Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > November > 06
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
11/7: On Frank and Wanda’s 9th b-day, Clark Howard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve learned a lesson. V-103 dangled A-list R&B singer Alicia Keys for a media “meet and greet” before a special concert for Frank & Wanda fans to celebrate the pair’s ninth anniversary. Calling it a “meet and greet” is a misnomer because “meet and greets” are set up for corporate sponsors and fans, not the media. We do “press conferences” and “photo ops.” Nonetheless, the V-103 publicist said Keys would be taking questions so I took the press conference part seriously and came by . But alas, it was right before the concert and minutes before her appearance, a J Records rep said she was a little “under the weather” and couldn’t take questions so she could “rest her voice.” In the end, it was just a photo op. Not V-103’s fault but I probably should have seen that one coming. So I left before Keys hit the stage.
Meanwhile, Atlanta magazine did a cover story on our favorite happy-go-lucky cheapskate Clark Howard, who could be mayor. The story isn’t available online but it’s a well-written, comprehensive profile that shows he’s the same off air as he is on air. And he always treats his fans with respect as they accost him in public all the time. (That hasn’t changed an iota since I did a page one story about him for The Wall Street Journal back in 2001.) The story is probably the most indepth piece about Clark I’ve ever read. Heck, in a footnote, it even lists every newspaper and magazine he reads on a regular basis (or at least the online equivalent.)
When Howard is at local book-signing events, he has a WSB event security guard Alex Shapiro keeping people from punching him. (Shapiro says that has happened.) “He speaks the truth,” Shapiro told writer Virginia Parker. “Some people have too much time on their hands and not enough Thorazine.”
There’s also a great anecdote of Howard buying umbrellas cheap at a Value City or Dollar Store and handing them out when it rains. And he’s not truly cheap in one sense. He pays for a Westminster School tuition for one of his daughters and owns five cars. But he has zero debt. Zero. He saves 80 percent of his income and still has enough to pay for a Florida beach house as well as his Atlanta estate. His wife will indulge on things and not tell him.
He’s on 227 stations and owns his own syndication, which he said lost money in 2002 after 9/11 but has been profitable the past four years.
Clark didn’t tip his hand on whether he’ll run for mayor or not but he’s clearly interested.
And I wrote a story about Sugarland in advance of tonight’s CMA Awards on ABC at 8 p.m., interviewing Kristian Bush. He still lives in Decatur. Check it out here.
