And "the scene" I never forgot as a teenager inside the phone booth
The New Audio Book by Babara Leigh!
(I Love my copy and highly recommend it!)
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Good Morning! This has been a very hectic week. But above all else, I'd like to thank one of the loveliest women I've had the pleasure of visiting and becoming new friends with over coffee in on my feature, "THE INTERVIEW": Actress, Model, Author and Philanthropist Barbara Leigh. Never in a million years could I have dreamed that a Mid-Western kid who grew up on the "wrong side of town" and first saw Barbara in the film "Junior Bonner" on the "Big Screen" in a small movie theater would visit with her all these years later with fondness and admiration! She is an incredibly sweet and fascinating person. I also feel that Barbara's wisdom will have a tremendous impact on women of all ages who read this interview, who are searching for direction and hope. If you happened to miss our visit, just scroll back on this BLOG Page and enjoy catching up!
Manning: You are a survivor. You made that decision to change your life. And one of the things I wanted to ask you about is very hard. On my BLOG site I have readers who are young parents that I feel will empathize with you and benefit from what you have to share about your late son, Gerry and your philanthropy with The Aids Health Foundation?
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Leigh: I'll just tell you a just little bit about my son because I have a lot of guilt there. I didn't really raise him for a great majority of his childhood, and I'm sure that came from my mother not raising me. I was 17 when I had him and 19 when I divorced his father. He went to live with his father because he needed that male guidance. I felt that influence was so important at that time in his life. But he always wanted to live with me. So, it is very hard for me to discuss at length and I'm sure that mothers who will be reading this will understand. Whenever I speak at The National Graves Foundation and I start talking about my son, I break down.
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Manning: I'm so sorry for your loss.
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Leigh: Well, thank you. He was just the sweetest, kindest person. And I'm not saying that just because he was my son. For example, he couldn't stand to see an animal hurt. He would cry. Once he saw a woman get hit by a car. Fire and Rescue came and transported her to a hospital. But he cried for days about that woman--he cared so much! And I could not convince him that she was okay and that she was being cared for. He would carry things inside him like that. He was gay and unfortunately that took his life. When he was diagnosed with AIDS, I started looking for organizations that could help him and The AIDS Health Foundation was the best. When he came out, they were really there for him. He died in the hospital and they were just beautiful with him. After he died, I donated all of the unused medicine back to the hospital. While he was sick he told me, "Mom, I want you to get a tree for the (hospital) lobby", because it looked so bare. So, that's what I did.
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Manning: This is an Audio Book...and I must tell you...and anyone reading this interview. I went into this Audio Book with an open mind. I did not know at all what to expect. So, I would tell anyone who might be standing next to me in line at the bookstore check out area considering making a purchase, it's not your stereotypical 'kiss and tell all' book. It's not that way at all. It's a wonderful Audio Book I found. And you made two statements Barbara, that frankly, just floored me. First, you said that getting an education is so critical for young people. And I heard that and my mind raced back to the news reports about how many kids are dropping out of high school!
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Leigh: Yes, that's right. It's very serious!
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Manning: How did you arrive at this conclusion?
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Leigh: In my own life, it started with traveling. I went to all of these great countries---I'll use Israel as one example. You would go into the Museum in Jerusalem and you see the Dead Scrolls, and you see the Jewish people. That experience heightened my interest in the Jewish community and The Bible. Every step you take in Israel is a sacred step! These are Biblical, historical steps. Then when I went to Paris and attended the Great Museum that too was an experience that was unforgettable. Peter's four daughters all traveled to Europe every since they were kids. They were so cultured and I saw first-hand how this really led them to develop their minds and later in life they were able to make such sound decisions. This really convinced me that people should take their children to museums and explore great exhibits and travel as much as they can. Of course, not everybody can afford to travel to Europe. But parents can take their children to wonderful places of historical note here in the United States and discover what this great country is all about! And if they can't afford to do that, then they can make use of books and videos and really gain a sense of all there is to take in. When people earn a Bachelors degree, a Masters or a Ph.D., they acquire a phenomenal amount of knowledge to make wiser decisions. The kids who drop out of school and opt to make quick money are losing out on so much! Sadly, not everybody has that opportunity. I wish that I had the benefit of having had that kind of opportunity when I was a kid. Frankly, I could have benefited from making wiser and better decisions when I was younger.
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Manning: That goes to your second statement in the Audio Book that was just so amazing for me to hear. And that is the fact that you are making wiser and better decisions in your life today, and you spoke at length about that process earlier. But shifting gears for just a moment, I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about your personal observations about women in film today who are over the age of 40. They aren't getting roles, or if they are, the roles are very rare. I look at you today and you remain as striking as ever!
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Leigh: Thank you!
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Manning: Are you surprised that we seem to be hung up on stereotypes when it comes to age in society, or is this strictly limited to Hollywood and the attention we focus on celebrity?
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Leigh:C'mon! Let's face it. When you're young, you photograph more beautifully. You don;t have the stress in your face that life or sadness or regret or disappointment has put on you. Those are the life experiences that show on our faces. As you get older, it doesn't matter how good you are, life is just life! The entertainment business is geared to youth because it looks better on the camera. Now, it's sad because in Europe they seem to appreciate the older woman. I think that they do here too. The leading lady roles are just not being written for women in their 40's or 50's. It seems like the emphasis is on the 20's and 30's. In France, they love their women in their 40's.
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Manning: I didn't know that!
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Leigh: Yes, that's really the business. When you have overweight women--which is apparent throughout most of America--it's not an unattractive thing if they're healthy. But it is a different image that the magazines try and push on people to stay 'stick thin' which is very difficult.-
Manning: I also noticed that you mention Gerry's love of pets. Anne Marie Lucas and Joseph Pentangelo have been my Guests here on "THE INTERVIEW". And I was delighted to see that you're a very active advocate for abandoned pets. How did this come about for you?
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Leigh: I'll tell you how that came about. In New York, my husband bought me these wonderful Briard dogs and I loved them to death--we named them 'Bogie and Bacall'.
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Manning: (mutual laughter)...
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Leigh: I really just adored them. But after our marriage ended, a friend of mine who lived in Florida gave them a good home. While I was still in New York I decided to take a look in the local paper for a cat, because Peter never allowed me to have a kitten because he was allergic to them. I acquired this little black powder-puff of a kitten called 'Bear' and his name really suited him. He was this adorable little guy that was this little black fluff ball. Then when I moved back to Los Angeles into the very building where my best girlfriend had moved into in 1979, I began to notice all of these animals in the neighborhood. After I went to work for Celebrity Properties, there was The Beverly Hills Recycling Facility, and I noticed there were pets running around and looking just pitiful! My friend and I built this little house...
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Manning: ...Sort of an outdoor house for the pets?
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Leigh: Yes. And we carried the house over to the parking lot behind the Beverly Hills Animal Hospital. I started feeding these animals and trapping them so that I could get them to the care they needed and then find them homes. I did this for ten years.
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Manning: Oh, man! Ten years?
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Leigh: Ten years, Michael and all with my own money too. Then on top of that, I do my daily neighborhood rescue. There are about 12 cats that I take care of everyday and some that come around at night. In these times with foreclosures, as you know, people are just so desperate!
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Manning: I've seen it, it's so sad...
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Leigh: Well, it's shocking! Dogs haven't been able to get through my gates, thank God, because I'm sure they would have found their way to me. So, it's mostly been cats. But I've been finding them homes. We have Raccoons and all types of animals here in Hollywood, which is hysterical.
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Manning: Well, Barbara it's just a Joy for me to visit with you and to see and hear all that you are doing with such a full life. You make a comment that "Success is when one takes chances in life".
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Leigh: ...and responsibilities for the chances in life! The reason that I say that is because you have to be careful in this day and age with what's out there. But you also have to just get out there and take a chance sometime and do something that you really want to do. And if you fail, then don;t let it really get you down. Just pick yourself up and go to the next step, and something will happen.
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Manning: You do say "The best years are still to come". Is it fair to say that you've been experiencing a resurgence in your career? Do you feel that? I've shown this Audio Book to my friends and they say "Oh, sure I recognize her!"
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Leigh: Well, no I don't feel that. But the Vampirella character keeps me familiar in people's minds, and of course the movie "Junior Bonner" playing constantly helps because I certainly get a lot of e--mail from people who say "Oh, I loved you in 'Junior Bonner'. I remember when I was a kid".
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Manning:Hmm, Sounds awfully familiar, I don't know about you! (mutual laughter)
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Leigh:But today, I work with Playboy magazine. I've been there for twelve years. To have done a couple of layouts for them (1973 and 1977) and now to work with Playboy has been really wonderful. I really love Hef (Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner) a lot . I'd love to retire there at the company. It's a wonderful place.
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Manning: Why don't we give out your website, Barbara? It's barbaraleigh.com...
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Leigh: And people can write to me...excuse me, Michael. They can write to me on my Facebook and on My Space, I have a slide show of 108 pictures. I have some of my pets and a lot of people who are animal lovers will write and they appreciate that as much as I do hearing from them. These are new photos including my horse Cherokee which is not on my website. And I also feature some of the Vampirella covers.
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Manning: Well, my dear you are still "the girl" and your personality is even sweeter. You're still a young lady and a beautiful lady and I wish you every good thing to come your way in life. This has really been fun and for me an Honor.
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Leigh: Well, thank you for the opportunity, Michael. You know, I make one quote on Facebook where I say "Tomorrow is Great, but Today is Better!"
In this portion of our visit, I asked Barbara for her reflections on the film and modeling industry of yesterday and today. She shares with us the world she lived in during the 1970's with its meteoric heights, to the life she has rediscovered and created for herself today. Her amazing journey came about through a courageous self examination of what really lends meaning to life. Because there is a significant number of young women and parents who read my BLOG, and who for years have remained loyal friends on my Blogroll, I felt that Barbara's decision to share her life story was very poignant. Today and tomorrow, Barbara will share some tender lessons she has learned, as we gradually catch up with her exciting life today and what she is doing to help make the world kinder and gentler. Let's continue...
