An Encounter with Mike Wallace

A Few Fleeting Moments with the Man Who Never Took No for an Answer

ATLANTA, Georgia --The recent passing of Mike Wallace made me think of my one and only encounter with the legendary reporter and host of 60 Minutes, the CBS News magazine. And yes, in keeping with the theme of this blog, it is a sports story since it involved baseball's Hank Aaron.

It was 1994 and I was handling media relations for Turner Broadcasting System (TBS).  One day after lunch I returned to my office to find a stack of phone messages. It was not unusual to receive 50-60 media calls a day when something big was happening at Turner and although that day was not particularly busy, one message did stand out.  It read “Call Mike Wallace” with a 212 number.

My first thought was “What had Ted done now?” The early ‘90s was one of the best periods of time for TBS chairman Ted Turner, and for the company itself.  Ted was named Time’s Man of the Year, Ted and Jane Fonda were married, the company launched the Cartoon Network, the Braves won their first and only World Series (1995) and CNN was reaping the benefits of its coverage of the Gulf War.

At any given time, though, Ted could say something that would spark controversy. He irked Christians and Jews, said the country should adopt China’s policy of one child per family. He colorized classic MGM films and had some of Hollywood’s top stars go to Washington in a failed effort to stop him—“They’re my movies and I’ll do what I want with them,” said Ted. He spoke at his daughter’s graduation from Georgia State and gave a three word address, “Use sun screen.” It was the same morning he had a cancerous mole removed from his lip.

I think you get the drift. With Ted you never knew what to expect. Fully anticipating that he had again said something which would need explanation (“What Mr. Turner really meant to say was…), I called Wallace back. But much to my surprise, the question was not about Ted. “Gary, we’d like to interview Hank Aaron for 60 Minutes.”

Although the question was met with relief, there was still some cause for concern. First, while it was not about Ted, it was about Hank, whose image and reputation were also important to TBS. Wallace went on to explain that he saw an earlier Sports Illustrated magazine interview with Hank. The interview was the first in which Aaron talked at length about his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record. He detailed how he was constantly harassed, received death threats, how he had to have meals brought back to his room and how he was only happy when he was on the field. It was a story made for 60 Minutes, but Hank decided he wasn’t interested. Meanwhile Mike Wallace wasn’t interested in taking no for an answer, and reminded me again that the story would appear on the nation’s top-rated television program.  We must have talked for three or four minutes, but sensing that I (Hank) was not about to grant the interview, he asked me to keep in touch and let him know if we could “work anything out.” I breathed a sigh of relief. After all, many a PR person had his or her reputation tainted after an encounter with Wallace. To his credit, however, he got the message. Besides, an interview with Hank Aaron was probably not as high on his list as one with a world leader, business tycoon, astronaut, etc.

I never heard from Mike Wallace again, which was a good thing. Hank didn’t do the story then, but may have later on 60 Minutes or another news show. Nonetheless, it was interesting to reminisce about my fleeting encounter with one of broadcasting’s true legends, and man who rarely took no for an answer.

Quick takes…Bo Jackson was at a Braves game touting his bike ride this weekend to raise money for victims of last year’s tornado in Alabama. When asked if there would ever be another two sport superstar like Bo, his answer was simple: No. He said that the competition today is too tough and that anyone who would try it would ride the bench in both sports…If you haven’t looked, the Falcons home schedule includes Denver and Peyton Manning in the season-opener. Also on the home slate are Dallas and the New York Giants…I’m often asked to name the coaches of visiting teams who are easiest to deal with, the best interviews, the nicest people. The two that come to mind first are Doc Rivers, the Celts coach who was in town last night, and Doug Collins, who now leads the 76ers. There are certainly others, but these two are at the top of the list in any sport.