Wicked And Evil - But True!

The Daily Show paid a visit to the New York Times this week, and in the course of five minutes of irony, sarcasm, silliness and satire, proved the case that newspapers are headed for the graveyard...

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Better Off Dead?

Could it be that my best career move at this point would be to develop a major drug dependency and then keel over dead on the toilet? Hmmm....

Elvis Presley, Snoopy creator Charles Shultz and recently deceased actor Heath Ledger headed Forbes' Top-Earning Dead Celebrities for 2007, having netted a combined 105 million dollars, the magazine said Tuesday.

Thirty years after he died aged 42, the King of Rock 'n' Roll last year pulled in 52 million dollars, dwarfing living music stars like Justin Timberlake (44 million) and Madonna (40 million), the magazine said.

Elvis topped the list for a second year running due to the 30th anniversary extravaganza in Graceland -- his home in Memphis, Tennessee -- that in visitors and merchandising generated more income than his 2006 earnings of 49 million dollars.

Shultz, who drew Snoopy and the "Peanuts" gallery of characters into existence, died in 2000 at 77. His heirs last year penned an agreement with Warner Bros. studios moving him up a notch in Forbes' list, with posthumous earnings of 33 million dollars.

The Australian heartthrob Ledger, who died at 28 in January from overmedication, made an estimated 20 million dollars in earnings from his cut in the latest box office smash hit Batman movie "The Dark Knight," in which he played the Joker.

The father of relativity, Albert Einstein, was fourth on the Forbes list. Even though he passed away in 1955, his "Baby Einstein" toy franchise brought in a cool 18 million dollars.

Television producer Aaron Spelling, who died in 2006, followed with 15 million dollars in earnings last year, chiefly from royalties of reruns of his popular shows.

"Dr. Seuss" children book author Theodor Geisel (d. 1991) made 12 million dollars for fifth place, and Beatle John Lennon, shot to death in 1980, dropped from second to sixth place with nine million.

Listed 8, 9 and 10 were Andy Warhol (d. 1987) with eight million dollars; Marilyn Monroe (d. 1962) 6.5 million, and actor Steve McQueen (d. 1980) with six million.

Actor Paul Newman, who died last month at 83 years of age, pulled in five million dollars, tying with the late James Dean (d. 1955), who also earned five million.

The Night I Met Tim Russert...

...or more accurately, the night my mother-in-law got tipsy and accidently backed into Tim Russert.


Allow me to back up a moment... I had the good fortune of seeing Tim Russert in person and actually meeting Peter Jennings just once each in their lives, and it happened to be on the same night - January 26, 1996. We were in New York for the annual duPont award ceremonies, sponsored by the Columbia University School of Journalism. It was an unforgettable career highlight for me that you may revisit here if you wish.

I'll tell you first about meeting Peter Jennings. I was at Columbia to accept a Silver Baton for a series I had done on the Disney theme park that had been planned in Northern Virginia. Now - this was about two weeks before Disney's purchase of ABC, which owned my radio station. So, in accepting the baton, I made a crack to the audience that in another couple of weeks, my award would have been a conflict of interest. The folks at ABC News were very worried that having Disney as an owner would result in Mickey Mouse being shoved down the throats of the news division, a concern that largely never really came to pass. However, the paranoia was still very real. After I accepted my award and began to return to my seat, a man sitting on the aisle reached out his hand to me. It was Peter Jennings. He took my hand, beckoned me close to him, and said, "I can assure you, there will be no conflicts of interest with Disney".

When Peter Jennings died 3 years ago, I received an email from my former General Manager, Tom Bresnahan, who told me the first thing that went through his mind when he heard Peter Jennings had died was Peter's brief encounter with me.

Now back to that night at Columbia University. My proud mother-in-law made sure she and my father-in-law were on hand to see me pick up my award, and being a news junkie, she was IN HER ELEMENT at the pre-awards cocktail reception. She saw Ted Koppel and Daniel Schorr and Edward R. Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly there, not to mention Peter Jennings. She was so excited, she had two or maybe three glasses of wine - probably ten times her monthly average of alcohol consumption! So Mom was a little tipsy when she stepped backwards in the crowded hall - right into Tim Russert! Mom spun around to excuse herself, saw Mr. Russert, and loudly exclaimed "What are you doing here in person, and not on my TV screen?" Now, I'm quite sure Tim Russert had no idea WHAT to say to this beaming, somewhat tipsy woman, but he managed to smile, politely excuse himself and saunter away.

I bring this up because, just as my old boss remembers Peter Jennings first for his encounter with me, I recall Tim Russert first for his accidental close encounter with my mother-in-law.

I learned the news of Tim Russert's death in an appropriate place - a news bureau, where I had just finished a job interview. Others will pile plaudits high and wide for Russert, who was as fair and tough an interviewer as one could be. I join them in expressing my regrets - but I take an odd comfort in knowing my first thought of Tim Russert will always be one that gives me a chuckle.

Thanks Mom... and thank you, Tim Russert.

For those of you who care about these things, here's NBC News Anchor emeritus Tom Brokaw breaking the news on NBC: