“AUDITION” by Barbara Walters

I was extremely impressed by Barbara Walters’s career because she was the first female journalist in the USA that had her own talk show, but she was also the first female journalist that got one million dollars salary. We are talking about the year of 1976 when it was still unbelievable for a woman to get that kind of money as a salary.

Barbara Walters is famous also for her style of interviewing people (“I would ask a question about their childhood, relationship with their parents”) and for the people who accepted to be interviewed by her: Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez.

But, from the whole book, what impressed me the most, was the fact that she adopted a baby girl whom she loved completely.
“Some babies come from their mommies’ tummies. But you, my darling, you were born in my heart.”

Because of her job and constant traveling she had to do, Barbara Walters employed two nannies to help her raise the baby girl.
“Still, did I feel guilt? How do I count the ways?
Is there a working mother on earth who doesn’t? …There is no perfect solution. Just exhaustion. And, my favourite word, guilt.

I am known for saying that you can’t have it all- a great marriage, successful career, and well-adjusted children- at least not at the same time.

It’s a bit easier today because there are employers who are more flexible, who may let you work part-time, and there are BlackBerries so you can work wherever you are, and there are husbands who will change diapers.
But it’s still a balancing act and probably always will be.”

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2008