46 THE SATURDAY EVENING POST Marchi April 2004

ART LINKLETTER SAYS THE DARNDEST THINGS!

For seven decades. the broadcasting legend has entertained and inspired generations oj Americans and still remains at the top oj his game. by Patrick Perry

n millions of American households. flight from reaJity." I television and radio broadcaster Over the next year. Linkletter trav­ Art Linkletter became a member of eled from San Diego to New York and the family. As host of two of the long­ Rio de Janeiro. then back. Wander­ est running shows in broadcast his­ lust satisfied. Linkletter enrolled in a tory-People Are funny and House Junior college in San Diego \vith plans Pany-Llnkletter pioneered what we to become an English teacher. But know today as -reality" television. the athlellc. outgoing. and curious where ordinary people slar In the student of life has always kept an program. And over the decades. mil­ open mind. A phone call came. invit­ lions of people continue to tune in to ing the ambitious collegian to con­ what the beloved broadcaster and sider a career in radio. After motivational speaker graduating In 1934 has lo say. with a B.A .. At 91. Linkletter Is Linkletter became a slill going full throtlle. part-time radiO an­ traveling and lecturing nouncer at station around the counuy KGB In San Diego. and tackling vital is­ And the rest. as they sues affecting seniors. say. is history. Despite a childhood Ad -Jibbing with a and early youth mike since high­ marked by poverty school days. At 1 7. the ever-adventurous Linkletter and want. Linkletter Linkletter was a explored the world. hitching rides, has achieved phenom­ natural crowd-pleaser jumping freight cars. even riding the enal success. Aban­ and used his talent in high seas as a deckhand on the doned tn a tiny the reality-based pro­ American Legion (above) and covering hospital In Moose gram People Are over 2} .000 miles in one year. Jaw. Saskatchewan. F'unny to coax people Canada. and later into sharing their adopted by the older. In 1935. Art was smitten by a narrowest escapes. poor. but loving Rev­ blue-eyed San Diego beauty luckiest breaks. and erend Linkletter and named Lois Foerster. who has dearest wishes. The his wife. young Art been his wife Jor the last 68 results were fantastic. spent his early years years and grandmother to nine After the success of in Lowell. Massachu­ grandchildren and 15 great­ the shows on radio. setts. moving to San grandchildren. in the 1950s he took Diego at flve. After House Party and high school. he left the safe confines People Are Funny to television audi­ of home to travel the world. ences. "I was 16 when I finished high His ability to interview children school. a somewhat skinny. short proved a huge asset-USing the unex­ and Immature 16." Linkletter told the pected to his advantage on the be­ Post In 1952. "I felt Insecure about loved House Party program. where going to college with older boys. and I over 27.000 school-age children A college senior preparing Jar a had not decided what I wanted to do shared hilarious and innocent renee­ teaching career. Linklelter gOl a call In life. With ten dollars In my pocket lions on American home life. from a local radio station manager. and no particular itinerary in mind. I Always embracing the unexpected. who offered the outgoing youth a part­ made the break. It never occurred to Linkletter enthusiastically welcomes time job as a radio announcer. The me that I was running away from each and every day of his life. For call. he says. changed his life. home or that this was any kind of Linkletter. the golden years