My 2 Cents: David Letterman, A Different Side Of A TV Legend

I have been a David Letterman fan since the early 80's. So when I had the chance to go to New York to interview him, I jumped at it.

It was January of 1996; he'd just finished taping his show that day, and walked into the office in sweats and a t-shirt, cigar ready to light. I hadn't expected it but he kicked off the interview, remember it was just eight month after the bombing. Here's how I reported it back then.

“What is the collective attitude and the feeling in the city these days?”

We spent the first several minutes talking not about his show or comedy, but about the tragedy that befell us April 19th, the bombing.

“Were you drawn to coverage that day?”

“Well sure. It's compelling. Every morning you would see another story of sorry and heroism just hand in hand. I watched Good Morning America every day. It was just unbelievable.”

“I don't recall you ever referring to it.”

“We may have alluded to it. It's the kind of thing that for the life of me I can't ever imagine you being justified in presenting humor about it.”

And he talked about the shock he felt on learning it apparently was an act of homegrown terrorism.

“You can almost feel better about it. OK some foreign alien nation, some kind of terrorism. As little sense as that makes, it makes much more sense than whatever else actually transpired. What sense does that make?”

I'm Kelly Ogle and that's My 2 Cents.