Democratic Convention less than a month away and the election less than four months away. Now Party leaders and delegates are scrambling to get behind Harris and figure out who their ticket will be. All of this drama could have been avoided if politicians and donors had paid heed to David Ignatius.

Last October I reported on various sources that were calling for President Biden not to run for re-election. Chief among them was Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who is said to have been one of Biden’s favorite journalists. Ignatius cited early polling and strongly suggested that neither Biden nor Harris could beat Trump. Concurrently other media pundits were floating names of candidates who could get the Democratic nomination if Biden dropped out and, now that Kamala is the odds-on favorite to take the top spot, those same pundits are floating those same names as possible running mates for Harris. Among them are Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina.

True, Cooper has proven he can win elections, but only by a razor-thin margin the first time around because he threw Pat McCrory under the bus for creating the “Bathroom Bill”. The problem is that McCrory didn’t create the bill and even tried to derail it, but never mind the facts. Cooper also gained both praise and criticism for his handling of the Covid pandemic. Supporters say Cooper helped save lives by closing schools, issuing a stay-at-home order, requiring vaccinations and masks, and enforcing socially distant public gatherings. But the governor acted unilaterally in extending those orders when he should have sought consensus from his council of state officers. The lengthy shutdown threw students way behind and caused thousands of small businesses to go out of business, the effect of which we are still feeling today. And for you Law and Order fans, Cooper shockingly pardoned a number of murderers, including a woman who burned up her grandparents’ house with them in it. On the plus side, some Democrats think a swing state governor like Cooper could help Harris overcome Trump’s current 6-point lead in North Carolina, but don’t bet on it.

With apologies to my own governor, if the Democrats really want to give Trump a run for his money, I think Harris should tap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as her running mate. Whitmer is a capable leader, and she could actually deliver her home state for the Dems. Moreover, an all-female ticket might encourage higher voter turnout at a time when Trump and Vance propose to trample on women’s rights. 

Biden did the right thing by stepping aside. Whether his decision bears fruit in November remains to be seen.

On an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, rock-throwing hillbilly Ernest T. Bass descends on Mayberry in order to obtain a diploma. Using a map, Sheriff Andy helps Ernest study for his geography test.

Andy: The United States is bordered on the north by Canada, on the south by Mexico, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. What borders us on the west?

Ernest: Old man Kelsey’s woods.

Andy: No, it’s a big body of water.

Ernest: Old man Kelsey’s crick.

Andy: It’s an ocean.

Ernest: Old man Kelsey’s ocean.

Andy: No, the Pacific Ocean.

Ernest: I sure do know my boundaries good, don’t I?

Andy: You sure do.

Ernest: Just so they don’t change them before I take my test.

Fortunately for Ernest T. Bass geographical boundaries and names did not change that week, but they sure have changed since then, especially across Old Man Kelsey’s Ocean. There’s no more Burma, Ceylon, or Czechoslovakia. Nor can you find Rhodesia or Zaire on the map. And if Ernest T. was taking his test today, he’d be thoroughly confused about Russia, which became the Soviet Union, and then Russia again. But nowhere is basic geography more confusing than in the world of American sports.

In the National Basketball Association, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, and Milwaukee are in the “Eastern” division, even though the Motor City is over 800 miles from the east coast. Memphis, meanwhile, is considered to be in the west, even though it is 1,500 miles from Los Angeles. Same problem with the National Football League which considers Dallas to be located in the east, where its division rivals are located a thousand miles away. 

If you really want to get confused, try and follow the logic of how college basketball teams are apportioned to the NCAA tournament. In this year’s bracket San Diego State University, Auburn University, Washington State University, and Iowa State University were placed in the East region. Wisconsin, Vermont, and Colorado competed in the South Regionals. UNC, Charleston, and Clemson University went to the West, and South Carolina was assigned to the Midwest region.   

And while I’m on the topic of college sports, nothing beats geographical manipulation quite like that of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which today operates strictly from a position of greed. It wasn’t always that way. 

The ACC was formed in 1953 with eight charter member schools: UNC, North Carolina State University, Duke, Wake Forest, Mayland, South Carolina, The University of Virginia, and Clemson. This alignment made sense. After all, the member colleges were in states that bordered the Atlantic Ocean, all were within driving distance of each other, and League headquarters were centrally located in Greensboro. 

