- Air,
Continued on page 12764531
what i know for sureO
OUR FRIENDSHIP has stood
the test of time.
You may have heard me tell
the story, which I’ve told often
over the years: In the winter of
1976, when Gayle King was a
production assistant at the
Baltimore television station
where I was coanchor of the
evening news, a snowstorm
prevented her from getting back
home to the suburbs. We were
colleagues, not friends, but I
invited her to spend the night
at my place. We sat up and
talked till dawn and have been
talking ever since.
We’ve never lived in the same
city, but we’ve always shared
the same values.
For years people have
marveled at our friendship and
sometimes misunderstood it.
But anyone who has a soulful
bond with a friend, a friend
who would do anything for you,
who revels in your happiness
and is there to comfort you in
your sadness, gets it exactly.
In our friendship, they see their
own connections. It’s why
people often introduce their
best friends to me as “She’s
my Gayle.”
Gayle is having a rising
moment right now. After years
of doing local television,
including 18 years at WFSB in
Hartford, she has finally stepped
into her pinnacle role.
Gayle adores all things news
and pop culture. She reads
multiple magazines and
newspapers. Her bag is stuffed
with articles she’s saved or
tidbits she’s torn out to sharewith me. Her television is rarely
off. She delights in devouring
information that is culturally
relevant. And she loves passing
it along. The fact that she’s
experiencing such recognition
and success for doing what
she’s always loved fills me with
pride and joy.
I know for sure: It’s the
same pride and joy she’s
always felt for me.
I believe God put the
two of us in each other’s
path to do exactly what
we’ve been doing since
that night in Baltimore
when I was 22 and
she was 21. Listening.
Listening. Talking.
Listening. Laughing (a
lot). Building dreams.
Standing in the gap.
Cheering. Being a shoulder to
cry on. Supporting. Speaking
the truth. Being the truth!
And the reason it’s worked
all these years, without
arguments or fallouts, is that
we’ve always each been
happy with our own lives.
Now that Gayle’s a
shining star on CBS
This Morning, people
often ask her how she
felt being in the
shadow of my success.
The truth is, she always
felt not a shadow but
the light. We couldn’t
have remained friends
if she’d perceived it
as a shadow. I would
have sensed that, and
I wouldn’t have been
able to be as open.We’ve never lived
in the same city, butwe’ve always shared
the same values.
128 SEPTEMBER^2019 OPRAHMAG.COM
COURTE
SYO
F^ GAYLE
KING(^5).^ GRANDCANYON:^ RUVENAFANADOR.- A summer party at my Indiana
farm, 1995. 2. On the surprise
cruise I arranged for Maya
Angelou’s 70th birthday, 1998. - Kicking off O’s Year of Adventure
at the Grand Canyon, 2016.
2