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Manning: You're really blessed with good genes and and high cheekbones--two qualities that are not unimportant in terms of helping secure your modeling career. Tell us about your heritage a little bit. You have a very unique background?
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Leigh: Well, I do and you know I'm not one-hundred percent sure...but I think I have some Cherokee Indian blood, English...which is the Childers when they came over from England. And that is a famous name in England, The Flying Childers of the Great Thoroughbred. So, that was my mother's father name. I have some German in me. I'm a mixture of an all-American mutt I guess! (mutual laughter).
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Manning: An all-American Mutt! (laughter)
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Leigh: Because I really can't be specific to one grand thing like an Italian or anything like that. I guess, I'm just a true-blooded American which is just a little bit of everything.
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Manning: Well, you're a beautiful lady. I should mention to anybody who will be reading our visit today and picking up your new Audio Book that your approach to life is, as I found...with an uncommon candor which is quite refreshing! And you state that your career began to wind down in the late 1970's. As you look back, and of course every body's story is unique. But I wanted to get your view as to why your career had begun to wind-down. What events were taking place?
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Leigh: Okay, I'll tell you. A lot had to do with where I was as a person. I had my last great love at that time before I got out of the business and moved to New York and married my husband with Joe Lewis who was the heavyweight karate champion of the world. And he was my husband briefly, but we were lovers and close friends for a long time. And I was going through that and then the whole thing with Vampirella when that folded, it was like I had suffered so many disappointments. I was running away from Joe because that was an intense love affair, probably the love affair of my life and one day I might write about that. Because it was extremely intense. We were just two young, attractive people who were passionately in love and it wasn't really good for my head because he wasn't really stable either. But after Vampirella, what happened and why I got out of the business is because when I'd go out on an interview for commercials, people were associating me with the Vampirella character. I didn't have that commercial image anymore. I felt that wasn't fair. I wasn't getting paid for my image and that wasn't my choice. So, a friend of mine introduced me to an attorney in New York who helped me win my case against Harris Comics. Long story short, I met Peter and we fell in love. I had moved to New York and my life changed. I married Peter and we travelled the world and we had a home in London, and one in Long Island, Manhattan and I completely lived the fantasy that I had always wanted. And traveling the world will change one just about more than anything. Because you really see what the world's all about. And you can see other people and what ideas they have. You have a chance to reflect back and be so much clearer on life.
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Manning: My God, that sounds like a whirlwind...
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Leigh: It was a whirlwind! Part of the greatest time of my life was with Peter and the Schmidt Family.
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Manning:Well, Barbara it's impossible for me not to ask you about the entertainment scene today. You've had a very unique opportunity living in Los Angeles to observe how today's actors and models have become familiar to millions of people worldwide. And it's a totally different world...
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Leigh:It is a different world! First of all, let me say they get enormous salaries today that they didn't back then. But I don't know if it's more glamorous, there are a lot more actors, there is a lot more competition. And a lot of these actors that come into the business are major college graduates from Theatre. I mean, they didn't just come out to be an actor. They worked at the craft. They're just really intelligent thinkers. The business is really different today. But I can only observe it from the Playboy Mansion and what I see on T.V.
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Manning: Okay, so at least some of that change as I'm hearing from you back when your schedule was filled with television commercials and movies forward to the present day has to involve witnessing the hype and the salaries and the egos and the excesses that are on such a grand scale in Hollywood.
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Leigh: A few of the really big actors...well, Steve McQueen for example, had his own production company (Solar Productions). There were so many back in his day because he really was such a major movie star. But today, it seems even more so. They have their own studios, practically!
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Manning: This came up in a conversation with Marshall (Terrill) and myself over breakfast recently. And he said something to me like, 'Name a major actor and then name five really good movies they made that were memorable'. Of course, Marshall had thought about this well ahead of me! But I accepted the challenge and I started with Steve. And that was easy among the 30 films he made in his short life. But then as we went on, both of us would name an actor and get stuck at two or three good films...and we wound up looking at each other and laughing! And I said, 'You know, I have to keep this in mind as I listen to Barbara's Audio Book so I can ask her for her reflections on the business today'.
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Leigh: We have Brad Pitt, we have George Clooney and we have Tom Cruise, and we have Christian Bale--he's getting up there. Don't ya think? (laughter).
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Manning: Well, we went way back to Yul Brynner and James Coburn and Charles Bronson and Steve and...
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Leigh: Well they...yeah. They were so macho, weren't they! They were so different! (laughter).
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Manning: I caught the new Clint Eastwood movie recently (Gran Torino).
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Leigh: Did you like it?
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Manning: I did. I mean, it is very different. It has some unexpected twists and turns. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't caught it.
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Leigh: I love Clint Eastwood and I'm sorry that I never got to work with him. I almost did. I was up for "The Eiger Sanction" in 1975. I didn't get it, but it would have been nice to work with him.
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Manning: Barbara, you mention in your Audio Book the subject of regrets in your life. It was, for me, the single most thought-provoking and courageous section of the book. It really made me sit up and pay attention. You said you wish that you had made better decisions and had a better sense of self esteem and an internal awareness of who you are. For the benefit of young women who are going to be reading this interview on my BLOG, what did it take for you to recognize that you needed a healthier life and how did you eventually achieve this for yourself?
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Leigh: Well, I think when I got away from the business, the glamour and the temptation that was constant and the men...and I settled down into a family environment with Peter and his step-daughters, my whole life changed. We travelled and everything was more about family. That was my life became and was until we later divorced. So, I think family and having a sense of stability and belonging is just the best thing because so many of us go through life not feeling that we belong. I don't think that I ever felt really like I ever belonged anywhere. And I think that that had a lot to do with when I started changing and having a sense of who I was. But when I really had a sense of who I was, was when Peter got into his financial problems and I lost all of that...and basically had to start over. I realized that the greatest thing I had was myself! And that nobody could take that away from me. They could have all of the material things happen, but they couldn't have me and that really changed me. And I appreciated myself, really, truly for the first time when I realized that I was good and that I had myself.
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Manning: (taken aback) Well...I...that. That...to me, sounds Courageous. It's amazing to me, actually...and I don't mind telling you. It's so much! Particularly in the single world and I have seen and continue to see first-hand how so many just are not in a place where they can wind down for five minutes and make the kinds of changes from the insight you've just described. And it's fear! Because I'm still single and I see it! I tell my married friends, 'Oh! If you could only experience what is going on out here and what people are not doing to get where they ought to be'. Uh...it's...well. Okay, let me put it this way. Many people never get to be where you just described with your own journey! And it's so refreshing to hear that I'm quite taken back, but in a good way. I think this is a powerful lesson of Hope for everyone who is so caught up in being blocked from seeing opportunities around them. It's tragic!
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Leigh: I think you're right!
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Manning: It's a shame...
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Leigh: ...I think you're right. I know people who still live in a fantasy and just can't see it. It's almost like you have to have a shock or something. And I had the shock with Peter. But I think in the long run it was good and that now I'm in a better place than I've ever been. I don't have the money or the glamour anymore. But I have myself and my good judgement.
My Guest is the unforgettable actress and model Barbara Leigh. Barbara was born in Ringgold, Georgia. Her personal journey led her to New York City, where she signed with the famous Ford Modeling Agency, and Los Angeles where she began her acting career and was signed by agent Dick Clayton (who had discovered James Dean) and was the undisputed "Agent to the Stars". Barbara's first commercial was for Coca-Cola; she went on to make over 50 commercials including several that won awards for Best Commercial Of The Year. Television and film roles would follow. She appeared regularly on the television series “Harry O,” starring David Jansen, and was discovered by Roger Vadim and cast in the role as Jean, Rock Hudson's wife in the movie, “Pretty Maids All In A Row.”
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As I recounted in yesterday's post, I first noticed Barbara in what turned out to be her favorite film, “Junior Bonner” where she was cast opposite Steve McQueen. Barbara has graced the covers of dozens of magazines and today has fan clubs internationally. She resides in Los Angeles and works for Playboy Enterprises, Inc. Barbara's philanthropy has included working with a local Animal Rescue, The Star Light Foundation and The AidsHealthcare Foundation. Barbara co-wrote her autobiography, entitled,“The King, McQueen and The Love Machine,” with Marshall Terrill. The new Audio Book details Barbara's life, along with the excitement, passion and heartache of her romantic relationships with Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen and Jim Aubrey. In our visit, Barbara shares her reflections on the lessons she has learned from her life journey, the choices we make from the insights we seek, and ultimately that life must be lived with Meaning and Hope. On my Blog post yesterday, I shared with you my own story about the first time I spotted Barbara Leigh in a small movie house that was showing "Junior Bonner" in first-run. A sweet and down to earth person, we spoke about that experience with great laughter. Barbara's story is one of courage and inspiration. We covered many subjects. I hope you'll enjoy it.
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Manning:Well, you know my opening story about the first time I saw you up on the Big Screen with my best pal from childhood. We were 14 years-old and when we saw this beautiful young girl in the movie, we were smitten! Hours after the movie, all we could think about and talk about was you! And as 14 year-old boys we just couldn't understand how Steve McQueen managed to go to a rodeo and leave this beautiful girl he had met behind, buy her a plane ticket and send her home. We thought, 'No! Take her in the car off to the next rodeo. What are you thinking!'
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Leigh: (laughing): You know the ending was kind of strange. I really didn't think it was the best ending because it kind of left him in a sort of...'What's he going to do?' But you really didn't know and it just kind of left you without an ending. So, that is the one thing that I do think "Junior Bonner" lacked. But did Marshall (Terrill) tell you that he took me back to that bar (the Palace Bar in Prescott, Arizona where much of the filming took place) and on that wall in the back there is a mural from "Junior Bonner" with Steve and me? It was so sweet. (laughter).
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Manning: I saw that! And I did a BLOG on that subject...my trip out there.
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Leigh: You did?
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Manning: Oh, yeah! I took myself there back in November on a Sunday. and I must have spent three hours there. I had dinner. I had strangers take pictures of me so I would remember my visit.I had a Blast!
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Leigh: Was "Junior Bonner" the first Steve McQueen film you had seen?