In 1971, South Carolina got mad, took their ball, and went home, but they were eventually replaced by Georgia Tech, which was a perfect geographical fit for the league. Later on, Florida State University joined the ACC, and while Tallahassee was a long haul to the northernmost arenas, it was a logical addition. Unfortunately, all logic was abandoned beginning in 2004. That’s when the ACC opened its membership to Virginia Tech and Miami, and, a year later, to Boston College. Things then got really out of hand a decade later when Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse were added. (Last time I checked, Kentucky and Indiana are nowhere near the Atlantic Ocean). And just when you thought the league couldn’t get any more convoluted, things changed for the worse. 

The ACC’s new commissioner, Jim Phillips arrived in 2021 and was not content to leave bad enough alone. After moving the league headquarters to Charlotte and devaluing the Greensboro Coliseum as a regular venue for the men’s tournament, his next move was to add Southern Methodist University, Stanford, and UC Berkeley to the fold starting with the upcoming school year. None of the three new members have any geographical relation to the Atlantic Coast of course, but hey, who cares so long as they help boost the league’s fortunes.  

The reason for all of this expansion is money, specifically TV revenues, but you’ll never convince me that bigger is better, or that diluting traditional state rivalries in favor of cross-country travel is good for fans or the student-athletes. You’ll also have a hell of a time convincing Ernest T. Bass that Texas and California are anywhere near the Atlantic coast or Old Man Kelsey’s woods.

Late last month the American Film Institute honored Nicole Kidman for her lifetime of achievement. But Nicole is only 56 years old, which raises the question, “What constitutes a lifetime?” Inquiring minds want to know because every year hundreds of organizations give out lifetime achievement awards. In addition to AFI, there’s the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Oscar’s Honorary Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, and my favorite, the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement, named for a man who created a vampire who I believe has been eligible for over 700 lifetime achievement awards. 

Kidman’s relative youth is not unique among so-called lifetime honorees. In fact, plenty of other entertainers have been recognized in their 50s, like Orson Welles, Harrison Ford, and Jack Nicholson, and some, like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, have even been honored in their 40s. 

The groups who present these awards set no age restrictions, but they are very clear about their general criteria. AFI’s original by-laws required that a lifetime achievement recipient’s work “must have stood the test of time” (that was later amended to include folks with an active career). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences reserves its Honorary Award “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement.” The Grammys presents their award for “performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.” And the Kennedy Center Honors are given to those in the performing arts “for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.”

OK, so once again I pose the question, “What constitutes a lifetime?” Peter O’Toole received an Honorary Oscar in his 80s, and Lillian Gish was 90 when she picked up the AFI Lifetime Achievement award. Clearly, they and other elderly honorees have amassed an impressive body of work over many decades. But it doesn’t make any sense to honor anyone for a lifetime of achievement when their lifetime is far from over. 

Last year, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reported that the average life expectancy in America is 76.1 years, while the United Nations claimed a higher number at 79 years. Regardless, a lifetime achievement award for someone in their 40s or 50s seems premature and a bit disingenuous, sort of like if 6-year-old Prince Louis of Wales wrote an autobiography titled My Life Story. Perhaps AFI and other groups might consider more definable benchmarks for awarding lifetime achievement, such as actual retirement age. In America, for example, the average age of retirement is 63. Or if these esteemed award-giving organizations want to be more age-inclusive, they could align their criteria with those of professional golf, which allows veteran players to move to the seniors tour once they reach 50, which is also about the time you start receiving mail from AARP.  In any case, we really need a clear consensus on what constitutes a “lifetime,” especially when recognizing individual achievement.

Once when confronted by Professor Van Helsing, Stoker’s Dracula said, “For one who has not lived even a single lifetime, you are a wise man, Van Helsing.” This tells us two important things. First, Dracula respects his enemies, and second, Van Helsing is not yet eligible for an award.

I’m old enough to have watched the very first televised presidential debate back in 1960 between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy. I was not, however, old enough then to understand how optics translates to votes. According to surveys, people who listened to the debate on radio thought Nixon won because of his ability to best articulate domestic and foreign policy issues. But those who watched the debate on television saw Kennedy as the hands-down winner. That’s because Nixon refused to wear make-up, had a 5 o’clock shadow, and wore a suit that clashed with the color of the studio background, while JFK showed up tanned, rested, and dressed in telegenic attire. The difference in the two men’s appearance and demeanor was enough to swing the election to Kennedy in what turned out to be the closest presidential contest in history. 

