SURDINSIIRE
$11101(111!

Bring your friends, family, the neighbors, you name it;
to dinner at Memphis Smoke. Because at these prices you
can afford to treat those you like and those you don't.

Our famous Smoked Prime Rib

10 ounces smoked & slow roasted. Served with garlic Au jus.

fresh Whitefish

Grilled, Blackened, or Sautéed.

Both served with a house tossed salad
and your choice of two sides including:

BAKED POTATO
CORN WITH RED PEPPER
STEAK FRIES
BARBECUED BEANS
RED BEANS & RICE
COUNTRY GREENS
COLESLAW
POTATO SALAD
GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

These two unbelievable specials are available
every Sunday from Noon until Midnight.

EST ., LOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN

Memphis Smoke
6480 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield

810.855.3110

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JN Entertainment

RAPPAPORT-AGE page 89

celebrities in strong and flatter-
ing ways while getting across
the most information for view-
ers.
"I make sure that every word
I speak on the air is the way I
would normally talk, and I love
the spontaneous moment that
happens during interviews,"
said Rappaport, who is in her
mid-30s.
"I edit my own stories and
love to show things that go on
during an interview that might
not be perfect — the fun and
natural times in the conversa-
tion. I hope this brings a little
bit of a signature to my seg-
ments."
Rappaport's entry into her
high-powered broadcast career
communicates her talent for
scouting opportunity.
After graduating from Boston
University's School of Commu-
nications, she pursued public re-
lations work and landed a job
with United Artists in San Fran-
cisco.
"I was responsible for pro-
moting films like Woody Allen's
Manhattan and Sylvester Stal-
lone's Rocky and got into televi-
sion because of one of my job
duties," she reminisced.
"I had to book these celebri-
ties on talk shows, pick them up
from the airport and accompa-
ny them to the various stations.
In the limousine, I was doing re-
ally fun interviews without even
realizing it.
"I began thinking that I'd
want to know all of these things
if I were at home listening to
these people, and I decided I'd
like to get on TV. I was sure this
was something I could do."
Rappaport hired a camera
crew, made a demo tape and
sent it to the "PM Magazine"
show in San Francisco. She then
pitched her formal audition tape
from "PM Magazine" to the San
Francisco NBC affiliate's gen-
eral manager and was hired as
a fashion reporter.
"My very first story was an in-
terview with Ralph Lauren,
which was a pretty big coup,"
Rappaport recalled. "He came to
San Francisco to open a store,
and I got the exclusive."
Rappaport spent three years
working in San Francisco, two
years co-hosting "PM Magazine"
in New York with Matt Lauer,
five years reporting entertain-
ment news for the CBS affiliate
in New York and for almost six
years has been in her current as-
signment with "Today."
"It doesn't even feel like a job,"
she said. "It's like a family. I'm
very close with the people on the
show. Katie [Couric] and Matt
[Lauer] are really good friends."
Rappaport is very open about
the other friends made through
work. She played Cupid for pal
Christie Brinkley, fixing the
supermodel up with her new
husband, Peter Cook. Before

Carolyn Bessette started dating
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr.,
she hung out in the same circles
as Rappaport.
"[When she started dating
John,] Carolyn pulled back from
everybody," Rappaport said.
"She was trying to keep their re-
lationship a secret. When [the
secret] was out, they were try-
ing to be private.
"I knew John Kennedy from
social events, and I was the one
reporter who had the nerve to
ask him — during a public ap-
pearance he made at Blooming-
dale's — how it felt to be the
sexiest man alive. It was the
very week that the [People] is-
sue came out.
"He just looked at me and
started laughing. I don't think
he was too happy I asked, but as
far as I was concerned, that's
what people wanted to know."
Her friendship with the late
publishing tycoon Malcolm
Forbes brought Rappaport some
unusually exciting times. After
one interview with her, Forbes
invited Rappaport to report on
all his special events.
"When Malcolm Forbes had
his big Morocco party with cov-
erage from all over the world, I
was the only local reporter from
New York on the trip," Rappa-
port recalled. "I was flown to Mo-
rocco on his plane, and my sister,
Linda, went, too.
"He took a lot of heat for the
party because people thought it
was the height of extravagance,
but I did a four-part series on it,
portraying a very positive, great,
fun trip. He wrote me a beauti-
ful letter about the segments,
and I have it framed."
Rappaport, who has a fear of
flying and only takes to the air
when work requires, is glad New
York is the frequent stop for her
sister, celebrity photographer
Linda Solomon, who ironically
appears regularly on "Good
Morning America."
"There have been so many oc-
casions when I'll go to interview
celebrities who will say they
have met me before, and they're
really thinking of Linda," she
laughed.
Rappaport believes that
strong family values come from
her Michigan upbringing and
add balance to her life. Married
to builder Mark Fitzgerald, she
allots time for weekends in the
Hamptons, where the couple en-
joysthe outdoors with three dogs
and two horses.
"I am like a little kid in a can-
dy store," Rappaport said. "I still
get excited about interviewing
a celebrity I've watched as a fan.
It's a thrill to see a movie, think
a star is really great and know
I can talk to that person on TV.
`Tm glad I never lost that out-
look. I think that if I ever do, it
will show, and I won't have the
spark and excitement I want for
my segments." O

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