represent www.SQ{evepoSl.org THE SATURDAY EVENING POST 5 1 Art Linkletter: Uniting have a sen se of well-being. you do ev­ America's Generations erything better. You a re a better per­ Art Linkletter Is national s pokes­ son . more agreeable. a nd people like person for United Seniors Association you more. Of course. a sense of humor (USA) a nd USA United Generations. Is a key to my success. a nonprofit grass-roots organizalion tha t addresses critical issues Post : Do you s till hear from kids affecting seniors. their ch ildren . and who appeared on House Party? Linkletter: No matter where I go or grandchildren-such as economic wh at I a m doing. people come up to growth, Social Security reform . and me. They may have been on the Medicare coverage. Linkletter travels s h ow. knew someone on the s h ow, or to Was hington regularly to meet with wan led to be on th e s how. elected ofnclals and poli tical leaders. A couple of years ago. a cop Some of the Issues the group s topped me on S unset Boulevard be­ promotes include Social Security cause I was driving a little fast. reform with personal reliremenl He said. ~Art Linkle tter. When I accounts, while protecting the was a kid, I a lways wanted to be on benefits of today·s seniors and t hose your s how.- nearing reUrement: keeping ~ YOli write out that tic ket. and you Medicare solvent by creating a will never be on my s h ow!- I said , nexible system of private heallhcare The program started in 1943 and coverage for the next generation of wound up in 1970. It was one of the relirees: and urging support for the longest-running s hows in the history simplification of our lax system, of b roadcasting. I had four kids evelY Including elimination of the estate day, five days a week , ra nging in age tax. abolishing the marriage tax from five to te n years old. That was penalty. eliminaling taxes on Social the group that was very much con ­ Securily benefits, and reducing cerned with families. After age 10. • marginal ta x rales. For more peer pressure begins to s urface. Infom13Uon about USA. located in Of course, I asked th e kids ques­ - tions about lhelr family, a nd eve ry­ Fairfax. Virginia. visil www.usanexl.org body across the coun try got such a or call 703-359-6500. kick out of their re plies becau se they we re com ­ have one. ~ mon to their li ves, too. ~Yes , you w1l1, - he said a nd con ­ vinced me to have one. They found a Post: Have you held cancerous polyp. Again, my life was many different jobs? saved. see Art Linklelrer on page 86 Post : Someone Is looking out for Arl Linkletter. • - Linkletter: That's right. But I a m a lso looking out for myself. Every Individual has to do the same . In college. Linkletter's prowess as an athlete came Post : \Vhat roles do attitude to the forefront He won three a nd humor play in life? letters in basketball, became Linkle tte r : Th e Bible says. a Pacifi-c Coast. championJor ~ A merry heart doeth good like the backstroke. and tried out medicine. - And it's true, We Jor the Olympics. Later; he know scientiOcally that hu­ played handball in national mans possess tiny chemicals in tournaments Wltil age 50. He the brain call ed endorphins now skis every winter at t hat m a ke us feel good a nd Vail. Aspen. Steamboat happy. Laughter activates en­ Springs. and Sun Valley. and dorphins. A good laugh wtll continues to surf. Last shake up your e ndorphins a nd summer. he rode Hawaii's scaller the right kind of drug. waves! Staying aclive is one made by your body. through­ oj his secrets to longeVity. out your system and provide a sen e of well-being. When you \