Since then, I have watched presidential debates every time they were televised. I saw Jimmy Carter look weak in 1980, and four years later I watched Reagan look old and confused in his first debate with Walter Mondale. I witnessed George H.W. Bush looking bored in his 1992 three-way debate with Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. I’ve seen candidates misspeak like when Gerald Ford said there was no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. And I saw Obama take Mitt Romney to school over military equipment in one of their debates. But never have I seen anything to compare with the performance of Joe Biden in last week’s CNN debate with Donald Trump. Biden shuffled out onto the stage, looked old and pale, gave incoherent answers, and lost his train of thought on several occasions. It was hands-down the worst debate performance I’ve ever witnessed, and it came against an opponent who is a lying, sexist, misogynist, white supremacist adulterer who incited an insurrection and also happens to be a convicted felon. Any incumbent president should have been able to win a debate against that kind of a man, but Joe Biden couldn’t.

Here’s a sampling of Biden’s incoherent answers. 

When trying to explain the revenues we would accrue from his tax plan, Biden completely lost his train of thought and said, “We’ll be able to do the things we need to do, [pause] everything with COVID [pause], I mean [pause], look, we finally beat Medicare.” 

When responding to Trump’s claim that illegal immigrants were killing Americans, Biden said, “A young woman who was murdered, he went to the funeral, and she was murdered by an immigrant, but there are a lot of young women who are raped by their in-laws, spouses, and sisters, and they can do nothing about it when they cross the state line.” Call me naïve, but I don’t know of any woman who has ever been raped by her sister.   

And when trying to take credit for a reduction in border crossings, Biden said, “I’m going to continue to do more until we get a total ban on border patrol.”

During the 90-minute debate, Biden did manage to come out of his slumber a few times and deliver some zingers, like when Trump said, “Let’s not act like children,” Uncle Joe retorted, “You ARE a child.” And speaking of Trump’s sexual encounter with a porn star, Biden said, “You have the morals of an alley cat.”  

Also to his credit, Joe did occasionally speak of his policy positions and accomplishments which have helped millions of Americans, but he never articulated them with any conviction, or without slurring his words. 

In the post-debate panel discussions, CNN analysts were dismayed by the texts they were receiving from leaders in the Democratic Party, calling Biden’s performance “dismal” and his answers “incoherent.” Biden’s friend and former Obama advisor David Axelrod said the President “seemed disoriented.” And Van Jones said it was painful to watch, “I love Joe Biden, but he failed,” said Jones. Their consensus was that Biden should get out of the race so that a viable candidate could step in to take on Trump in November.

As I mentioned before, plenty of candidates have had a weak debate performances and one could posit that Biden’s CNN disaster was similar to Reagan’s first debate with Mondale which made the Gipper look old and confused. But the comparison doesn’t hold up. Reagan came back strong in the second debate and even made light of the age issue. Not only that, but Reagan was 73 at the time and Joe Biden is 81. The other problem is that Reagan was a popular president, while Biden’s approval numbers were in the 30s before the debate. Also, Reagan always seemed youthful, engaged, and communicated a positive vision for the future, while Biden just looks and acts old and can’t articulate a vision for the country even if he had one.

I am no fan of Donald Trump and will never vote for him, but as an impartial journalist, I am compelled to say that Uncle Joe cooked his goose on that debate stage. If the Dems want to beat Trump, someone better convince Biden to drop out now and let California Governor Gavin Newsom step in as the party’s standard bearer. If not, we could have a reboot of 1960, where once again, the man with the tan will win the White House.

Over the past 20 years, North Carolina has had its share of municipal scandal and controversy. Town and city managers have made news for everything from sleeping with co-workers to domestic disturbances. And even on a good day, it’s not unusual to see local governing boards get into heated arguments about one thing or another, usually involving the allocation of tax dollars. But in the midst of this turbulence, Forsyth County has enjoyed largely smooth sailing when it comes to governance and administration, and for that we have Dudley Watts to thank.

After a stint as manager of Granville County, Watts, a native of Durham, was tapped to manage Forsyth County, a position he’s held since 2006. Now after 18 years of service to the community, he is retiring. I first met Dudley three years ago when we launched Forsyth County Connections, a monthly television series that keeps residents informed about various public services and programs. I caught up with Dudley recently during a taping of our TV show and we talked about his life and career.

