ENTERTAINMENT h"---
zchaets
at the corners
A Long Career Makes Him
The King Of The Airwaves
RESTAURANT • BAR • WINE
A Perfect Place To Have
Your Perfect Affair
Private Parties For All Occasions
Up To 100 Persons
In Our Friendly, Intimate Atmosphere
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Staff Writer
OPEN SUNDAYS
3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
17600 W. 13 Mile (at Southfield Rd.)
540-4444
Italian and American
Cuisine and Fine
Dining
MON.-FRI. 11 a.m..4 p.m.
"HAPPY HOUR" 4 p.m:7 p.m.
DINNER
TUES.-THURS.4 p.m.-10 p.m.
FRI. 4:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
SAL 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
Closed Sundays
MIN
Banquet Room Available
for Holidays & Meetings
10 to 80 People
645 E. BIG BEAVER, TROY
1 Block West of Rochester Road
689-6920
OPEN 7 DAYS
Alia%
Family Dining
I
27167 GREENFIELD, Just North of 11 Mile
559-8222
DINNER TWO-FOR-ONE
OVER 18 ENTREES SERVED ANY HOUR
American and Lebanese Cuisine • Daily Specials
10%
OFF
ANY AGE!
2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
EARLY BIRD
DINNER SPECIALS
(Except 2 For 1 & Early Bird Specials)
2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
N
FOOD & SPIRITS
01 51
118 W. WALLED LAKE DRIVE, CORNER PONTIAC TRAIL
Walled Lake
624-1033
MON.-THURS. 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
FRI. & SAT. 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Closed Sunday
70
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY, 10,1989
L
arry King says that
only one percent of the
listeners of his
weeknightly, live radio show
ever call in to talk to him or
his guest. But, he says, no one
needs to call him in order to
know what kind of a person
he is. All anyone need do is
listen to him on the radio or
watch him on television.
"The 'me' on the air is the
`me' off the air," he says.
Over the years, many peo-
ple have come to know King,
54, via the airwaves. The man
who set a childhood goal of
working in the media goes on
the air live twice each
weeknight, interviewing
celebrities and newsmakers
on his CNN cable TV show at
9 p.m., and on his Mutual
Broadcasting System radio
show at 11 p.m. The radio
show is heard on 260 stations,
including Detroit's WXYT.
One aspect of King — born
Lawrence Zeiger — that may
not be apparent to listeners,
is the influence of his Jewish
upbringing.
"We kept a kosher home,"
he recalls. "I was bar mitz-
vahed."
King, who was raised by his
mother in Brooklyn after his
father died when King was
10, says he is not as observant
now, but, "I retained a lot of
what I felt about Jewish
values — socially and family
ties. But I stopped being
religious. I'll go on the High
Holy Days — my mother died
about 10 years ago — more
out of respect. But I'm not
what you'd call religious.
Although I like what it gave
me. . .
The values were one of
family, loyalty, giving charity
-- give back — those kinds of
principles of ethics I-felt that
Judaism has. And that quest
for learning. Even though I
didn't go to college, most of
my friends went to college.
And the emphasis was on
learning. Do better. You can
do better; better yourself. Suc-
ceed. I like that and it came
with my culture."
Although King is not for-
mally attached to any
organization, he speaks to
many Jewish ,groups. For ex-
ample, he will speak to the
national Hadassah conven-
tion in Atlanta next week.
King says he has changed
little in over 30 years of
broadcasting, since his start
as a disc jockey in Miami
A radio station manager helped King pick his on-air name out of a
newspaper.
where he got the name 'King:
The station manager said he
could not use his real name
and picked one from that
day's newspaper. -
Two years later, King had a
Miami TV show. He has work-
ed in both radio and TV since.
He says he has not conscious-
ly created an on-air style.
"I'm aware now in
retrospect that I'm fast-paced.
I ask short questions; I'm in-
tensely curious. There's a
mood and a drive to the show.
But I didn't sit down once and
say, 'This is the way I'm going
to do it.' Because the only
secret is, do it the way you feel
most comfortable with."
King adds that "I'm a 'why'
person . . . Ted Koppel said
that he's a news -interviewer
and I'm a feature interviewer.
He said, if we both were at a
fire, and the fireman came out
of the fire, Ted's first ques-
tions would be, what caused
this fire? My first question
would be, why do you want to
be a fireman? And it's ab-
solutely true."
King enjoys both radio and
TV, but adds that "it's like
having two children and radio
is the first. You love both kids
and you're crazy about both
kids but the first kid — any
parent would deny it but it's
true — it's kind of a special
thing that the first kid has
. . . But when I'm doing each
I love each. I feel privileged to
do both every night."
King has made only one
career concession since his re-
cent, well-publicized heart at-
tack and subsequent bypass
surgery. He cut one hour from
his radio show. But he does
not consider his four hours of
on-air work as a difficult
schedule.
"It means you can't have
much social life during the
week," says King, who is
divorced. "I eat an early din-
ner." But he adds, "most peo-
ple work more than four
hours a day . . . I never have
to set an alarm clock," except
when he travels for a speech
or an appearance, as he did
last week when he came to
Detroit to emcee the first
March of Dimes athletic
awards dinner at the Westin
Hotel.
King arrives in the CNN
studio in Washington, D.C., at
8:15 p.m, does the one-hour
show then drives to his radio
studio. He does little
homework for his interviews.
"I work off the top. I don't
prepare much. If I had to
prepare much, then it would
be work."
Often he arrives at the TV
studio now knowing who he
will interview that night,
"because they'll change, ac-