• 86 THE SATURDAY EVENING POST Marchi April 2004

the randomized controlJ ed t..r1 a l will Linkletter: When I was a Junior in street and had the temerity to think confirm the consistent results of the college at San Diego State College. I It entertatnlng to stop and ask people open label studies. This Is. that a was going to become a teacher. what they thought and where they substantial proportion of people sick One day. I was malting Waldor f were going. with Crohn's disease will h eal wh en salads in the college cafeterla-one of It was the first 1V reality s how! I treated with these agents. my four or five Jobs at the time-and thought. This is something I could do. I have a cohort of people. some of the phone rang in the kitchen . It was so I did n't take the teaching jOb. them quite young. who had end-stage the ra dio station manager. who had Instead . I sold Man in the Street colonic Crohn's and were facing h eard about m e from my professors. I s hows. then the first quiz a nd game irreversible surgery and a lifetime of was president of the student body. a shows. Then the first stunt s how. living with an abdominal sloma. debater. and in many school activt- People Are FUnny. which a long with Today they are walking Ralph Edwards' Truth or a round living normal lives Consequences were two of because of these anti-MAP the closest things to the drugs. :0: present-day a udience­ participation s hows like A r t Lin k letter Survivor. with one major exception. The top prize continued from page 5 1 then was S I 00. Today. Linkletter: Many. I was they give you one million! a hobo. I saw the country I then became nationally from freight cars. I known a nd accomplis hed hitchhiked from San Diego ma ny oU'l er things. to Wa ll a Wa lla. Washing­ ton . to see the world. To Post: You a re also busy go over the Rockies. I ra n tackling senior issues. Into some people riding • Why did you step fonvard freight tralns. so I started to work with the United • - Jumping and riding fr eight • Seniors AssoclaUon cars a round the country. • (USA)? • Wherever I got off. I wou Id Linkletter: The senior get a Job . I was a busboy group got me inLerested in In a nightclub in St. Paul. their health issues. I Minnesota. one tlme. found United Seniors When I asked the guy at doing things that I like. I the employment office go to Washington abou t what Jobs were open. he every four monlhs. I also said that they needed a MlnJor your 5.000-mile checkup?M make television commer ­ bus boy In a nightclub. cia ls. urging senators and Havi ng never been in a congressmen to take a nightclub. I thought a busboy helped lies. Including basketball. He called stand on issues we believe in. old people off the bus. I hung up me out of the cold-a caJl that livers In the Armour production changed my life. Post: Are you ha ppy with the plant. then worked on \Vall Street as That is why. In my talks. I say. passage of the recent Medicare bill? a lyplstln the National City Bank In -Life is what ha ppens to you while Linklette r : That bill Is so impor ­ New York: I was 17 a nd slept In the you are ma king other pla ns.- la nt. I have been in so ma ny gymnasium at the YM CA in Brooklyn. He asked If I would like to talk to hospitals a nd ta lked to sen iors in the While on Wa ll Street. October 28. him about becoming a part-time trenches a nd on the fronUine. 1 know 1929. came along. I saw the fall of radio announcer. I said s ure. It was what seniors want. They want the financial empire. an event that 1933. the bottom of the Depression. Independence. We have organized made a big difference on many of my If a gravedigger called me. I would be under the umbrella of USA a group later judgments. digging graves today. called United Generations. In the big blow-up about four years I went to the interview. but didn't Our Idea Is that 76 million young ago. I had s tops on almost every one see a future. Then. the only people people and baby boomers need to be of my good stocks. I told my stock­ making money were singer . actors. involved in solving the SoclaJ Security brokers that I had seen something and humOrists. I had none of those and healthcare crises. USA United like this In 1929. so when my stocks abilities that I knew about then. I Generations wUl be one of America's drop 15 to 20 percent. sell. I came was ready to take a job at a Junlor­ most successful groups to champion through this big last depression high school tn the fall. But my life the power of bulldtng a legacy without the losses of many others . I changed agaln when I heard a couple through market solutions. not learned that lesson at 17. of young guys in Dallas. Texas. do unelected bureaucrats. something that had never been done The idea is based upon a new way Post : Old you Initially plan on a in the history of entertainment. of giving our grandchildren and different career? They took a mjcrophone onto the children the real wealth lhey own . rather than cursing them with a bankrupt system that we are now leavin g them . As a n organization , USA is linking the genera tions across Ameri ca. We a re servin g seniors and preparing to serve fu ture genera tions of seniors. \Ve a re u niti ng the genera tions for America's future. If tha t could be on my tombstone. I would be very ha ppy: "He helped to unite the genera tions for Am eri ca's fu ture. M And I wUi go on doing it. even in greater force now with the s timulus of these huge cha nges which have never ha ppened , but must ha ppen .

Post: Does the progra m Include a health savin gs progra m? Linkletter: Yes, People want to own Something. We think tha t it wtll be a big part of the electi on campa ign . We know the USA plan will work. Fo r 22 years , there has been a working model of a s uccessful persona l retirement account in Te.xas, apart from Social Security. A guy na med J udge Ray Holbrook fr om Santa r e. Texas, In 198 1 organized a s uccessful a lternative to the SOCial Security system. He led three county employee retirement plans out of the federa l system . creating persona l accounts oWn ed by the retirees. In the 22 years that have passed. the returns a re so much better tha n those of Socia l Security. The s uccess has been sensationa l.