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Manning: No. I was 9 years old when I saw "The Great Escape" on television over two nights.
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Leigh: Oh, well of course you were in love with him after that. Who wasn't? I saw that film too when I was young and I just adored him. And when I went to read with him, I was just totally in awe of that movie, "The Great Escape", because that's the image of him that was left in your mind about this bad boy that gets away.
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Manning: You know, I was quite surprised as I walked up and down the street from the bar there in Prescott at how friendly people were, but they knew very little about the film. And I really expected people to know the facts and just regale me with stories of the filming locations about town and so forth. But I didn't get a sense of that.
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Leigh: Well, I think maybe that a lot of them are new people. Do you know when we had the Northridge earthquake out here (Los Angeles, 1994) a lot of people left and they went to Prescott. And they opened those wineries and breweries. If you walk out of the bar, you see the Gazebo in the center of town. Around it they have all these different restaurants and they never had that before. The (Palace) bar was interesting. But it changed a little bit.
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Manning: Well, I looked all over that bar for the phone booth (mutual laughter).
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Leigh: They should have auctioned that phone booth off. (more laughter) It's true! (we continue laughing) They might have gotten some money for that...
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Manning: ...And I mean we were kids! And we talked for hours after the movie let out and we couldn't get that romantic scene of you in that phone booth kissing Steve out of or minds. We'd periodically ask 'Are you still thinking about that girl we saw in the film?' And we'd say, 'Yeah'. You really got to us! It came up every fifteen or twenty minutes! And we'd be in a record store at the shopping mall back when vinyl records were still big, and my buddy would walk down an aisle, I'd walk down an aisle. 'Still thinking about the girl?''Yeah'. Oh, we had it bad!
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Leigh: (laughing) Oh, that's funny.Very sweet.
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Manning: But I wanted to ask you as you look back on your life during that time period, what stands out to you most vividly about where your life was then and where it is today?
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Leigh: Oh! Well, that's a good question but that's a hard question because it's hard to reflect back. At my age today, I can look back and say 'I wish I'd handled it this way or I wish that I had handled it that way'. But I think that I that I acted out of...I was completely naive. Even though I was out with this exotic life with dating all these famous men. I think I was naive and I think that was a good thing because it sheltered me. As you get older, you see life differently. And it's not always as pretty. Because people disappoint you and you see reality. And I really think that I was living in some sort of fantasy. So, it's hard to be any more specific than that.
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Manning: But that is an incredible amount of insight for anyone to have. Not everybody gets there.
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Leigh: Well, I got there late (laughter). I really think that was part of the time that men found in me this image of this sexpot. And then when they got to meet me they saw this sweet, good person and this attracted me to them more than just physically. And I see that in myself as I get older, because when I started to change I could look back and say, 'Oh! now I wouldn't believe it, but then I would'. You see, when people disappoint you...and it's just like one day I was 50 and it was the old saying that a cloud disappeared, or a curtain is lifted. You see life totally different. And that happened to me. So, all I can say is that I'm glad I was naive. Because I had a ball! And I felt blessed, you know I really do! I mean, some people look at it and say 'slut!' Because when you're dating three men or something like that...today it's "Sex In The City" and those girls are famous and everybody admires them. But the reality is that people tend to be a little harsher. But I had a great time, and everything I did came from the heart. So I look back and I don't have any regrets in that respect about my life at all.
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Manning: Well, you were a world-class actress and a model in the early 1970's. For the benefit of readers who are just now discovering you and your work, please tell us how a small town girl from Georgia launched her career in 1967. You mention in your book, that "timing is everything", and the late 60's were very, very intense in the entertainment world and for our country. Tell us how you started?
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Leigh: Well, I'll start quickly by telling you that I came out here to Los Angeles at 19 with my husband and my son. And I started to work. We didn't get along for many reasons. I chose to stay and he went back. I worked for a doctor who was such a wonderful person in my life at that time. He trained me to do things. I had no knowledge of anything. But I was patient and I was able to earn a living for myself and my son. The nurses I worked with took me to Beverly Hills one night to this night club and there was this really gorgeous singer performing. His name was Mark Devlin. He saw me in the lobby and he came down and introduced himself and we started dating, we got engaged and he said "I don't know why you;re working as a nurse. You should be working as a model". So he had a friend take pictures of me and my first little job was for Kodak. And after that I just started working and got an agent. One night, I was with friends at "The Candy Store"...and this was where all the stars and celebs went and were really wonderful. This was 1969. An agent came up to me and said "Have you been an actress or have you ever thought about it?" I said that I had. So, he took me to AFA (Ashley Famous Agency), which later became the famous ICM (International Creative Management). He introduced me to Dick Clayton, the famous agent who had discovered James Dean and was a wonderful agent..."agent to the stars". He signed me on the spot and that is how my career got started. But I concentrated on my private life more than I ever did on my acting career because I think I was always searching for my dad, my father, that male influence in my life that I didn't have growing up. So a relationship was more important to me than my career at that time. I didn't think of myself in that way..what's going to happen to me? Build a future? I was existing and living in the time with my man...that kind of thing.
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Manning: Well, I found it fascinating that you have fans all over the world and they're familiar to this day with the Warren Comic Book character of Vampirella.
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Leigh: Yeah, that was more of a blessing in the end. It was a heartbreak at the time because I was under contract with Hammer Films in England. And I loved Hammer Films because they did all the great Dracula Films, "One Million B.C." with Raquel Welch. So, when I got signed to do that it was like a dream come true. Then when it didn't happen it was a heart breaker. And then Jim Warren who owned Warren Comics...we did some publicity. Hammer Films took me to New York. We were all there and a photographer was hired to do publicity photos of me. Jim Warren wound up using them on the cover of his magazines. I think there was a total of eight. He never paid me for it and it's a long story. But in the end, Vampirella came back and I had these fans, so it all paid off and my broken heart was healed. It was really a blessing.
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Manning: While my focus here is on you, it is impossible not to mention your relationships with Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen and Jim Aubrey...it's the prominent title of your book "The King, McQueen and The Love Machine".Your personal journey is what fascinates me. But how would you summarize the role each of these men had in your career?
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Leigh: Well, Jim Aubrey (MGM President) didn't have any...he was a strange man. He would go out of his way not to help you because he didn't ever want to be criticized if he put his girlfriend in a movie because he told stories of that...how heads of other studios...he had a daughter, Skye Aubrey. She's a fine actress and one of my dearest friends. And she studied at The Royal Academy of London. He could have helped us both but he didn't. So that was his principle on the situation. And Steve McQueen of course, I met him in the interview (for "Junior Bonner") and he fought for me for that part in "Junior Bonner" which luckily I did end up getting. As you know from the book, I wasn't the first choice of (Director) Sam Peckinpah. Long story in history is that I did it. And then he, at that time was talking to me about "The Getaway". He gave me a little paperback version of it and he would talk about us doing it. He met Ali (MacGraw) and the rest is history.
In 1972, my best friend in the neighborhood had his Mom drive us to a small movie theater called The Westwood. The marque' read : "Steve McQueen in Junior Bonner". The film was directed by Sam Peckinpah, and co-starred Ida Lupino, Robert Preston and Joe Don Baker. As boys go, our hormones had been raging for at least a year. Back then, it was safer for our parents to drop us off to a movie house and say "Be standing on the curb when the movie lets out. If you don't see us in 15 minutes, go back inside and watch it again"! Yes, it was a more innocent age. I had been a fan of Steve McQueen from the age of 9 when I first saw "The Great Escape" on television, and now five years later a new film was playing in first-run! It was a wonderful film and today it has a special following worldwide in DVD release. We enjoyed every minute of it munching away on popcorn and making occasional comments that film critic Roger Ebert could only imagine. However, Steve's love interest in the film was really what captivated our attention. And if I remember correctly, when Barbara Leigh appeared on the screen, we mentioned something along the lines of "Oh, God!" simultaneously (followed by several annoyed people 'shushing' us in the theater). My defense then is the same today. We couldn't help it! Barbara grabbed our attention (along with every guy who saw the film in worldwide release) as the pretty, flirtatious and fun girl attending the rodeo (filmed entirely on location in Prescott, Arizona). Looking back, it was the bar scene where Steve manages to get a slow dance in with Barbara's on screen character of "Charmagne" that held us spellbound. I must tell you. If my next door neighbor wasn't a McQueen fan when we purchased our tickets and walked into the theater, he became one instantly during a scene where a bar brawl breaks out in the Ace Bar. McQueen cleverly maneuvers Barbara into a telephone booth with a folding glass door and winds up talking to her and getting in a long kiss. At that point, we lost it! In retrospect, if theaters had video surveillance cameras similar to what we see now in shopping malls, they would have captured us on tape with eyes as big as saucers and our jaws hitting the floor. That scene cinched it. We wanted to be Steve McQueen before, but this was "Overdrive" for us! After the movie ended, my pals Mom showed up in her 1966 Chevrolet Impala and drove us off to The Mall (this was how our parents kept us busy and out of their hair back then). For the next two and a half hours (and daily over the next couple of weeks in junior high school), we were obsessed with this absolutely beautiful girl Steve had with him in the phone booth. We were smitten and that was it! Further, we now had our "image" of what the ideal girlfriend should look like (unfortunately we never found her in either junior high or high school). But you have to bear in mind the mentality of 14 year-old boys back then. We simply could not get past "How could Steve buy this girl a plane ticket and drive off alone to another rodeo?" I don't believe we ever resolved that issue! Fast forward to this past weekend. Who could have possibly imagined that I would have had the absolute Joy of visiting with Barbara Leigh and laughing over this incident?
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Barbara is our Special Guest this week on "THE INTERVIEW" and her new book is entitled, "The King, McQueen and The Love Machine", with Marshall Terrill. This will be a great week and I hope you will join us. If you happen to grab the book before or during my posts, you will enjoy Barbara's visit immensely. See you then...
