ENTERTAINMENT
Talk show host
Brent Triest encourages
his guests to voice
their opinions
on today's issues
p e g
■
GOING PLACES
WEEK OF OCT. 14-20
SPECIAL. EVENTS
CITY OF SOUTHFIELD
Southfield. Library, Marcotte
Room, "Don't Let It Be Forgot,"
series exploring the Arthurian
legends. Tuesday, Barbara
Schutz gives a costumed
rendition of "The Legen
Tristan and Iseult," an•
"Gawain and the Loathe
Lady;" Oct. 25, ,film E'xcalt
—
354-910
MULTI •
SOCIETY
Westin Hotel, millionaires soir
for Friends of MS, Saturday,
dinner, auction, dancing wit
music b -"
irdrrievirrlimowookeiseft
Brent Triest got his wish to be a television talk show host.
YONA KAHN
Special to the Jewish News
tep aside, John and Mari-
lyn. Meet Brent Triest, a
36-year-old attorney
whose dream of being a
talk show host has come
true. He's host and co-executive pro-
ducer of the award-winning
"SpeakOut! With Brent 'Priest," broad-
cast taped at 7 p.m. Mondays on WTVS,
Channel 56, beginning Oct. 24.
("SpeakOut!" also can be seen live on
Continental Cable's Channel 11 in Oak
Park, Southfield and West Bloomfield,
at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays.)
S
Triest's venture into television
began in 1985, when he told a friend
... that he'd always wanted to host a
television show. "I've always enjoyed
entertainment, theater and perform-
ing;' he said. "I was looking for a way
to present interesting topics, and to
elicit opinions from people. Part of it
also stems from the belief that you can
do something beter than what you see.
I wanted the chance to provide a public
forum!'
A 1970 graduate of Oak Park High
School, Triest majored in theater at the
University of Michigan, and was
graduated from Wayne State Univer-
sity Law School. He lives in Hunting-
ton Woods with his wife Nancy and
their children, Jonathon, 6, and Katie,
3. They attend 'Temple Emanu-El.
The family spends summer
weekends at its cottage near Port
Huron, enjoying leisure sports like sail-
ing, bicycling and tennis.
Triest is a trial lawyer, specializing
in constitutional tort litigation. He'll
teach a constitutional law class this fall
at Wayne State University. He's a
board member of TRICO, a family
foundation and the Jewish Welfare
Federation's Coville-Triest Support
Foundation. He is president of the "I
Glenn Triest
Have A Dream Foundation — Detroit,"
which has pledged its support to 78
fifth graders in Detroit, and promised
to pay for their college or vocational
education. The program is entering its
second academic year.
Triest soon learned about the cable
companies' free public access classes,
facilities and equipment. He took ad-
vantage of United Cable's public access
classes. The next step was finding a
crew to provide behind-the-scenes sup-
port. "I was crewing for, someone else
when I met Barry Steinberg, who is
now the director and co-executive pro-
ducer of `SpeakOut! ," Triest recalled.
"Barry was freelancing for United
Cable, and I asked him if he'd be in-
terested in crewing on a talk show." So
the show, then titled "A Closer Look:'
began as a cable television public ac-
cess program.
A break came in October 1986,
when WXON, Channel 20, sent one of
its public affairs producers out looking
vers ,
about former
etroit Tiger star Ty
hrough Dec. 9; "A 1,"
heater," mviews Thurs
ct. 21, oMs Oct.22, th
ec. 1 admission. 577-29
R FIELD VILLAG
useum. Theater, Dearborn
'ura, now through Nov. 1
ission. 271-1620.
EADOW BROOK THE
Oakland University, Roc
madeus, now through Oe
dmission. 377-330
ROSEDALE CO
PLAYERS
21728 Grand River at Lahser,
Don't mu Mother, today and
.Saturday, Oct. 21-22, admission.
532-4010.
Continued on Page 73
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
67