Producer by Wendy Walker

that later), she was
     relieved to delegate the details to me when it really mattered.
    “Wendy was there for me emotionally,” says Katie, “in terms of doing research to find some options when Jay was still here.
     Once he was gone, at the funeral, I have a vivid memory of Cardinal O’Connor entering the church in his full cardinal garb.
     And there was Wendy, standing in the church, organizing everything, one of the things she does best. I used to call that her
     neat freak behavior when we were roommates, but I was really glad to see her there when Jay died, taking care of things. She
     even managed to make me laugh.”
    When it comes to the show, organization is at the crux of it all. It starts with those thousands of e-mails each day. I answer
     some of them, I check my long and detailed lists, I make my calls, I check things off and make more lists, and I do my best
     not to second-guess myself. I keep in mind that, first and foremost, we are a business, we have to sell airtime to commercial
     sponsors, and we have to respond to demographics and households. As little as twenty years ago, there were very few available
     venues for someone who wanted to get a point across, making it relatively easy to book any guest we wanted. But now, with
     the explosion of electronic communication and the Internet’s digital extensions, all that has changed and the competition
     has become fierce. We have to work much harder to get the people we want, because these days we are not the only ones vying
     for interviews. Hey, people don’t even have to go on shows at all anymore if they don’t want to. They can just tweet or blog.
    Incidentally, for anyone who thinks the escalation of technology is not a good thing, let me remind you about the aftermath
     of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. During the 9/11 tragedies in 2001, our advanced technology allowed us to see what was
     occurring in the moment. It allowed Ted Olson to speak to his wife before she died on the plane that crashedinto the Pentagon, and it allowed us to keep track of reactions all over the world. But by 2010, when the earthquake devastated
     Haiti and killed so many people, technology was allowing us to save people as they tweeted or e-mailed their locations to
     rescue workers.
    Today, with the benefits of the most advanced technology to date, we take pride in the span of the topics and people our show
     covers. While we might interview a movie star one night, we might book the Dalai Lama for the next night. I recall when Nelson
     Mandela was freed from the prison cell in which he had spent the last twenty-seven years, and we were told he was willing
     to do an interview for our show. Larry and I flew to New York together that very night on a red-eye so we would arrive in
     time for the interview. This was one of those moments when I realized how major an impact our show could make on the world.
     We do pop culture (societal trends) and water cooler (the current buzz at cocktail parties). And we also do Nelson Mandela
     and the Dalai Lama, people who transcend cultural limitations, race, or color.
    As you can see, our palette is so diverse, I have to be ready for anything. Good thing I have some habits in place that help
     me out. But even with the best organization and readiness, things happen over which we have no control. Since Larry takes
     his interviewer role so seriously, one of my greatest challenges occurs when we’ve booked a guest who arrives late to the
     studio. There is no degree of preparedness or organization that can eliminate the angst when a guest is late.
    In 2001, we had booked former Vice President Al Gore to appear for the whole hour. He was a hot ticket for the show, we were
     thrilled to have him, but it was 8:45, the show was set to begin at 9, and Gore and his wife were stuck in traffic. There
     was no way he could make our airtime, so I had to figure outhow to fill in the first segment of the show while we waited. My alternative was