All Talk: The Talkshow in Media Culture

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments I am very grateful for the help of New York University's Department of Cinema Studies-especially Robert Sklar, Robert Starn, William Boddy, Richard Allen, and William Simon-throughout the writing of the first stage of this manuscript. Robert Sklar, editor of the Culture and the Moving Image series of which this book is a part, deserves special thanks for his guidance and support. I am thankful for the support of my colleagues at the Framingham and Fitchburg State Colleges. A course I had the pleasure of teaching at Framingham, Media and Interpersonal Communication, excited my thinking about talkshows. Jeff Baker, Thelma Berman, Barbara Bloom, Terry Thomas, Steve Rogers, and Betty Sullivan gave this project, and me, support at crucial points along the way. Two other friends and colleagues, Derek TePaske and James Robison, were sources of stimulating discussion vital to the evolution of my ideas. They were always on the lookout for articles, interviews, and crucial bits of information that would be useful to my study. I am also indebted to my long friendship with Mark Moore and our countless discussions of the media. My mother-in-law, Grace Manning, deserves my deepest affection and thanks for housing me during many of my teaching and writing years. Mark Gardiner, Katherine Feldman, James and Nancy Richards, Elizabeth Turner, Derek and Cecca TePaske, Nancy Fitts, Thelma and Leonard Berman, Mark and Nancy Moore, Kathleen Crowley, Jeffrey and Mary Ellen Baker, Donna and George Walcovy, Nancy and Jeffrey Featherstone , Kathleen Brennan, Frank Graeff, "Trip," and Cara all had the dubious distinction of putting me up on various occasions during the course of my work. lowe them each a Hilton. ix Copyrighted Material x « Acknowledgments lona College Media Coordinator Gregory Harris, an ardent fan and irrepressible student of the talkshow, was an initial source of inspiration for this study. His unusual attention to talkshows made me look at them in a new light. William Newman of the University of Connecticut was tremendously helpful in granting me the use of his office. Without his help, I would still be writing. He also took the time to review the manuscript and advise me on it. I deeply appreciate the help of the staff at Temple University Pressespecially Janet Francendese and Deborah Stuart-and the careful work of copy editor Patricia Sterling. Finally, I thank my wife, Beatrice Manning, for her immeasurable support -emotional, intellectual, financial, and other kinds too numerous to mention-throughout every stage of this project. It would not have been possible without her. Copyrighted Material ALL TALK Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material ...