An Interview for Lydia: Norfolk Perspectives

On Wednesday afternoon at 1:00, I walked into the headquarters of WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia, to tape a segment of a popular local show, called Norfolk Perspectives.  I was there to talk about my book, Looking for Lydia; Looking for God and to publicize the event that the Slover Library is sponsoring for me on September 12.

The host of Norfolk Perspectives is Bob Batcher who, it turns out, is both good-looking and charming.  He is an ideal interviewer, putting his guests at ease with a few informal questions before taping begins, and he is possessed of that essential–and rare–quality: he is attentive; he pays attention; he is mindful of the person sitting in front of him.

The schedule for taping a segment of the show is that everyone set to appear arrives at about the same time and is assigned a position in the short line (I was the third of four people interviewed and the only one to appear solo.  It was cold in the studio but warm under the lights.  Watching the process unfold for the two before me had a calming effect; it was clear that Mr. Batcher’s main goal was to help his guests do well.  And they did.  It was fascinating to watch the camera operators at work, and to see both the interviews and the graphics on screen during breaks.  By the time it was my turn, I was actually relaxed.

Any experience of this kind teaches us all about: what we could have said; what we shouldn’t have said; how important it is to sit up straight and not fidget.  I came home and made a list.

It was altogether a lot of fun.  I think I pulled it off a bit more smoothly than “Lydia’s Bloopers.”