I listened to Larry King on the radio long before I first met him, in 1988.  That was actually the first of several interviews I did with King, who passed away the other day at age 87.

 Larry King was a legend in radio and television. Whether you like them or not, you had to acknowledge he had Broad and deep influence in broadcasting. 

Larry did tens of thousands of interviews over the years, often with VIPs and celebrities who would talk to no one else.

And even though I was still in the "minor leagues" while Larry was a major league all-star, he treated me like we were equal colleagues. That's one of the things I liked best about him.

Tomorrow is January 28, and if you are old enough, you undoubtedly have a clear memory of exactly where you were 35 years agp, on January 28, 1986.

That was the day of that horrible tragedy, the explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger.

Among the crew members was teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe, who had won a nationwide competition to become the first teacher in space.

Watching the liftoff in person that day was Christa McAuliffe's mother, Grace George Corrigan.

Do you remember The Dating Game? Or The Newlywed Game?  How about The Gong Show?

They and many other TV game shows were all created by e same man: Chuck Barris. He was the king of game shows for many years until he retired in the 1980s and moved to France.

A few years later, he wrote a memoir clled The Game Show King. And that's when I met him and interviewed him.

In 1969, a young Texas woman sought a legal abortion. But when she was unable to obtain one, she turned to two young lawyers for help.

Those lawyers took Norma NcCorve's case to court, and eventually to the United States Supreme Court.

Along the way, Norma NcCorvey became known in the court papers as "Jane Roe." Henry Wade was the local prosecutor she was suing, so the case became known as Roe v Wade.

And on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in her favor, effectively legalizing abortion across the U.S.

I met Norma McCorvey in 1994, when she wrote a book clled "I Am Roe."

In early November 1979, a group of students and militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking everyone inside hostage, including the chargé d'affaires, a career diplomat named Bruce Laingen.

The militants were demanding the return of the exiled Shah of Iran, who was undergoing medical treatment in the U.S.

But diplomatic and even military efforts to free thehstages failed, and they ended up being held in Iran for 444 days. It was only on Inauguration Day 1981 that the hostages were ultimately freed.

Years later, Bruce Laingen wrote a ook, based on a journal he'd kept while in captivity. And that's when I met him.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. So I wanted to revisit an interview I did nearly 30 years ago with a woman whose actions helped propel Dr. King to national prominence.

In December 1955, a young woman named Rosa Parks was on her way home after a long hard day at work. She was on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, when she was ordered to the back of the bus so a white man could have her seat.

She refused to move, and was arrested and jailed.

Many people may think Leonard Nimoy's career started with Star Trek. But he was a serious actor for a number of years before that.  He even appearing in other science fiction shows.

But of course it was Star Trek that propelled him not just to fame but to Iconic status. His portrayal of a half-human, half-Vulcan Spock practically launch a cottage industry.

In 1975, Nimoy wrote a book called I Am Not Spock.  Fast forward 20 years to 1995 when I interviewed him for another book he written, called I Am Spock.  

And as you'll hear, there's a reason for his change of heart.

In the summer of 1988 leaders of the Democratic party invited Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards to deliver a prime-time address at the Democratic National Convention.

Richards delivered. all right, in a big way, targeting Republican presidential nominee George H.W. Bush, who had just spent eight years as Ronald Reagan's vice president.  Richards delivered a takedown line that has lived forever: "He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

I met Ann Richards in the fall of 1989 when she had just launched her campaign for governor of Texas.

It was on January 12th. 1971 -- 50 years ago -- that situation comedy changed in a big way, with the premiere of a controversial show called All in the Family.

At the center of the show was an irascible middle-aged blue collar worker named Archie Bunker.  What made Archie so controversial, then and now, was how utterly unapologetic he was for his politically incorrect views. 

Cast in the role of Archie Bunker was veteran actor Carroll O'Connor, who went on not only to win 4 Emmys  as Archie but later starred in the series In The Heat of Tthe Night.

In 1998 O'Connor wrote A a memoir, and that's when I got to meet and interview him.

TRIGGER WARNING: This interview that you're about to hear includes talks about O'Connor's adult son's drug abuse and suicide.

Midnight Plane to Houston? 

Doesn't sound quite right, does it? And in her 1997 memoir, singer Gladys Knight told the story of how it became the Midnight Train to Georgia.

And in this interview you're about to hear, she also tells about the connection that Danny Thomas has to another classic Gladys Knight and the Pips song.