Barbara Walters, famed for interviewing world leaders and celebrities, made headlines of her own this month with the publication of "Audition," a memoir about her pioneering TV career, her personal life, and her family's significant struggles. The television icon, who spent her early years in Brookline, will be in town tomorrow for book signings at Saks Fifth Avenue and Brookline Booksmith. We spoke to her by phone about Boston, the television industry, and a certain Massachusetts senator. - JOANNA WEISS
Q. You write that one of your favorite questions to ask is, "What's the biggest misconception about you?" I thought I'd start with that one.
A. Well, it's one of the reasons that I was so candid in the book. Because I had spent 25 years on "20/20" asking questions, I seemed to be very authoritative, very much in command, rather cold. When I started "The View," my daughter said, "Well, at least, Mom, people know you have a sense of humor." But I feel that people, especially young people, feel I have this perfect life. And when they say, "I wish I could be you," I say, "You have to take the whole package." So this is the whole package.
Q. You do share some very personal, difficult stories. How do people respond?
A. People share their own experiences with me. When I talk about my sister, who is - today, what would she be called, "intellectually impaired?" - they talk about their own family.
Q. You have very vivid memories of Boston, though you left when you were young. When you come to town, will you visit old haunts?
A. I remember exactly where I lived. If I have time, I will. It's not that far from Coolidge Corner.
Q. Reading "Audition," I was struck by how much has changed for women in TV. Yet women news anchors are still the exception, not the rule. And when you look at Katie Couric and Elizabeth Vargas. . .
A. Elizabeth Vargas is a different story. Elizabeth has done very well. Elizabeth is co-anchoring "20/20" - that's a major appointment, that's not a comedown. Katie . . . I don't know. When I left NBC, it was a very unhappy experience. They were very unkind. And when I came to ABC, I had a partner who really did not want to partner. Katie left NBC with wonderful going-away parties and came to CBS where they were very receptive. Now, how much of [her ratings troubles] is that they just don't want a female anchor or how much of that is the fact that the audience didn't want a different kind of news program, I don't know.
Q. You also write very poignantly about the guilt working mothers feel.
A. That's a theme that goes through the book: How do you find the balance between career and children and marriage? Employers, certainly where I work, have been more understanding. We have women who work part time. On "The View," we have producers who bring their babies in and nurse them.
Q. You write rather cynically about the way the TV industry has changed. Do you think if you had stayed on "20/20," you would have been pushed to do more tabloid-y interviews?
A. Oh, I was. That's why I left. We were doing more and more movie stars out of rehab, and people were not interested in heads of state or political interviews.
Q. There's one subject from your book that I've been told you don't want to discuss. But I do want to ask why you think your affair with Massachusetts Senator Ed Brooke has been so intriguing to people.
A. This book is 600 pages, and I think the one item about Senator Brooke happened because it was released 10 days before the book. The book was embargoed and I had done Oprah's program. And her people released that very small portion of the interview. And that's all people knew.
