aware of. Probably my greatest inspiration
came from Chuck Panozzo, who is one of
the band members of Styx. Styx, in itself, is
an amazing group that has come through
so much, but I talked with Chuck before
one of their concerts at Sea World. He
has AIDS and he still tours with the band.
Touring is not easy, and I'm guessing you
have good days and not-so-good days
when you have AIDS. This particular day
was probably not a good day. The interview
went great, and I totally loved Chuck for
his honesty and great personality. But it
was so unexpected that although he wasn't
feeling well, he was going on stage for me
so I could get concert pictures. He's the
most amazing person! And an inspiration to
everyone!
we talked. Which of the interviews did you
like best? Which did you like the least?
different reasons. Their courage, their
desire to succeed, their desire to help
others, the message they send through
their music, etc. Gloria Steinem . . . I
enjoyed that interview a lot because about
a year ago, I was hoping to do an interview
with her at Rollins College before her
speech, but she had a very bad flu. I met
her back in the green room and she was
working out how she could sign all the
out in a wheelchair to the packed auditorium, and she gave her speech. Total passion, total
commitment and not wanting to let anyone down that had come to see her. I was amazed
and admired her so much. I don't think many people know that about her . . . she's really
a people person. I tried to interview her over the summer in NYC when I was there, but
she was at a reading retreat in Arizona. The opportunity came in February in Naples. She
rearranged her plans and did the interview at the hotel after just getting off the plane. Gloria
asked afterwards about my plans for the future, etc. She's just an amazing, caring person.
the musicians are tired, haven't eaten, want to call their families¾they really want to be just
about anywhere than doing an interview their PR rep has scheduled! I can feel that and it
comes across in the interview, but I don't have a second chance and there are no re-takes,
business? How did you overcome?
the International Baccalaureate program
at school and Student Government
Association President, so there's a lot of
homework and my lunch time is in school
meetings. After school, I do the interviews.
On the drive to the venue, I look over the
interview questions and then get some
homework done. Once at the venue, I do the
interview and sometimes stay for pictures
at the concert, lecture, or whatever event
I'm covering. I get home late. Overcoming
this kind of schedule? I've gotten used to it,
really. It's what I want to do, and I've learned
time management is really important!