Back on January 18th I posted a Blog in my attempt to explain how The Good Lord has worked in my own life by bringing me face-to-face with three very special children and blessing me far more than I deserve: Sahara Aldridge, Gunner Gillespie and Trevor Tredaway. After arriving home late last night from a celebration of love, laughter and food with a houseful of friends about 50 miles from where I live, (actually 35 miles but I got lost without my GPS device in the car) I checked my e-mail and noticed Melinda Tredaway honored me with a mention of the concert benefit we are working vigorously to assemble here in Phoenix, Arizona for her son Trevor, who turns 4 in March. Trevor will be traveling to St. Jude Hospital in Memphis by the time you read this Blog for further post-op evaluation. I stared at my computer screen for well over an hour just to find the right words here.
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Trevor's post-op condition continues to be very good. There is no metastatic activity and his bones are clear. His two spinal cord tumors remain stable. That's really the long and the short of it. Our hearts and prayers are with Todd, Melinda, Trevor and daughter Morgan for their safe travel to Tennessee.
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On Saturday morning, we queried a highly regarded concert touring promoter and made him aware of our needs to attract a major rock artist willing to donate their performance fee and appear for the dinner concert as our first step. Your prayers and good wishes are needed...I don't mind telling you! We have a venue, the staging, sound and lighting systems. The logistical talent is in place to make it happen. This is an uncomplicated event. However, it requires an inter-woven effort of wonderful people to come together to pull in the same direction. My experience in broadcast event management tells me that what we are proposing is sensible and realistic. And I have what I consider the finest event and marketing manager who is working with me. This project will give a voice to Melinda on behalf of parents everywhere who have children facing cancerous brain tumors and the need for very aggressive research and accelerated FDA approvals for treatment modalities sooner than later. For the performing artist, this event will enable them to be showcased in a major market. For a promoter, their brand name recognition of excellence will be partnered with us at every opportunity in all media and will be invaluable. But for each of us as a whole, there is Trevor and his indefatigable humor, innocence, high energy and endearing personality that is his life. And his life will prevail! Daring to become involved is a decision to live out of Love and not Fear. So, in this regard we remain dedicated more than ever to ensuring that we execute this event successfully. In the near future, I will bring you related news involving initiatives of the heart. But for now, stop by and read Trevor's blogsite and consider leaving a message of encouragement for his family at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/trevortredaway. Lastly, let me say that each and every one of Your Messages are personally read by Trevor's parents, Todd and Melinda. Your messages carry so much weight---you have no idea! They carry the power of encouraging, acknowledging and validating your Love and Caring! You can be Supportive! Try to imagine if the tables were turned and it was your child facing a health challenge. Can you imagine the Love and Kindness of people who write in to say "We really get it. We care and we are pulling for you"? Here is your opportunity to do so and it won't even cost you anything but a moment of your time and a thoughtful word that comes from your heart. This little boy is winning. Let's help ensure that his journey back to full health continues! Thank You!
No loss of life--a miracle and a text book "ditching"!
Recovery Crews worked through the cold night.
Water and fuel tanks were drained for safety.
On the barge for transport to a shelter.
The Pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III responded with the highest order of professionalism in "ditching" with two power plants out. The impact on the physical structure of the fuselage on water is not preferable to landing wheels up on a runway or even along relatively flat terrain. For this reason, the fact that the composite material of the Airbus maintained its structural integrity totally shocked me. As countless others have pointed out, that there was no loss of life among the souls on board was a miracle. Now the National Transportation Safety Board can methodically examine the aircraft, review depositions and assemble a time frame of the event to better help us understand how to prevent similar mishaps. It should also be noted that the 20 boats and ferry's who responded so swiftly remind me that in moments like this, the Grace of strangers is abundant.
Airbus A380: "The airplane won't sell in this country at all".
Bethune's Last Project at Boeing: The 737-800
Author's Note: This morning Gordon and I talk about the controversial Airbus A380 jet aircraft and a comment by Robert Crandall, former chief of American Airlines. Years ago, I was asked to Emcee a ceremony at a Flight Museum to present awards to Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater and then-American Airlines Chief Robert Crandall for their "contributions to commercial aviation". While I was humbled by their request, I declined. I explained in a letter to the museum officials that I liked Barry Goldwater, but my principles prevented me from showing up to hand an award to Bob Crandall. His acrimonious relationship with labor and flagrant abuse of the rules of competition in the business world just put me off. Now that's just my opinion. To be fair, Bob's innovative practice of computerized yield management with Tom Plaskett's "Supersaver" fares is laudable.
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Gordon and I tackle the issue of flat-learning in this country and wind up talking about his future. Recently Gordon returned to his offices in Houston after spending so much time shuttling between Delta's Atlanta based headquarters and Northwest's former headquarters in Eagen, Minnesota. Gordon needed no prompting from me. We discussed my late friend Martin R. Shugrue, Jr. and how prophetic his views were about the Airbus A380 and so many consumer issues that nobody is addressing. We picked it up from there. Make sure your seat belts are securely fastened. And again, if bad language offends you just remember. It didn't come from me...
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Bethune: Michael, you asked a question earlier about how other airlines are getting off-track. I think sometimes they measure the wrong stuff. I noticed that the (Airbus) A380 was here (in the United States on a press tour).
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Manning: Well, and I told you about a 1997 conversation Marty (Shugrue) and I held where he said the only place you can fly that plane successfully is in the Asian market---and then for only a limited window--about 6 months out of the year. Unless that is, they plan on building an airport out in the ocean somewhere. Well, look! They did build an airport in the middle of the ocean---and it's sinking! (Kai Tak Airport was replaced in 1998 by Hong Kong International Chek Lap Kok). He had an uncommon foresight---with all due respect to you, Gordon!
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Bethune: Marty---(shaking his head)--such a loss. I knew him and I liked Marty. We lived fairly close to each other in the same neighborhood.
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Manning: It's not the same anymore without him in the industry, I'll tell ya that. But talk to me about the Airbus A380?
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Bethune: Well, I asked myself. 'Who do you think decided that bigger was better?' Some engineer or some government official who wanted to crow about how their airplane was bigger than your airplane. But did they ask people who buy tickets, 'What's in it for you to wait in line with 600 people waiting to get on board? To get off with 600 people? To wait for your bag with 600 people? If you're flying internationally, will you have to wait in customs and immigration with 600 other people? How does that help you? The answer is it doesn't!
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Manning: How will Flight Attendants handle 600 people who panic in an emergency?
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Bethune: That's another consideration. They measured the wrong thing and got the wrong stuff. The argument is that the skies are too crowded with 757's and regional jets. So, they're trying to sell this thing by telling you when you can fly and how often. People don't want to be told when they can fly. They want frequencies that accommodate their schedules with clean, safe, comfortable planes to fly them to where they want to go when they want to go! (Leans into the table again and lowers his voice): You fill three of those son of a bitches from Los Angeles to New York on any given day and ya know what I'll do? I'll schedule (Boeing) 757's to leave at 6 AM, 8 AM , 10 AM, 12 PM, 2 PM, 4 PM, 6 PM and BAM! I'll steal the goddamn business away from you! The airplane won't sell in this country at all. None! Not one American airline has ordered it and they never will. It doesn't fit our markets! You take American wanting to be the biggest airline in the world. They buy TWA (Trans World Airlines). Remember TWA?
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Manning: I interviewed Jeff Erickson (former TWA CEO) twice in downtown St. Louis. I knew that company inside-out. Hell of a success story back in 2000. That was sad.
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Bethune: Yeah. How did that work out for them?
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Manning: Oh, horrible. American unemployed some 20,000 people and sold off the assets, never invested in Lambert (St. Louis Lambert International Airport). In fact, I remember them closing Terminal D. All the Flight Attendants' jobs were lost. They kept around 500 pilots, if that. Parked perfectly good (Boeing) 767's in the desert because the cockpit panel switches were reversed. Sold off the brand new (Boeing) 717's and cancelled the rest of the orders as I recall. They now hold all those worldwide dormant route authorities throughout Europe and Africa and Asia and The Middle East that they'll never fly. A disaster. Stupid. That was a pre-emptive strike assuming that the United-US Airways deal would have made it. When it didn't, they looked like the dumbest guys on earth. But they wanted to be the biggest...
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Bethune: And Michael, nobody gives a shit whether you're the biggest airline in the world. You either make money or you don't. You never saw Herb Kelleher (former Chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines) worrying about being the biggest airline in the world. Flying to all 50 states---that was United's big claim. I think they went to North Dakota just so they could say that. How good is that for you? I think when Continental put in a flight from Newark to Hong Kong, United put in a flight from JFK to Hong Kong so it could be longer than our flight---58 miles or so. But they didn't have the (Boeing) 777. They had to use the (Boeing) 747 and they could only carry like 60 people on it because of payload restrictions, where we had an unrestricted payload because we had the right equipment on the proper routing. So, wanting to be the longest flight? How did measuring success like that work out for you? I noticed they went bankrupt. Maybe because of too much of that type of thinking. I think that most failures, and I mean the mediocrity you see, is people measuring the wrong stuff. I got a bigger airplane than you got! That's god, that's really smart.
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Manning: I want to run a comment past you from former American Airlines CEO Bob Crandall. He stated that airlines that cut fares below cost while they are under Chapter 11 bankruptcy harm the healthier carriers and ought to be shut down. How do you respond?
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Bethune: Bob would be right if that were true. And I like Bob Crandall a lot. What I saw in the United, Northwest and Delta bankruptcies is that the creditors' committees put a lot of pressure on the testosterone management to knock that behavior off. They want to see profitability restored. So, you saw a huge reduction in the available seat miles; Cincinnati (a Delta hub) got pulled back. I did see them lowering costs pretty dramatically through renegotiation's of airplane leases and labor rates so they could make a profit at a lower fare. And that put pressure on the guys with higher costs. But that's the name of the game. I've often thought had I the opportunity that Southwest had, where they were smart enough to buy fuel hedges, that I would have taken the benefit and priced my product as if I was paying 70 dollars a barrel like everyone else at that time. I would have taken the profits and put it in the bank. They didn't; they priced so that they could still make some money but Delta, United and Northwest couldn't. I think that helped drive those three into bankruptcy, whereupon they used that process to get rid of their pension costs. cut costs in airplanes, cut some labor. You have to come back out now with a much lower cost basis than you have at Southwest. Southwest hedges are expiring, so now they're going to have to price to the same oil that everyone else does. But these guys are much leaner and tougher competitors. And at Southwest, the costs have gone up. I'm sure it's a tactic. But I do know that the bankruptcy process did allow those three carriers to dramatically reshape themselves and to cut a lot of crap that had built up over 60 years. And they're very, very competitive as is US Airways.
