Interviewing an Icon

By Deborah Horne,
KIRO-TV Reporter and Seattle Local Board Member

The death of Mario Cuomo reminds me of the two times I interviewed him.
   
The first was in Rhode Island, while he was riding high on a wave of adulation over his amazing oratorical skills
   
I, too, was a big fan!
   
But he was so mean and difficult during the news conference, it became a test of wills between us. Yes, between him and me. And, of course, he, being the adored one, won.
   
All of the reporters were chuckling.
   
"Didn’t you know he likes to bait reporters?" they asked afterwards, with big Cheshire cat grins. And I, they cheerfully reported, had fallen for the bait.  

Much changed in the intervening years, however.
   
The next time I interviewed him, I had moved to Seattle. And the famous fickleness of the American electorate had chastened the now-former Gov. Cuomo. No more baiting of reporters or, it seemed, anyone else. Finally, I could see a bit of the Mario Cuomo I had admired.
    
Quick-witted and a masterful user of the language, he slyly steered you in the direction he wanted to go. Those are qualities I admire and respect in those who are interviewed a lot. It is a skill learned only by doing.
    
So it is with sadness that I learned that he — and a part of our history — is now gone.
    
He was certainly one of a kind.

This item was originally featured in the January 2015 local newsletter.