Read Online Producer by Wendy Walker - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Wendy Walker
Tags: BIO022000
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dinner one night when I met a White House producer for ABC news named
Dorrance Smith. It was during the Carter administration and I was totally in awe of Dorrance’s job. It was during a conversation
with him when I thought,
This guy has a job that I’d like to have someday. I think I could do it.
For the time being, though, Ethel was keeping me very busy so how could I even imagine having a job like that? It was quite
a coincidence that Dorrance was a producer for reporter Sam Donaldson, someone I would date in a few years. But during the
time in Hyannisport, I had no idea who he was.
Toward the end of the summer of 1978, we were en route to Forest Hills, New York, on the various chartered planes for the
August 26 tournament that would be broadcast on ABC. The turnout was fantastic and I was glad I had been a stickler for detail.
Each little thing mattered when among the star-studded audience were crooner Andy Williams, Pulitzer Prize–winner Art Buchwald,
actors Chevy Chase, Dustin Hoffman, and Lauren Bacall, and a load of Kennedys.
I ran into Jackie at the tournament, and this time, a compliment from her sent me over the moon. I had chosen to wear an extremely
classic outfit that would still work today—a white silk shirt, khaki lightweight trousers, and a Gucci scarf wrappedaround my waist as a belt. Apparently, the outfit pleased her as Mrs. Onassis said enthusiastically, “Oh, Wendy, I love your
outfit.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Onassis,” I said, almost trembling with excitement. Knowing her fashion sense and her attention to beauty
and detail, I was sure I would never get over it as I continued to scurry around, taking care of the logistics of this huge
celebrity event that was being nationally televised. By the way, I never threw out that scarf!
This was the first time I saw a string of limos and tons of celebrities all gathered in one place. The air was electric as
hundreds of observers kept arriving, and I was intoxicated by the energy of so many people coming together to raise money
for Ethel’s foundation. I was bit by the producing bug right then and there, as we all worked tirelessly to make the event
a huge success. True, I was exhausted when it was over, and I had feared my lack of experience would get in the way of pulling
this off. But pull it off we did. We had taken each thing as it came, made sure we had it all worked out to the smallest detail,
and then moved on to the next.
When we headed back to Hyannis, exhausted and satisfied after a job well done, Ethel asked her inner circle of friends to
write a critique of the tournament so she could make improvements for the next one. The only complaint she received was that
there was no camera on Jackie—the one thing they thought she should correct the next time! That was a testament to our attention
to detail, both large and small. Nothing had been overlooked.
My time with Ethel came to a close about a year after it began. I enjoyed working for Ethel and she asked me to stay on at
Hickory Hill, but I ended up leaving because I hadcaught the producer bug and wanted to pursue it. I was sad when my time with the Kennedys came to an end, but I’m grateful
for what I learned from being around one of the most famous American families, and to Suzy, who remains my close friend.
Among the many things I took away from this unique experience, and particularly from Ethel, is that details are everything.
I learned to multitask and to write everything down—and I do mean
everything
. I took notes on each conversation I had so I wouldn’t forget what I needed to do, and to this day, I don’t understand people
who don’t keep lists and notes. If I had a hundred things to do for Ethel, and I finished ninety-nine of them, the detail
I overlooked was inevitably the one thing that was most important to her. Keeping this in mind prepared me for the rest of
my life as I left “all things Kennedy” with the tools
Dorrance Smith. It was during the Carter administration and I was totally in awe of Dorrance’s job. It was during a conversation
with him when I thought,
This guy has a job that I’d like to have someday. I think I could do it.
For the time being, though, Ethel was keeping me very busy so how could I even imagine having a job like that? It was quite
a coincidence that Dorrance was a producer for reporter Sam Donaldson, someone I would date in a few years. But during the
time in Hyannisport, I had no idea who he was.
Toward the end of the summer of 1978, we were en route to Forest Hills, New York, on the various chartered planes for the
August 26 tournament that would be broadcast on ABC. The turnout was fantastic and I was glad I had been a stickler for detail.
Each little thing mattered when among the star-studded audience were crooner Andy Williams, Pulitzer Prize–winner Art Buchwald,
actors Chevy Chase, Dustin Hoffman, and Lauren Bacall, and a load of Kennedys.
I ran into Jackie at the tournament, and this time, a compliment from her sent me over the moon. I had chosen to wear an extremely
classic outfit that would still work today—a white silk shirt, khaki lightweight trousers, and a Gucci scarf wrappedaround my waist as a belt. Apparently, the outfit pleased her as Mrs. Onassis said enthusiastically, “Oh, Wendy, I love your
outfit.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Onassis,” I said, almost trembling with excitement. Knowing her fashion sense and her attention to beauty
and detail, I was sure I would never get over it as I continued to scurry around, taking care of the logistics of this huge
celebrity event that was being nationally televised. By the way, I never threw out that scarf!
This was the first time I saw a string of limos and tons of celebrities all gathered in one place. The air was electric as
hundreds of observers kept arriving, and I was intoxicated by the energy of so many people coming together to raise money
for Ethel’s foundation. I was bit by the producing bug right then and there, as we all worked tirelessly to make the event
a huge success. True, I was exhausted when it was over, and I had feared my lack of experience would get in the way of pulling
this off. But pull it off we did. We had taken each thing as it came, made sure we had it all worked out to the smallest detail,
and then moved on to the next.
When we headed back to Hyannis, exhausted and satisfied after a job well done, Ethel asked her inner circle of friends to
write a critique of the tournament so she could make improvements for the next one. The only complaint she received was that
there was no camera on Jackie—the one thing they thought she should correct the next time! That was a testament to our attention
to detail, both large and small. Nothing had been overlooked.
My time with Ethel came to a close about a year after it began. I enjoyed working for Ethel and she asked me to stay on at
Hickory Hill, but I ended up leaving because I hadcaught the producer bug and wanted to pursue it. I was sad when my time with the Kennedys came to an end, but I’m grateful
for what I learned from being around one of the most famous American families, and to Suzy, who remains my close friend.
Among the many things I took away from this unique experience, and particularly from Ethel, is that details are everything.
I learned to multitask and to write everything down—and I do mean
everything
. I took notes on each conversation I had so I wouldn’t forget what I needed to do, and to this day, I don’t understand people
who don’t keep lists and notes. If I had a hundred things to do for Ethel, and I finished ninety-nine of them, the detail
I overlooked was inevitably the one thing that was most important to her. Keeping this in mind prepared me for the rest of
my life as I left “all things Kennedy” with the tools
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