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Manning: But do you think Chapter 11 is a band-aid or a long-term fix?
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Bethune: We suffer from flat learning in this country. We learn the same shit over and over again. I already hear labor leaders crying out, 'Let's go back to the old ways and let's get that again'.MIchael, do you know that a Walrus isn't born fat and ugly---they become that way?
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Manning: A Walrus?
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Bethune: Yeah, a Walrus. So, if you want a date, you gotta kinda slim down and keep yourself in shape. And you know, there's going to be a Jet Green, a Jet Yellow, a Jet Red ---I mean it's never gonna stop! So if you get fat and ugly again, some one's just going to take it away from you---just like they have taken it. Who are the big losers? The employees lost the most with the pensions and incomes. Well, don't let that happen to you again! The guy that overeats is the one that dies. Where there's a management that says, 'Fine. We have to sign this contract, that we know that if we do will put us at a very non-competitive situation and will ultimately kill us'. Don't sign it! 'If we don't sign it they're going to strike and take the company out'. Well, take it! Shit, you're going to go broke anyway! It might as well be them that causes it and not you. How do you pull a band-aid off? If you do it fast, do it quick. One hair at a time or get that goddamn thing off---it's got to come off! Get it over with. United, Delta, Northwest and others were a victim of compromise---another layer of fat, another deal they shouldn't have signed, another concession. Take your medicine now. Don't let that build up, because you're gonna die.
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Manning:We gotta wrap this up. What are you most proud of?
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Bethune: (hesitates to think)...I'm proud of my limited role at Boeing, my personal contribution is the Next-Generation 737 (-800). Ron Woodard had really set the airplane off. I took over from Ron and the service ceiling on the three-seven was 37,000 feet. The airplanes I flew, the 757/767 (the cockpits are similar, so a rating on one gives you a rating on both) were 41,000 feet airplanes. We came out with the 737-700, the one that we sold to Southwest. Phil Condit---president at the time---told me that he wanted an 800 Series model, a longer one which would have the seats of a (Boeing) 727. And he wanted that airplane to fly from New York to Los Angeles; and he wanted it to carry 150 people. Because the fuse-bonding with the wings was going to be the same, we had to get more fuel so we put in a bigger center wing tank. We made that standard, so we redesigned the center wing tank to make it bigger wit more fuel volume--no box tank--just a standard tank. I said, 'I want to take the airplane to 41,000 feet'. And I met a lot of resistance from engineering over the additional cots and time to strengthen the skin, because the thickness of the empennage and other parts of the pressurized body had to be changed because of the higher altitude. 'You guys get paid by the month. Just do it! Okay? But I want this airplane at four-one-zero'. Well, I was the general manager and everybody looked at me and said, 'OK'. Today, the 737-800 flies Newark to L.A. nonstop with 157 people at 41,000 feet. It's like a dog mark on a fire hydrant. The 737-800 that goes to 41,000 feet is my little posterity. And then Continental---obviously---I've been tremendously proud of the job that Larry (Kellner, Chairman & CEO) and Jeff (Smisek, president) have done. It wasn't just fixed up and burnished to look good. It's a structurally sound, good company, god product, good people, and I'm proud of that.
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Manning: And your future?
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Bethune: I just pick up the phone and say 'Hello'? I've got plenty of irons in the fire. But I want to do the things I really want to do. And that's kinda nice.
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Michael's Postscript:Much to my surprise, despite Bethune's brazen comments about Delta's management and their board of directors as being "incompetent" (even if it was truthful) along with his startling confession to me that his original "Consultant" role for Delta was to deliberately "handicap" US Airway's $10.8 billion offer for the company, he was re-hired as a "Consultant" again by Delta to offer advice on a merger with Northwest Airlines. On October 30, 2008, 82 year-old Northwest Airlines (the oldest continuous name on the American commercial aviation scene) was merged into Delta Air Lines. Not long after our visit, Bethune gave another interview to a magazine. In that appearance, he portrayed Southwest Airlines as a carrier that artificially priced its product and masked their balance sheet through their use of fuel hedging. Having lived in Texas almost 22 years, I've met Herb Kelleher, Colleen Barrett and witnessed the employees of Southwest Airlines grow that company into a terrific domestic point-to-point operation as a Low Cost-Low Fare carrier renowned for it's fun corporate culture. They run a clean, safe, on-time, friendly and downright fun operation. Bethune's contention that Southwest somehow played a role in "forcing" United, Delta and Northwest into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy is just plain bluster in my view. Delta's last innovative leader was Hollis Harris. United's CEO Glenn Tilton has engendered the ire of the company's employees who have sought to have him replaced with a court-appointed Trustee on the grounds of incompetence. Northwest's problems date back many years to the very practice of adding layers of "fat" that Gordon spoke about. Unable to adapt quickly enough to a commodity-based economy, none of the "Legacy Carriers" Gordon mentioned displayed competency. Bold words, but true! His attempt to paint Southwest's pricing policies as somehow culpable for the failure of United, Delta and Northwest is not accurate. Southwest today personifies the same scrappy, entrepreneurial spirit of managing its image and resources wisely and profitably. The "Legacy Carriers" Gordon defends are the same ones that he characterized as failing to be "innovative". In spite of this "mess" (to coin a Texas phrase), there can be no denying that Bethune's unorthodox maverick style saved a decimated Continental Airlines that was the proverbial patient on "life support" when he took over as Chairman and CEO in 1994. Indeed, among the "Legacy Carriers" in America who fly internationally, Continental is the finest airline. On January 12, 2009 Continental became the first commercial airline in the U.S. to test a mix of biofuels and standard jet fuel on Gordon Bethunes' "dog mark on a fire hydrant"---a Boeing 737-800 jet aircraft. After our interview, Bethunes' secretary Kay Jennett took our picture together wherupon Bethune told me, "This is the part where we're supposed to look like we actually like each other".I laughed. Just remember, Gordon..."blue side up"!
A reason for smiles...(this guy's a "Character"...to put it mildly!)
Manning: What is your view on reforming the Chapter 11 process for airlines?
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Bethune: Continental wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Chapter 11. Its a second chance. If done wisely you can come out and be at the top of the industry again, from the worst to the first. But you have to fix the company. The courts have an obligation to look at every one's rights, not just yours, because you're not paying bills. Who gets paid and how is contentious! It's like fighting over a carcus. I wish it were simple. The guys who run companies into bankruptcy wish everybody would go away and leave them alone. So, somebody's put the thing in the tank and now every body's paying the price. My advice to others? 'Don't screw it up'.
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Manning: Frank Lorenzo was a tough guy to follow at Continental. (Editor's Note: Lorenzo was born in Queens, New York along side the runways of LaGuardia Airport. He is the son of a Spanish immigrant family who operated a beauty salon. He put himself through Columbia driving a Coca-Cola truck. Barbara Walters once called him "The most hated man in America". Pilots refused to take off if Lorenzo was on board a Continental flight. It became so bad, that he wouldn't drink from an open soft drink can if a flight attendant handed it to him.
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Bethune: (arches his eyebrow and leans into the boardroom table) Do you know that Frank Lorenzo and Texas Air (parent of Continental) had the cheapest fares---tore up all the labor contracts, tore up all the airplane contracts, had the lowest cost product in the industry---absolutely the lowest? What happened? They went bankrupt again in 1990. It ain't all about the low cost. Let's say that you would reduce the cost of pizza by doing something smart like taking the cheese off? How many pizzas are you going to sell? Can you make a pizza so cheap that nobody will eat it? Can you make an airline so cheap nobody will fly it? We did it. Still went bankrupt!
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Manning: Tough lesson, and almost a third time.
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Bethune: That's right! Came out in 1993 and almost went bankrupt again in 1995. Why is that? Lowest costs but still a shitty company, still a shitty product, crummy morale. That's not the kind of airline you want to fly. So we asked creditors, 'How can we help you place an airplane that we can't afford to pay for?' We put the Airbus A300 in places like India. We sent crews to train Indian pilots so that the lessors could have some cash instead of us just stiffing them. We worked with General Electric and Boeing on pushing orders back and getting some of our cash deposits back. We did a lot of things to facilitate our liquidity and to honor our obligations to the extent that we could. All of those companies still want to do business with Continental. We at the same time needed to be on-time because we needed a good product. And we needed to treat our people well. But the marketplace will decide what good is.
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Manning: I went back and looked at some film of your testimony in 2001 before a Senate subcommittee. And you said that you were opposed to the proposed mega-mergers such as American with TWA and United and US Airways. What are your views on airline consolidation today?
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Bethune: Look, that was pre-9/11. A United and US Airways merger clearly was not good for Continental. And my job was to represent Continentals employees and shareholders. Our intention, when we put a bid in for TWA and opposed the American deal, was not to allow a takeover without taking over TWA's pensions. They reluctantly agreed to accept the pension costs. We wanted to load up American with as much debt as we could because usually what's good for American is bad for Continental. A lot of our business is to stop your competitor from getting a good deal-to stop your competitor from getting too big or gaining an advantage. If he's buying something, make sure he pays too much. It's a tough business and if it's good for Continental, I'll be for it. If it's bad for Continental, I'll be against it.
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Manning: Are there any potential mergers you see that make good economic sense?
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Bethune: United and Continental makes a lot of sense! American-Northwest makes a lot of sense. I thought US Air and Delta might make some sense.
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Manning: You did? I can't believe that. I thought you were against it. It made sense?
