Success !

I booked a great guest for last Saturday night's show.

I heard about her from a listener's email. Just a random note, suggesting that we might find her work interesting. She compares the legends of ancient people to fossils of dinosaur bones in the region.

I thought it was a fascinating idea. So, Googled her and located her tiny website. I found her books on Amazon and contacted the publisher, Princeton Press, and asked for review copies to be sent to me. Once I saw that her book was interesting, I contacted her via email. She got back to me weeks later, telling me she was on an archeological dig and would return in a couple of months. When she returned, we spoke on the phone. I found her stories to be fascinating and her personality engaging - two very important components for a guest on my show.

Then, I had her books sent to the host of my show. He loved them, thank goodness. Finally we nailed down a date for her appearance on the show, a couple of months in the future, because she was going to be traveling again.

She had been booked for over a month when the host told me he was going to Mexico on that same day. I re-scheduled my guest.

I asked her to provide a series of questions to help guide the interview. I called her and begged her to do the show on a phone that had a cord, connected to the handset, for best audio quality. I convinced her to go to Goodwill to find one.

She was finally on last night and it was radio magic! The host and the listeners (and my boss, too!) loved it. My guest received a slew of emails from listeners asking for more information.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I do as a producer!!

The guest's name, by the way, is Adrienne Mayor. Her book is "Fossil Legends of the First Americans".