Staff News

When we started this blog I said that I wanted all of you to get to know the fabulous people I have the pleasure of working with each day—the people who do the research, make the arrangements and get the interviews onto the program. Unlike their host, my producers are all young people—-so exciting and wondrous new things occur in their lives.
 
I guess Shelley Tillman’s news tops the list. She is expecting her second child and when Miles Tillman gets here in September, he’ll be the third baby in the show’s three-and-a-half-year history, joining Nicholas Campbell and Lily Redick. Lily’s family has relocated to Memphis, but Geoffrey continues to produce for us.
 
Producer Andy Danyo is getting married next month and will move (temporarily) to France in September. Her husband will teach at the University of Paris for the 2008-2009 academic year. Andy will continue to work for the program from her remote-but-now-disclosed location.
 
Executive producer Steve Lickteig has been doing some moonlighting and I insist that he tell us all about it on this blog. He is the assistant director for a new and fascinating documentary film that premiers this week at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. It’s called "Waiting for Hockney" and it’s about a young artist who spent seven years working on a single portrait.  I want to make it very clear that I enthusiastically signed off on interviewing the film’s director, Julie Checkoway, before I learned that Steve had anything to do with the film–so there’s no conflict of interest since I would have done the interview anyway.  The Checkoway interview may be heard on The Bob Edwards Show on Thursday, April 24th.
 
My own personal news has to do with my one and only grandchild, Jerdahn Campbell (no relation to our senior producer Chad Campbell).  Eight-year-old Jerdahn has become the media darling of Houston, Texas because she’s made over a thousand dollars at her lemonade stand. The Houston Sun had a nice feature story about her, complete with photograph (and cameras LOVE Jerdahn–the most photogenic child in history) and KHTV in Houston did a nice little story on her.  But lest you think my granddaughter has become some Trump-like citrus tycoon of the Lone Star State, be assured the money has all gone to a non-profit trying to fight childhood cancer. The cause began in 2000 with a four-year-old cancer patient named Alex Scott who started a lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer research.  Alex’s story spread and thousands of "Alex’s Lemonade Stands for Childhood Cancer" mushroomed all across the country.  In the remaining four years of Alex’s life, a million dollars had been raised.  As of June, 2007, hordes of children everywhere had raised $17 million for cancer research by selling lemonade. So my little sweetie has an Alex’s Lemonade Stand franchise and she’s charming the press.  Good for you, Jerdahn.  You make Grandbob very proud.
 
Bob