He Ted, Not Jane

On the eve of travel to work at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2008 in Orlando (er, actually it was just a couple of hours before the flight to Florida from Atlanta, on Nov. 14), the Atlanta Press Club hosted another great lunchtime event at downtown's Commerce Club just a few blocks from my desk at Edelman.

The guest of honor was one of my favorite fellow-Atlantans: The one and only Mr. Ted Turner. "The Mouth of the South" has a new book titled "Call Me Ted" which I've found to be an interesting read that filled in the blanks on several excerpts from another Turner biography of the mid-1990s titled "Citizen Turner" (sidebar: I picked up a copy of this book from a dumpster at Columbia University's School of Journalism, which was undergoing asbestos abatement while I was house sitting in Manhattan during October 1996, on post-Atlanta Games holiday -- by contrast, I paid the cover price for "Call Me Ted" and it is worth every penny).

Turner was on site with several members of his family (no sign of his former spouse, Jane Fonda, who was filmed for this blog just the week before Ted's press club engagement -- thanks again, G-CAPP, which wants you to know that three out of 10 girls in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before age 20 - see their other "fast facts" to learn more). There were also many current or former CNN employees in the audience, and Ted spent most of his time at the podium answering questions from the standing room crowd.

As shown on the video for this post, I posed an Olympic question to Mr. Turner that was only half-answered by "Citizen Turner" and escaped mention in "Call Me Ted." Paraphrasing here:

Mr. Turner, your book mentions milestones of your sailing career, but not your attempts to make the U.S. Olympic Sailing teams of the early 1960s (as noted in "Citizen Turner") -- can you please talk about any level of regret or recollections on the Olympic trials?

Turner's answer was very good (see video) and not entirely surprising, and he also kept on message about his book talking about his last days at AOL/Time Warner. Thank you, Mr. Turner, for answering my question.

Among many other memorable remarks of the event (reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in "PeachBuzz" the day after the lunch event) was the notion that Mr. Turner is looking for new friends (an audience member suggested he create a new reality TV show to recruit a few). I also loved Turner's answers to audience questions about CNN Headline News ("I can't watch it anymore"), President Bush and General Motors. Former CNN Chairman Tom Johnson's introductory remarks were outstanding as well.

One other remark that stuck with me was that Turner commented about litter and downtown, with sort of a "Give A Hoot: Don't Pollute!" Woodsy Owl tone. He explained that while walking through urban Atlanta he often takes time to pick up litter, and my impression was that he encourages his current team to do the same.

Since we are neighbors and he made a good point, since Nov. 14 I've taken a moment to pick up cans, discarded newsprint or other waste while walking to lunch at CNN Center or on MARTA, and it would be cool to see others do the same (that was, after all, an action that led me to that copy of "Citizen Turner" while exploring Columbia University back in the day).

I'd love to hear other reader feedback about "Call Me Ted" and hope folks will post their impressions of the text as a comment. Happy reading!

Fun With Nick & Jane

Georgia Tech's Ferst Center for the Arts (disclosure: an Edelman client) was the funniest place in Atlanta last night, with Mark Twain Prize (and Emmy, and Tony, and GRAMMY) winning comedienne Lily Tomlin playing to a standing room audience.

As a special treat (though not surprising), local star resident Jane Fonda -- Tomlin's co-star from one of the first Beta-tape home video cassettes I ever viewed: Nine To Five -- was in the audience. Jane was seated on the center aisle, on about row 15. My seat was on the front row (purchased online at 12:01 a.m. ET/12:01 p.m. Beijing time, as I was working in China during the on-sale moment, determined to have an excellent seat, and it was, as we could practically see Tomlin's nose hairs whenever she strolled stage left!).

During her 90 minutes of monologue, in-character sketches and even some pantomime and dancing, Tomlin delivered and outstanding array of laughs. Given this week's election news, perhaps Tomlin's best pseudo-impromptu line was her lamentations on how she is "now deeply worried about the future of comedy" in a post-W. presidency. She also described how graffiti in her hometown of Detroit sold thousands of cars:

"Teenagers used to spray paint that four-letter word that started with 'F' on bridges, and overnight the adults would repaint it to read 'BUICK'!"

Tomlin also touched on Hollywood, family and sexuality several times, noting that in her youth, family and society, "no one was gay -- they were only shy."

Following a sustained standing ovation, a couple hundred "VIP" ticket holders joined Tomlin and Fonda on stage for a delightfully informal meet-and-greet session. Everyone got as much time as they wanted to snap photos, ask questions or seek autographs from both stars.

For the sake of this blog, when it was my turn to chat with Tomlin, I decided to reprise my "reporter" role in an Olympic version of "The Chris Farley Show" and ask whether Lily had a favorite Olympic moment, athlete or experience (Tomlin is now the fifth celebrity to indulge my Olympic curiosity after Ennio Morricone, Kelly Clarkson, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and most recently Garrison Keillor).

Tomlin took a minute to think about it, and eventually replied (see the video) that she was amazed by the opening ceremonies in Athens and Beijing, in particular the giant LED "scroll" in the Bird's Nest. A bit later, off camera, Tomlin introduced the topic to her stage manager while we were exchanged e-mail information (Tomlin missed Fonda's departure from the event, and I offered Fonda's G-CAPP manager's e-mail to Tomlin & Co. -- thanks, Ms. Tomlin, for answering my questions and for signing my ticket).

Before she left the venue, I also asked Fonda whether she had ever seen Tomlin perform live on stage. The answer was, "No. No, not ever in Atlanta. And this venue [The Ferst Center and Atlanta] was a great place for this."

On the advice of Fonda's team from G-CAPP, I did not go down the Olympic path of questions, which I now regret. One of Fonda's G-CAPP colleagues said that she did not believe Jane had attended an Olympics, and unsure about the Goodwill Games with Fonda's then-husband Ted Turner.

Today, the morning after, the Web yielded that Fonda DID have at least one five-ringed connection as host of some sort of 1984 televised "Olympic Gala" (with Neil Diamond, The Beach Boys, James Stewart, Paul Hogan, Olivia Newton-John, Christoper Reeve, Dizzy Gillespie, Brooke Shields, Bruce Jenner, Peggy Flemming, John Houseman, Robert Wagner, Placido Domingo, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, Barbara Walters, Andy Williams, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster and even Prince Charles and Princess Diana -- man, I need to find a tape of this) which presumably took place in Los Angeles before or during the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad.

Oh, well -- guess I'll have to ask Jane the next time we cross paths at the Midtown Whole Foods Market.

But back to Tomlin. Of several dozen celebrity introductions over the years, Tomlin was one of the most gracious, friendly and genuine. I appreciated her time to talk with so many people and her thoughtful answer to my questions -- some of the best 1x1 celebrity time since working with Benazir Bhutto's media tour at CNN. To paraphrase the interviewer Chris Farley, "That was AWESOME!"

And that's the truth.