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Alan Alda seems like a mensch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alan Alda’s second memoir, “Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself,” is out in paperback, and full of what my colleague Rodney Ho describes as “ruminations on the meaning of life, with excerpts of speeches he’s made.”
He talked to Rodney recently about those speeches.
Q: You’ve done hundreds of speeches. I’m sure you put your best in the book. Have you ever bombed?
A: Yes! If I’ve ever gotten up without really wanting to say what I had to say, those times, I have bombed. But usually, that happens when I stand up to say a few words at a dinner. I have to really want to do it.
Q: What’s your favorite speech?
A: I loved the one I gave my daughter Eve at her college graduation. It makes me happy when people tell me they were moved by that. It really cheers me up. I worked very hard on all these talks. I worked even harder writing this book. I didn’t want it to be just a collection of speeches. Although for all I know, it might look that way to some people.
Q: Did Eve like the fact you were addressing her directly?
A: She loved it when I gave it. Before that, she scared me by saying, ‘Don’t embarrass me!’ Most of the people got what I was trying to do. I was really talking to all of them. But through her, it felt personal. This is a turning point in their lives. It was really hard not to say all the cliches.
Q: Which speech affected you the most personally?
A: It was the one I gave to the doctors. I have no real knowledge of medicine. But I was an expert at being a patient so I spoke from that point of view. Years later, a couple of doctors said they had kept that talk with them for a couple of years. It encouraged them to be the kind of doctor they already wanted to be. I voiced something that was felt by them.
Alda will be reading and signing at 7:30 tonight (Sept. 25) at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlantam 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Tickets are $35. He’ll also be signing at a meeting of the Atlanta Press Club Friday, which is sold out.
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