JL: Tell me about your childhood and what activities you were into.

DW: I kinda did everything, but nothing all that well. I was a pole vaulter in high school, but I never made it over the bar [laughs]. I played football for a while and played tuba in the band. I was active in the church youth group and was an Eagle Scout. My father passed away from cancer when I was in high school, so my mom and I had to run a small convenience store for a while. Those were tough times, but I learned a lot and it really shaped my life.

JL: You graduated from N.C. State and did graduate work at UNC before landing jobs in communications and government. What attracted you to the county manager job in Forsyth?

DW: It was a dream job in a dream place. Mom grew up in Lexington, so I had family in the area and Forsyth had a long history of good local government.

JL: You submitted your final budget earlier this month, and, as always, things went off pretty much without a hitch. How has that process worked so well?

DW: I’ve got a group of department managers who care very deeply about providing high-level service to residents, and they do so in a very fiscally responsible way. They scrutinize requests, and then my job has always been to provide the commissioners with recommendations, but to do it in a way that gives them an ability to change it and really make it theirs. 

JL: Let’s talk about economic development and highlight some projects that have come to fruition during your tenure, starting with Innovation Quarter.

DW: When I started here back in 2006 and I’d drive down Liberty Street, all those buildings that are now the vibrant Innovation Quarter, they were all shuttered, and the amount of change since then has been tremendous. The county and the city played an integral role in making that happen by making incentives available to developers.

JL: Your thoughts on Whitaker Park?

DW: Whitaker Park was being discussed right when I arrived. It was a Reynolds facility that was underutilized, and the company worked with a non-profit development authority along with city and county support to revitalize that area which is now amazing. Purple Crow is in there and so is Second Harvest Food Bank, and some apartments are being developed. That was another area of the county that was shuttered which is now vibrant.

JL: What about Caterpillar?

DW: Caterpillar was recruited here and built a tremendous facility. They then converted to a subsidiary company and are doing some manufacturing of heavy mining equipment. It has been a real success.

JL: Smith Reynolds Airport is doing well too.

DW: Yes. That land has always been owned by the county, and it used to operate with a separate governmental authority, but several years ago we collapsed it into a county department. Mark Davidson worked through that transition as the leader there and he is now a department manager in the county. That gave Mark access to bond financing opportunities and the support of the county infrastructure, plus we got a lot of federal and state money there. We’ve expanded facilities and improved the maintenance overhaul operation. The terminal building is getting ready to be updated, and we’ve got two new hangars there which adds to the bottom line.

JL: You’ve always had a vision for developing downtown Winston-Salem. Talk about what we’ve come to know as the “Downtown Strategy.”

DW: Winston-Salem City Manager Lee Garrity came in about the same time that I did, as did Jason Thiel who was head of development, and there was clearly an effort to revitalize downtown. Back then the Mayor used to joke that if you shot a cannon down 4th Street at 5 o’clock, you wouldn’t have to worry about hitting anybody [laughs]. So, we got with Jason and with folks in the community and said, ‘Where’s the county’s footprint, and what do we need to do?”, and the results have been pretty remarkable.

JL: Let’s also mention that during your tenure as county manager, there has been an expansion of and addition to parks, and places for people to have fun, like Tanglewood and Festival of Lights.

DW: A lot of that was driven by the Board of Commissioners and what I observed that they were invested in. For example, one of the things I heard a lot about back then was getting the campground at Tanglewood back up and running, so we did, and it has been a remarkable success, producing a couple hundred thousand dollars in revenue for the county every year which supports county operations. It’s also great to develop new parks like Belews Lake Park which we’ll open up soon and the agricultural park near Tobaccoville. Preserving open space is part of maintaining quality of life for this community.

JL: Do you feel pretty good about how the County is doing these days?

DW: Yes. The facility and infrastructure side of it is good. There have been a lot of investments and not a lot of deferred maintenance through that. We are an organization that really focuses on providing a good quality level of service, but within the confines of not trying to buy any more government than we need.

JL: What will you miss about being County Manager?

DW: I’ll miss the people. I have been blessed in my career to work with wonderfully dedicated staff and elected officials. They all have this high level of expectation of the community and how we treat people. I’ll also miss the excitement of working on projects that will set the stage for something that you know will be good in the future.

