|
I want to tell you about when I first met Dennis.
|
|
I was living in Cleveland, although I'm from here, and I did a show called Morning Exchange, which was a live show, like a Today show.
|
|
I think one of the longest-running regional Today type shows in the country at the time.
|
|
And there was a host named Fred Griffin, who's very good.
|
|
And I would come in from time to time to be a lawyer to explain the Supreme Court case in lay terms.
|
|
I was on a number of times.
|
|
So one day I came in to talk about sexual harassment in the workplace.
|
|
And there's this big guy sitting in Fred's chair.
|
|
And he's introduced to me, and I did the segment, and I was good.
|
|
And Dennis complimented me.
|
|
It's a live show, by the way, about a two-hour morning show.
|
|
And as I'm taking off my earpiece to leave, I overheard somebody say, when are you going back to L.A.?
|
|
I turned around.
|
|
I said, you're from L.A.?
|
|
He said, well, not originally, but I live there now.
|
|
And I said, I'm from LA.
|
|
He said, what are you doing in Cleveland?
|
|
I said, well, I'm a lawyer, but I left.
|
|
I started a business.
|
|
And I write, not getting anything published, but I'm a writer.
|
|
What kind of stuff do you write?
|
|
He said, well, I'm a conservative.
|
|
And I thought Dennis was a liberal since he was from L.A.
|
|
And Dennis said, well, I am too.
|
|
When are you going to be back in LA?
|
|
I said, well, I come home around Christmas time.
|
|
This is like June or July.
|
|
And he said, when you come, contact me.
|
|
I'll have you on my radio show.
|
|
And I said, fine.
|
|
So that night, I'm talking to my mom, who's in L.A., and she loves talk radio.
|
|
I should tell you, KABC, where Dennis and I work, was the first 24-7 talk station in the world.
|
|
1965, if I'm not mistaken.
|
|
And in 1965, she had it on and never had it off.
|
|
So she knew Dennis from Religion on the Line, which was a weekend show Dennis had for a while.
|
|
And then, of course, Dennis is a regular show.
|
|
So my mom and I are talking about family stuff.
|
|
At the very end of the conversation, I remember meeting Dennis.
|
|
I said, Mom, before you go, I want to tell you, I met somebody.
|
|
I know you'll know who he is.
|
|
He's a talk radio host out of L.A. His name is Dennis Pearson Dennis, Pauper Dennis.
|
|
She said, Prager, almost blew off my ear.
|
|
She said, he is by far my favorite host.
|
|
He had a show called Religion on the Line, and she'd walked him through his whole career.
|
|
He's asked you to be on his show.
|
|
I said, yeah, she said he doesn't have very many guests.
|
|
It's so, what an honor.
|
|
So fast forward to Christmas, I call Dennis.
|
|
He doesn't call me back.
|
|
And Alan, I'm thinking it's a Hollywood thing.
|
|
You know, you call me, I'll call you.
|
|
He didn't really mean it.
|
|
It wasn't sincere.
|
|
And my mom said, call him again.
|
|
Yeah, literally, you know, it was a Dennis thing.
|
|
Yeah, and I called him again.
|
|
He picked up the phone.
|
|
He had me on that night.
|
|
I'm shortening the story, but the general manager, George Green, heard this show.
|
|
I was on for almost an hour, I think about an hour and a half.
|
|
I'm flying back to Cleveland now.
|
|
Plain lands.
|
|
I walk into my office, phone rings.
|
|
It's George Green.
|
|
I heard you on Dennis' show.
|
|
You were amazing.
|
|
I said, I was.
|
|
Oh, my goodness.
|
|
Have you ever thought about doing talk radio?
|
|
Come back to L.A. I'll give you a two-day audition.
|
|
So I fly back after one day.
|
|
He says, Do you want this job?
|
|
I said, I think so.
|
|
He said, well, have a good time.
|
|
Have fun.
|
|
Don't speak so damn quickly.
|
|
And Dennis recommended me to George Green before this happened.
|
|
When the show was over, I did my thing with Dennis.
|
|
Dennis said, you were amazing.
|
|
I said, I've been thinking about doing talk radio.
|
|
I had a little experience sitting in for somebody for a week a couple of years ago, but nothing came out of it.
|
|
Would you introduce me to management?
|
|
He said, I get these requests all the time.
|
|
I have never in my life introduced somebody to management.
|
|
In your case, you're that good.
|
|
I will do so.
|
|
And if it hadn't been for Dennis, I wouldn't have been on radio.
|