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Bethune: Absolutely! I didn't say it didn't make sense. My job was to handicap the probability of success versus the handicap of Delta's stand-alone success and give advice. We don't need 15 to 20 air carriers. Do we always add airlines Michael, and never get rid of any? Do we not consolidate? Why wouldn't the big boys try and get some scales of economies to fight the ever-encroaching low-cost carriers? Five or eight years ago, low-cost carriers were 10% of the market. Now they're 35%. It's changed the competitive landscape.
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Manning: Alright, former US Airways Group CEO David Siegel says that he sees a shakeout where we'll end up with three "Legacy Carriers" and probably three low-cost, low-fare carriers.
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Bethune: Well, David's logical. But what's ever happened in our industry that's been logical in the last ten or fifteen years? What keeps it from happening? What's in it for an airline CEO to make an acquisition of another airline? He's not going to get a raise. He's going to get all this trouble, all this heartburn, all these integration problems. The guy who gets acquired---if he agrees to step aside---gets his severance, gets his options cashed out at the acquisition price, gets his shit load of money and goes home. The guy who's want to make the purchase would want to do it because it would be good for the company. But personally, he wouldn't want to do it, because he could be a failure. And why not play it safe and get a check and go give a speech in Hong Kong and ride in limos? There's only the fear of failure. Now if they're forced to do something---like the competitive landscape's changing and they're going to die---they will do the things they need to do because there's something in it for them. That's called security and tenure. They're not many guys that will do what's in the company's or the employee's best interest over their own.
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Manning: Okay, what is your view of a coherent aviation policy for the 21st Century?
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Bethune: I don't look to Congress to do anything but get re-elected, and whatever that takes they'll do that. We suffer in this country from a sense of entitlement, that we're still a regulated industry and you have the right to a night in the Four Seasons (luxury hotel) if we cancel you hundred-dollar ticket to someplace because of a rainstorm or something. Of course, somebody ought to do something if we're stuck on the runway and can't get off, or we may have some damages. Congress and others have a knee-jerk reaction to whatever it is--peanut free zones in the airplane, double the number of crews because you're over the 16 hours without any scientific basis for those kind of regulations. We're the most 'regulated-deregulated' industry that I've ever seen! We're run like a public utility. It's difficult to work in that environment. If Congress would take the word 'airline' out of their vocabulary, we would be better off. Congress is not here to help you, they're here to meddle and make life much more difficult for you---and they have! And they haven't helped the consumer. In pre-9/11, they talked about customer satisfaction and a customer bill of rights---most of those issues were because the Air Traffic Control system didn't work in this country with the volumes we had. When they said that there were too many flights scheduled into the New York area, the flights were full of people. How could there be too many flights if they were full? Who do we tell can't go to New York today? Who gets to decide? Airlines are in the business of taking people where they want to go. I think we need an ATC system that's user-based, fee-based, stand-alone outside of the budget process. Borrow money and make the investment they need to make in the technology to optimize the ATC system so that the people who want to go there can get there. They need to accommodate what the public wants, not decide you can't do it.
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We don't need a law that it's against the law to lose your bag! In other words if we lose a bag, it takes 25 to 50 bucks depending on where we have to deliver that bag to you the next day. We didn't make that much on the ticket. We're already motivated not to lose the bag! Making it against the law and fining someone to lose your bag is like whipping the horse when he's running flat-out! That's Congress's way of addressing the issue. They (the government) actually came to Bush (Intercontinentinal) Airtport and counted the number of people in line and said we had too many people in line. And I asked, 'How long were the people in line?' He said, 'We didn't notice that'. There were a lot of people in line, but the lines moved very fast. I was only there for three minutes. So, what difference does it make how long the line is versus how long you had to stand in line? I said, 'Did you ever try to get a passport?How long is that line? Ever try to visit the Statue of Liberty? You're a line measurer; we're in the customer satisfaction business. If you leave people in line, they just go someplace else! The government ought to stay out of it! They're the worst at customer satisfaction.
"THE INTERVIEW" PRESENTS GORDON BETHUNE! (PART 1 OF 3)
Gordon Bethune is a character. His New York Times best-selling book "From Worst to First" is a bare knuckled explanation of how he took over Continental Airlines--then an absolute financial basket case after the tenure of the notorious corporate raider Frank Lorenzo who relentlessly focused on cost-cutting and acquisitions. With a lot of boldness and risk-taking, Bethune pulled off a stunning turnaround of Continental from a "Legacy Carrier" that employees hated to work at as much as passengers hated flying to becoming the best in the industry.
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From the son of a crop duster pilot father to Navy mechanic to holding senior management positions at Western Airlines (folded into Delta Air Lines in 1987) and the now defunct Braniff International (widely regarded as the first casualty of Airline Deregulation) Bethune became vice president and general manager of The Boeing Commercial Airplane Group's Renton Division where he was responsible for the 737 and 757 programs. A commercial-rated pilot and an A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) mechanic he is type rated on the 757 and the Douglas DC-3.
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I met with him on the 44th Floor of Continental Airline's world headquarters in downtown Houston. The Continental Airlines that Bethune inherited was an amalgamation of Frank Lorenzo's mercurial management style that witnessed no less than nine presidents in as many years. Continental was the first airline subjected to a hostile takeover by a then 32 year old Lorenzo, a graduate of Columbia and later a Harvard MBA. It was Lorenzo whose ruthless get-tough tactics with labor forced the most visible and widely felt strike in American labor history at Eastern Airlines. It also led to Lorenzo being declared incompetent (by The United States Bankruptcy Court in The Southern District of New York) to reorganize Eastern's estate. Eastern was shut down on January 19, 1991. To distance itself from the embarrassment of losing control of an airline it legally still owned to a court appointed Trustee, Texas Air Corporation (TAC) was quickly renamed Continental Airline Holdings. The airline is an amalgamation of the following mergers: Texas International, New York Air, Frontier Airlines, People Express, Eastern Airlines, and commuter airlines including Britt Airways, Provincetown-Boston Airways and Bar Harbor Airways. In 1990, Lorenzo who briefly owned the largest airline empire in the world, was forced to step down from the business for good. After two more CEO's came and went, Continental found itself in Chapter 11 a second time. Bethune gambled, leaving behind a stable position at Boeing to rescue Continental--a risky proposition. But the turnaround was remarkable and today, among the "Legacy Carriers" Continental is regarded as a Class Act. He served as Chairman and CEO.
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Last October 30, 2008 one of the oldest names in commercial aviation ceased to exist: Northwest Airlines. Northwest (itself an amalgamation of Southern, Republic, North Central and Hughes Airwest) merged with Delta Air Lines as the surviving entity. I sat down with Bethune just weeks after he was hired by Delta as a "Consultant" to advise their board on the proposed merger between Phoenix, Arizona-based US Airways and Delta. Bethune was re-hired as a Consultant when Delta courted Northwest Airlines (formerly Northwest Orient). His answers were quite revealing.
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Manning: You recently evaluated the $10.2 billion offer from Doug Parker over at US Airways to take over Delta Air Lines. Give us your impressions of Delta's circumstances and what was ailing that carrier?
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Bethune: Delta had the best balance sheet in the industry. No one had a healthier balance sheet with regard to cash position, debt-to-equity; all the things that you would want. The erosion of Delta occurred over a ten to twelve-year period when it was mismanaged. The board and management were incompetent as evidenced by their slide into Chapter 11. Chapter 11 won't fix your company. It'll fix your balance sheet and restructures things. But if you go into bankruptcy a crummy company and your don't change--you come out a crummy company. Just like Continental did in 1983 and went back into bankruptcy in 1990 because it didn't change. Delta needs to change. Otherwise I don't think it has a future.
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Manning: Many of us have questioned how Delta can survive in the long-term as an independent carrier after eliminating 15% of its domestic route network in favor of international routes. What would you have done differently?
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Bethune: I would have started years ago. Maybe I wouldn't wait until you were in bankruptcy to address the fact that you're failing. Delta needs to find its niche. It has a very good hub operation in Atlanta; I think Cincinnati is a very secondary hub, as is Salt Lake City. And it needs to diversify its sources of income. Just as in your investment portfolio you wouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. Nor would you put all of your money in the domestic market. So, you'd use some of the international routes to hedge the economy domestically so when it goes into the tank, you don't go into the tank! Management at Delta is dong something that should have been done years ago. Delta needs to make a dent in the New York market; Los Angeles seems like a smart move and should be exploited.
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Manning: There are rumors that you will be asked to take the helm at Delta.
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Bethune: (starts laughing) I wouldn't do it! First of all, I'm a Continental guy. All my friends are here in Houston. (Gerald) Grinstein made---I think---$350,000 last year. Now, why would you want to work for that kind of money, and take all the heartburn, crap and negative publicity, and the hard work? I think the people who now run the place Michael, kinda like running it want to keep on running it. I'm not sure that companies always do what's best for the company. They do what's best for the incumbents inside the company.
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Manning: Many predicted that Delta would spin-off Comair as it did with ASA (Atlantic Southeast Airways).
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Bethune: As you saw with ExpressJet (Continental Express) we divested ourselves 100%. You don't need to own your regional feed carriers. When you do own them, often they use your pay and benefits to leverage themselves. Combining seniority lists from regional pilots to the mainline was always on the table at Continental while I was there. They (the unions) wanted to ave (pilots) progress through the ranks. That's an extension of Continentals costs. Regional and mainline are two very different markets and they have very different costs and pay structures. If you get yourself burdened with mainline pay structures at a regional carrier, you're certainly at a disadvantage. We spun them off because we needed the money. We didn't want to be that leveraged in paying more than we had to pay for regional services. As an independent company, they had to compete with other independent companies and can't leverage us because we have alternatives that if they won't give us services for a price we're willing to pay, we'll get it from someone else. When you own them, you don't have to pay that leverage---they have it on you. I saw Delta buy Comair just at the time we're selling (Continental) Express. I said, 'How dumb can you be? You're going the wrong way!' It's almost like a tape worm.
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Manning: A tape worm?
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Bethune: A tape worm. It goes where you go, it eats what you eat, dies when you die. How do you extricate yourself? You need an independent source of regional services to supply you, and you don't need to own it. It's against your best interests.
