MeaganJordanEricY

Regis and Kelly show

Guest: E.L. Konigsburg

R=Meagan K=Jordan E=Eric

K: I'm Kelly! ( she says while walking into the room and sitting gracfuly in a chair) R: I'm Regis. ( he says while waving to the audience and walking over to sit next to Kelly) //{APPLAUSE} // R: E.L., that is an interesting name, what does it stand for? E: Elaine Lobl Konigsburg is my full name. K: Love it! R: I enjoy realistic fiction too! So, you mostly a children's author I hear...do you have children of your own? E: Yes, three K: What are their names? E: Paul, Laurie, and Ross. I love them all dearly although their childhood is much different than mine. R: Would you care to elaborate on that? E: Well, I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania during a much earlier era. Infact it was during the 1930's and 40's. Ahh...memories. Paul, Laurie, and Ross grew up in a suburban area. K: Super cool! R: So who is Paul, Laurie, and Ross' father? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: Well, my lovely husband, David, is their father and the love of my life <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: How long have you been together? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: About 55 years <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Wow! That is a long time; I'm not even 50 years old! But I'm getting there. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: Ummm.... Me either! <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: (chuckles) <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: So, you are like an iconic author, how many books have you written? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: Quite a few... but I don't look at how //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">many // books I write, I pay more attention to the quality of each one. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: You are so modest. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Which one of your books is your favorite? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: Well, I am quite proud of my two Newberry books, __The View From Saturday__ and Jennifer__, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth__ but I wouldn’t say that I have a favorite. My books are like my children, I can't choose between them. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: Wow! Two Newberry books! That is quite something! <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Regis is impressed with most authors... he is having trouble writing his autobiography. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: I am going to call it Life of a Superstar! <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Anyway, back to Elaine, you seem to have an interesting life; do you incorporate any elements of your life into your books? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: Yes, I am of a strong Jewish faith so I like to include Jewish characters and themes into my stories. Also, I used to be a science teacher at a girl's private school and at first I couldn't imagine any of these wealthy students having struggles but then I realized that even though they were rich, they still had personal problems of their own. So, I like to have my characters have problems not relating to money, but personal struggles with friends and family instead. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: That is interesting! So, you said you were a teacher, where did you go to college for that? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: I started at Carnegie Mellon University, where I studied to become a chemistry teacher, and I graduated from Pittsburgh University. Then, I got married to David and I started teaching <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: Interesting, do you ever miss your teaching days? <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: Well, it //was// a fun job; however now I have some more important things to do. K: Like what? E: Raising a family and getting people excited about reading are my main focuses right now. R: Talk about multi-tasking! <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Wow... so when did you start writing? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: I didn't start writing until after I had children. they were my inspiration in a way. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Interesting! Were your children ever the inspiration for any of your characters? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: No, not really. However, I get my inspiration from meeting new people when I go on trips and vacations. I also get some inspirations for the settings of my stories from places I have been to. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: I bet there are a lot of interesting characters out there! <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: (chuckles) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: So, Elaine, without being rude, I have got to ask...how old //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">are // you? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K; That WAS rude! <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: Well, I am only 81 years young! <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: Wow, you had me fooled! I thought you were 25! <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: (Blushes and chuckles) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: Well Elaine, you have accomplished so much within those years and I hope you continue to accomplish even more! <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Yes, so thank you for being on our show, it was a pleasure to meet you! <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E: Oh thank you! You two are so sweet! <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R: I know! <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K: Well, that is our show! Thanks for tuning in!
 * R ** : Good morning and welcome to the Regis and Kelly show!
 * K ** : Today we have a special guest.
 * R ** : The special guest was originally going to be Lady Gaga but she was busy carving meat for her next outfit.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">: so instead we have the beautiful E.L. Konigsburg.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">R **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">: Let’s give a warm welcome to E.L!
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">: Thank you, thank you.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">K **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">: So, we all know that you are a famous author, what kind of genres do you like to write about or read?
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">E **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">: I'd say that the books I read and write are mostly realistic fiction.