JL: What will you not miss?

DW: Some of the stress of Thursday board meetings, but I’ve always enjoyed them after they were over [laughs]. But seriously there’s not too much that I won’t miss because this has been a remarkable opportunity for me.

All in all, it has been an amazing career for the pole-vaulting boy from Durham who never made it over the bar, then managed to raise it for the rest of us.

Growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s, I was addicted to television even before I could walk, and my Dad took me to see my first movie as soon as I had graduated from diapers. Of course, I wanted to emulate on-screen heroes like Superman and John Wayne, but one of my most lasting impressions from watching movies and TV shows had to do with listening to them. I was enamored with main title themes from TV shows like Peter Gunn, and scores from films like The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Only later did I come to realize that actual mortals compose such music, and one of my favorite musical mortals was Henry Mancini, who, as it turned out, I had the pleasure of interviewing back in 1980. More on that later.

Mancini was born on April 16, 1924, in Maple Heights, Ohio. His early interest in music led him to study at Julliard, then at age 18 he enlisted in the Army Air Force where he was discovered by bandleader Glenn Miller who recommended young Henry for the Air Force band. When World War II ended, Mancini worked as a pianist and arranger for Miller’s orchestra and soon thereafter he landed a job in the Universal Studios music department.

During his six-year stint at Universal, Henry helped to score a number of films for which he received no credit, and others where the studio let him shine, like on The Glenn Miller Story, which garnered Mancini his first Oscar nomination (he would go on to win four Oscars in his long career). Henry struck out on his own in 1958 and soon teamed up with producer/director Blake Edwards for the first of their many collaborations, the groundbreaking TV series Peter Gunn. The soundtrack from that series won Mancini his first Grammy. Over the next four decades, he would go on to win 19 more.

The Mancini/Edwards team won wide acclaim for such films as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (whose big hit was “Moon River”), The Days of Wine and Roses, Charade, and a slew of Pink Panther outings. Mancini was also successful scoring films away from Edwards including Touch of Evil, Silver Streak, and Mommie Dearest. Aside from Peter Gunn, some of Henry’s notable TV themes include Mr. Lucky, Newhart, Remington Steele, The Thornbirds, and the NBC Mystery Movie theme.

But Mancini’s work stretched far beyond music for movies and TV. In all, he recorded 90 albums, eight of which went gold, and he composed music in all genres, from jazz and country to soul. And now, 100 years after his birth, a group of award-winning musicians have honored Henry with a re-recording of his hits in a new album, which is scheduled for release on June 21. (Individual cuts bowed on YouTube April 16 on what would have been Mancini’s 100th birthday.) Titled, Henry Mancini, the 100th Sessions, the album features stars like Michael Buble (“Moon River”), James Galway and Lizzo (“The Pink Panther”), and Quincy Jones and John Williams (“Peter Gunn”). It was nostalgic for Williams who served as Mancini’s pianist on the original Peter Gunn album in 1958.

100th Sessions is being produced by Henry’s son-in-law Greg Field who also played drums on the re-recording of “The Pink Panther”. Field told CBS News that while most people under 50 have never heard of Henry Mancini, “I can’t imagine another composer who has created music that generations and generations through the decades keep resonating with people.”

And now to my story about the time I interviewed Henry Mancini.

In 1980, I started a video production company while still hosting a daily talk show on WXEX-TV (now WRIC) in Richmond, Virginia. I also freelanced as a radio announcer on WSVS am 1340, which was based in Petersburg. Henry was scheduled to give an upcoming concert in Richmond so several weeks prior, I called him to do a radio interview which would serve to promote the concert. The taped interview went well, mainly because Henry was so easy to talk to, plus it didn’t hurt that I was a big fan. As I recall, we spoke for about 15 minutes, said our goodbyes, and hung up. About a minute later the station engineer came running in to tell me that something went wrong with the tape and that none of the interview had been recorded. My heart sank. The engineer apologized and then rightly suggested that Mr. Mancini would never know about the mistake because he would never have heard the broadcast anyway. But we were talking about a man I really admired, so I swallowed my pride and called Henry back. I told him what had happened, and he very calmly said, “That’s OK, Jim. We’ll do it again.”

When asked what he admired most about his friend Henry Mancini, John Williams said, “He’s one of the nicest men I’ve ever known.” On that day in 1980, I found out what Maestro Williams meant.