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Manning: Okay, so where are the 'Legacy Carriers' (American, Delta, United, Continental, Northwest and US Airways) running amok?
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Bethune: I think they do things that are more window dressing than they are fundamental. Airlines ought to be really good at something. Take American, Delta, United or Northwest. What one thing would one of those airlines excel at? I can't tell you. They all seem kind of mediocre to me. Continental decided to be the best at reliability, and customer satisfaction is measured by reliability. Getting there on time safely would be something we could excel at---and we did. That rove the J.D. Powers Awards. That drove a lot of revenue. It also reduces expenses because yo don't have overtime, you don't have disruptive operations. Continental became known as the most consistent product. Be good at something! Don't just be mediocre.
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Manning: There doesn't seem to be any real marketing differentiation between those four airlines?
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Bethune: They're not innovative people! I think for the large part most people who can't cut it in the pharmaceutical industry come to our business because it's easier to compete because the lower level of intelligence and the expertise is kinda low. That's the only reason I was able to do something. The competition wasn't that rough. Otherwise I'd have been a failure.
My Pastor is an awesome guy. I've known him now for 23 years and last night he and his wife sent me some powerful thoughts. Here is but a handful for your Tuesday:
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There are at least 2 people in this world who you would die for. And...at least 15 people in this world who love you in some way.
Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you. You mean the world to someone.
When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
You are special and unique. Someone you don't even know loves you.
Good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they are there.
A short BLOG Post for today. My new images for the PHOTO PAGE and the HOME PAGE arrived in San Francisco where they will be installed by the endof this week on my full website: www.michaelmanning.tv.I've decided toroll forward with the DVD Slide Show of additional images for the REELPAGE after we handle some post production work I've requested. We hope you find the site to be fuller and richer...a great way to begin 2009!
If you were to lend me some pieces of yarn and colored push pins with a map of the United States, here's how I'd construct my personal journey involving three children who have been featured on my Blog Pages since 2006. The First push-pin would originate in a tiny town in Southeastern Missouri called Cape Girardeau, where 13 year-old Sahara Aldridgelived with her parents Shannon and Amy. Sahara loved basketball so much that she earned the nickname "HOOPS". I should add here that she also loved Cats, Shopping, Cheesecake, and of course rock artist and personal friend Rick Springfield. Sahara passed away on November 5, 2007. The Second line of yarn would be attached with push pins between my home in Scottsdale, Arizona and Benton, Kentucky where 8 year-old Gunner Gillespie lived with his parents Gus and Janna along with his 5 year-old sister Garlynn. Gunner's passion was Trains--he absolutely loved every facet of Trains. His favorite movie was "The Polar Express" starring Tom Hanks and he also loved reptiles and meeting new people. Like Sahara, Gunner battled a cancerous brain tumor. Gunner passed away on October 23, 2008. A Third piece of yarn would be placed between Scottsdale, Arizona and Midland, Texas where 3 year-old Trevor Tredaway lives today with his parents Todd and Melinda along with his 22 month-old sister Morgan. Trevor recently underwent a successful brain re-sectioning and he is recovering beautifully. However, his treatments will continue and two spinal cord tumors (which are stable) will need to be addressed in the course of his need to become fully healthy again. Trevor has an amazing energy that has found nurses chasing after him as he excitedly visited every person in a room to say hello, to share a new toy or to ask a child or adult where they are from. He is very engaging and sweet and funny!
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I've been Blessed. I experienced meeting Sahara, and I knew Gunner extremely well. They loved me and I loved them tremendously as their memories lend so much meaning for me in my life. On a shelf in my dining room here at home, I have three framed photos as your look from left to right. The first photo is that of Sahara Aldridge sitting on stage with Rick Springfield and her Grandma Frances Dooley during Rick's song "Don't Talk To Strangers". My VIP pass that I wore that night is placed around the picture frame. To the right is a die cast model of a 32 Ford Roadster automobile model that I gave Gunner as a gift. Gus and Janna were so gracious and loving to have recently shipped me the car that Gunner loved to help me remember him. It is parked next to a photo of me with my arm around Gunner the morning he was flown from Scottsdale to Benton for the final trip home. Finally, to the far right is a picture taken with me sitting on the floor with Trevor Tredaway and we are giggling at my impersonations of a train. He is seated in my lap and I have both arms securely around him. There is Joy and Life in these photos! And there is hardly a day that passes where I don't remember Sahara and the story about the day she was diagnosed. Someone had given her a twenty dollar bill. She dispatched her father, Shannon, with instructions from her hospital bed to use the money to go out to the store and buy crayons and coloring books for the children whose school was destroyed by a tornado. With Gunner, a highlight I choose to remember is the day volunteers at McCormick-Stillman Train Park broke with tradition and invited Gunner behind the counter and the tall spectator gallery to see close-up one of the world's most magnificent train exhibits for some thirty minutes. And with Trevor, how can I forget sitting on the floor with him in mylap as we each used a joy stick to guide a toy train up and down hills giggling at my sound effects of the train climbing a hill. The older I get, the more I realize that we have a choice in life: either to live out of Fear or live out of Love. I choose Love!
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In the weeks ahead, you and I will be sharing and exchanging news about a special concert event I am working to assemble here in Phoenix to help Trevor and his family continue their journey with "A Concert for Trevor". With my own Sports Medicine Physical Rehabilitation continuing, I also began regaining my musical skills after a very long hiatus from my guitar. I started to think about a concert that could benefit Trevor with his families medical expenses. The concept has evolved from a mere local effort to a dinner concert with a major international recording artist. No one who is successful in any endeavor "goes it alone", and I couldn't ask for a better organization to partner with than The Hard Rock Cafe. They have a long history of Philanthropy and I am very lucky to be working with a First Class Marketing & Events partner. We are so elated with Trevor's progress. However, he also faces more treatment and it will not always be easy. But like Sahara and Gunner, Trevor has two wonderful parents in Todd and Melinda. Over these past three years I know that it hasn't always been easy for those of you who are parents of toddlers or grown children alike to read what has been for me an intensely personal journey with these three children. And yet, on those occasions where perhaps like you--I have wondered about what is happening to us as a people--with our fear to risk loving, to be vulnerable, to trust, to be considerate even when others may have not chosen this route, it can be very discouraging. And if I am having a discouraging day, I only need to go back to the night I bid Trevor "goodbye for now" in the doorway of his parent's hotel room. He looked up at me and mentioned my first name four times with a question mark attached. I could see sadness and genuine concern on his face that he'd never see me again. I gave him my Promise that he would. And I will keep my promise to forever erase those question marks. Moreover, we will give our new project everything we have to make it a success as we celebrate Trevor's life and the lessons of love that each of these beautiful children have taught and continue to teach us. May this simple story give you Hope as we look ahead to a new week!
Good Morning! I've spoken about breaking in my Harley Davidson Leather jacket one night by catching Guy Clark, Joe Ely, John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett in concert. We've heard from Guy. Now comes the man who sat to his right (and my left) on stage. A firebrand who came off like a sawed off shotgun whenever it was his turn, Ely finished high school in Lubbock, Texas and toured in England with his band The Flatlanders (with Jimmy Dale Gilmore providing the encyclopedic experience of Country music, Butch Hancock, who basically did the same with Folk music, leaving Joe with the rock influence) . In England, Joe caught the attention of the punk rock group The Clash who liked Ely and Joe liked them too. In fact, he sang background vocals on their hit single "Should I Stay or Should I Go?". Every ten years he cuts a live CD. He is a cross between rock and honky-tonk but this is one song in the very "Unofficial Set List" that I recall in concert called "Carnival Bum". When Robert Redford filmed "The Horse Whisperer", Joe was asked to write the music for the soundtrack and this led to a reunion of The Flatlanders. LIstening to Clark, then Ely is what it is...a refreshing story told by two entirely different songwriters. So, pour yourself some coffee and have a listen because after all, ......it's Saturday! That's about it for now...
Tomorrow: My Personal Journey with Trevor Tredaway and the 2 children who led me to him!
Okay, here's how this BLOG Post came about. I told my guitar teacher that between work and PT, I am just worn out by the time I get home at night and I needed a break. Also, over the past couple of weeks, I have been enjoying playing my acoustic guitar to relax. Recently, a friend of mine asked me how I spent part of my weekend. I told her that I strummed along on about 40 songs at home. She paused and said (with genuine concern...you had to be there) "Do you think that was healthy?" I almost busted out laughing because she was serious!...The point being that 40 songs sounded a bit "over the top" to her. I managed to keep a straight face (something that is almost impossible for me when I find something funny) and I told her the truth. And truth be told, I took a long coffee break after the first set of 20 songs, then sat down and polished off 20 more; Hey, I was having fun! Moving right along...
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Have you ever had a song just get stuck in your head? Of course you have! Well, the song featured in this video (with Lyrics) constitutes a "First" for me: A Sing-A-Long of the song that became stuck in my head this week! This is Guy Clark's beloved hit "L.A. Freeway". I heard him perform it in concert almost three years ago with John Hiatt, Joe Ely and Lyle Lovett. As I opined earlier, even if you don't really like country music, you'll have a Blast attending a concert by these four guys. Each has a unique personality. What I love is that they never use a Set List. Now THAT'shysterical to me! Each takes turns one after the other, and each show is different from the one the night before...a showcase of four distinctively different styles of songwriting.
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Years ago, (and I know this sounds strange but...) on my daily 88-mile round-trip commutes to Lunken Airport in Ohio (working split-shifts) to meet my broadcast helicopter pilot at 4 AM in 6 degree winter weather to take off and report news and traffic for an NBC television station, I would have Kris Kristofferson's song "To Beat the Devil" playing on the in-dash CD player on many of those days. And it was reassuring somehow to me as I drove my Mustang GT through some rough neighborhoods along the Ohio River. This song similarly stuck with me and I get tickled singing and playing it, so I wanted to share some fun. It's worth a couple of listens to get the melody down. And don't worry if you sing in key or not. Chances are some of you are reading this in a hotel room or a bedroom where you won't disturb anyone...Just try it! By the way, it was nice to get caught up with all of you who wrote to me here during my computer down time. Again, it's nice to be back. Ready? Here we go...
