Young people starting out in television sometimes say to
me: “I want to be you.” My stock reply is always: “Then you
have to take the whole package.”
And now, at last, the most important woman in the history
of television journalism gives us that “whole package,” in
her inspiring and riveting memoir. After more than forty
years of interviewing heads of state, world leaders, movie
stars, criminals, murderers, inspirational figures, and
celebrities of all kinds, Barbara Walters has turned her
gift for examination onto herself to reveal the forces that
shaped her extraordinary life.
Barbara Walters’s perception of the world was formed at a
very early age. Her father, Lou Walters, was the owner and
creative mind behind the legendary Latin Quarter nightclub,
and it was his risk-taking lifestyle that gave Barbara her
first taste of glamour. It also made her aware of the ups
and downs, the insecurities, and even the tragedies that
can occur when someone is willing to take great risks, for
Lou Walters didn’t just make several fortunes—he also lost
them. Barbara learned early about the damage that such an
existence can do to relationships—between husband and wife
as well as between parent and child. Through her roller-
coaster ride of a childhood, Barbara had a close companion,
her mentally challenged sister, Jackie. True, Jackie taught
her younger sister much about patience and compassion, but
Barbara also writes honestly about the resentment she often
felt having a sister who was so “different” and the guilt
that still haunts her.
All of this—the financial responsibility for her family,
the fear, the love—played a large part in the choices she
made as she grew up: the friendships she developed, the
relationships she had, the marriages she tried to make
work. Ultimately, thanks to her drive, combined with a
decent amount of luck, she began a career in television.
And what a career it has been! Against great odds, Barbara
has made it to the top of a
male-dominated industry. She was the first woman cohost of
the Today show, the first female network news coanchor, the
host and producer of countless top-rated Specials, the star
of 20/20, and the creator and cohost of The View. She has
not just interviewed the world’s most fascinating figures,
she has become a part of their world. These are just a few
of the names that play a key role in Barbara’s life,
career, and book: Yasir Arafat, Warren Beatty, Menachem
Begin, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter,
Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Roy
Cohn, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, Katharine Hepburn,
King Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Henry Kissinger, Monica
Lewinsky, Richard Nixon, Rosie O’Donnell, Christopher
Reeve, Anwar Sadat, John Wayne . . . the list goes on and
on.
Barbara Walters has spent a lifetime auditioning: for her
bosses at the TV networks, for millions of viewers, for the
most famous people in the world, and even for her own
daughter, with whom she has had a difficult but ultimately
quite wonderful and moving relationship. This book, in some
ways, is her final audition, as she fully opens up both her
private and public lives. In doing so, she has given us a
story that is heartbreaking and honest, surprising and fun,
sometimes startling, and always fascinating.
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