LYRICS TO "L.A. FREEWAY" (SING ALONG):
by: Guy Clark
Pack up all your dishes/make note of all good wishes
Say goodbye to the landlord for me/ that son of a bitch has always bored me
Throw out them LA papers/ and that moldy box of Vanilla Wafers
Adios to all this concrete/ gonna get me some dirt road back street
{CHO}: If I can just get off of this LA freeway without gettin' killed or caught/
down that road in a cloud of smoke/
To some land that I ain't bought- bought- bought/
Here's to you old skinny Dennis/ only one I think I will miss
I can hear that old bass singing/ sweet and low like a gift you're bringin'
Play it for me one more time now/ got to give it all we can now
I believe everything you're saying/ just you keep on keep on playing
(Repeat Chorus)
And you put the pink card in the mailbox/ leave the key in the old front door lock
They'll find it likely as not/ I'm sure there's somethin' we have forgot
Oh Susanna don't you cry babe/ love's a gift that's surely hand made
We've got something to believe in/ don'tcha think it's time we're leavin'?
(Repeat Chorus Twice)
So pack up all your dishes/ make note of all good wishes
Say goodbye to the landlord for me/ that son of a bitch has always bored me
[ ac.guitar - fiddle - upright bass]
(I love this artwork...the girl's identity is left to our imagination!)
It's very nice to have the Laptop tuned up from the warranty repair shop and to be back online. I look forward to catching up with all of you who were so thoughtful to keep me in mind in recent weeks. The old adage "Out of sight, out of mind", clearly, did not apply here. And I am grateful to each of you for your Love and Friendship. My shoulder was surprisingly mentioned in a number of your comments out of concern, so I feel compelled to tell you that the physical therapy is coming along extremely well. We expect that I will be in skilled care (Sports Rehab) for 3 more weeks after which I will resume full workouts again. My 12 mile nightly biking has continued and I expect that we will have to modify my nightly workout routine (including a return to weights) to accommodate keeping the shoulder strong and healthy. About the only thing I really need now is a visit to my hair stylist (as in "Who do you trust?"--a recent BLOG that I had fun with). Let's see, what else?...Oh yeah!...
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Our work just resumed on "A Concert for Trevor Tredaway" after the holidays put a hold on our endeavor here in Phoenix to organize a dinner concert with a special artist. My marketing and event partner is a sweet lady whose son underwent successful open heart surgery, and I am very pleased to report that he is recovered and already back in school! So, we are now resuming work to reach out and identify a musical artist willing to work with us and then get a scheduled date on the calendar. Trevor's Mom, Melinda recently posted an update on Trevor's continuing progress on his Caringbridge website. I hope you will stop by and leave a comment of Love and Supportiveness for this special little boy who means so much to so many of us. Trevor will turn 4 years old soon. Can you believe it? His new photos are posted on his site and I cannot help but laugh with Joy, as his unique personality and sense of humor just comes shining through in those photographs! See if you agree. Anyway...as we continue to assemble components of this event, we will bring you more information. You may remember that this began as an effort with local artists (including myself). But after revisiting that plan, it just made more sense for us to reach higher with our goals and God-Willing we are going to pull off this benefit with a lot of fun! Let's see, what else?....Oh yeah!... David M. Bailey has resumed touring again! Proof positive that you can't keep a good man down. Check out his touring schedule on his website (Trevor and David's sites are listed on my Blogroll). He may be coming to your town soon. Don't miss his performance!
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Again, I sincerely appreciate your loyalty, your continued interest, all of your good wishes and your repeated visits here to my site. I have been able to catch up with most of you, however I have been remiss with others. So, be patient and I will definitely be over this week to visit. That's it from here...
This afternoon we had our Photo Page meeting here in Scottsdale and managed to knock out what our vision is for my full website in a little over an hour. Our studio setting was a quaint cottage built back in the 1930's for "starving artists". Today, it has been modernized with the modern amenities of a condo! The experience was a FUN! On a wide screen one of my two photographers, Sydney and I critiqued what we liked and disliked about the images. She warned me that she was a "tough critic" and I told her that was exactly what I wanted to hear. We salvaged about a third of what we shot--which is normal. Our objective was to avoid repetition while presenting some fresh images. We are already planning a second shoot for Spring. I asked for a major change of images and music for the Reel Page. This will contain some images we are not including on the Photo Page. Other news...
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I am getting booked for Voice On Camera and Voice Over work on weekends, which is nice. My life A-N (After News) has been far more enjoyable, ranging from voicing over a cartoon project to industrial films and website introductions. So, the New Year is off and running for me. We have some fascinating Guests coming up on "THE INTERVIEW" soon. When my computer is delivered, all will be back to normal...well, as far as "normal" is in my world! Take care and...
Okay, today I felt like penning a BLOG about Guy Clark. There are "Legends in their own mind" and then there's Guy Clark--a "Legend in his own time". He is among a handful of songwriters for me who represent what I call a true wordsmith---slowly carving onto the proverbial "canvas of life" images of timeless songs filled with emotional depth and getting "down to cases"--that's what I appreciate about this man. For 35 years, Guy Clark has consistently been the songwriter young artists study and seasoned writers worship as a sort of enigma.
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A true Luthier who built guitars in the Dopyera Brothers' Dobro factory, 1971 was the break-out year for Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff Walker's album featuring the Clark composition "L.A. Freeway" (which became an FM radio hit). In 1973, Walker released "Viva! Terlingua" (recorded live) and Clark's ballad "Desperado's Waiting for a Train"--a masterpiece based on Clark's memory of an oilfield worker who was a resident of his grandmother's hotel. Years later, I picked up The Highwaymen's (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson & Johnny Cash) debut album with a powerful arrangement of that song. Armed with what he calls "a pencil and a big eraser", his contemporaries are: Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, Billy Joe Shaver, Steve Earle, Dave Loggins and David Allen Coe. If you still don't recognize these guys, start with "GOOGLE"! He has been described as:..."a national treasure and folk icon, crafting masterful, poignant melodies and insightful lyrics. Tough, bare-boned and dryly sentimental, his beautiful songs reflect the man himself and display an old-fashioned masculinity that emphasizes honesty, integrity and carefully chosen words. His craggy, wistful story-songs, and plain-spoken delivery are also indicative of his persona".
Hit songs include: "L. A. Freeway," "Desperado's Waiting for a Train," "Texas, l947," "Instant Coffee Blues," "Rita Ballou," "She Ain't Goin' Nowhere," "Let Him Roll," "A Nickel for the Fiddler," "That Old Time Feeling" and "Like a Coat From the Cold."
The Collaborations read like a "Who's Who?" of music: Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Joe Ely, John Prine and Mary Chapin Carpenter. An ingenius songwriter, in 2006 I caught Guy Clark, Joe Ely, John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett in concert. It cost me a small fortune, but I had a Blast! These guys deliberately show up at a gig with no Set List! You don't have to like folk or country music to have a great time seeing these guys in concert. When they come to town, well...you know where I'll be! ...Oh, before I forget. I should take delivery of my repaired Laptop Computer today. "Film at 11"...
The only news from the ranch is that we have dismantled the two remaining items from my REEL Page. In recent weeks, we removed my PHOTO Pages to create a fresh, new look in 2009. Both features (as I discussed here previously) felt uncomfortably dated to me and I wanted to apply "Spring Cleaning" early on into the NewYear.
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Not having my Laptop PC back from the warranty repair shop feels like my old 1972 MGB-GT automobile. I owned it for three months. When it ran, it was a "traffic stopper". An unfortunate irony. Most of the time it sat parked, and was temperamental. If it was too hot or too cold outside, if it had just rained, if the dual carburetors were not synchronized...you name it...it never started.
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Recently, at a Holiday Party I told the E-True Story version of one of the last times I had that car out for a drive years ago. I was making a left-hand turn in mid-summer. Directly behind me was a couple in their early seventies who looked like they had just filmed a television commercial for the Lincoln Town Car. The white haired gentleman behind the wheel looked like Bob Barker in a tuxedo, with his attractive wife dressed to "the nines" in an Oscar de la Renta evening gown with high heels. As I let out the clutch to accelerate through the turn, my MG stalled. I could see the couple in my rear-view mirror laughing hysterically in the car behind me. Eventually, the man got out of his Lincoln Town Car and walked up to my driver's door. "We relate", he laughed. "We used to own one of these when we were your age. I'll push you about twenty feet. See if you can kick start it". I kick started the car alright. It ran for about 10 feet before the battery died. You had to be there. I managed to steer the car into a parking lot with a slight uphill grade. The hubby and wife (whom I was convinced mistook North Texas for Beverly Hills), got out of their car--as I did--and the three of us attempted to push the 3,300 pound sports car into a parking spot. Embarrassing? I almost died, it was so bad! I can still remember the man's wife pushing forward with her hands on my car trunk, laughing! (I was attired in cowboy boots, jeans and a T-shirt). I was too livid to accept their sympathetic offer for a ride down the street to my apartment. I thanked the couple profusely and offered to pay them for going "above and beyond the call of duty". But they were having none of it. They drove away (still laughing). This story pretty much sums up my technical difficulties of late with the Laptop PC. Kudos in this regard to "Twitter" at Blogrolling who writes: "This is killing us as much as it is you!" (They've been off-line since early October, so I'm inclined to think they're sincere). Once I'm "back in the game", I'll be around to visit all of you who have left me such warm comments over the Holidays. Looking back over these messages, I am heartened by the sincerity and depth of feeling I've read. What a terrific group of Bloggers I have around me! Please know that I'll stop by for a visit just as soon as my computer issues resolve, and life returns to something resembling a normal routine again! Meanwhile...
Basically, I'm a Public Relations Consultant with a background in Broadcast News. I've worked as a Reporter and Anchor with PBS, ABC, CBS & NBC affiliates and in Cable Television. I'm active in Radio & Television Commercials, Guest Speaking engagements and I enjoy writing, music and sports.
Barbara Leigh & Steve McQueen on the 
The New Audio Book by Babara Leigh!
