Did You Know…?
Well, no. And I’m not sure I want to know now.
It’s another one of those irrelevant stories that seem to grab the attention of the corporate media. The story has no substance and no legs. But…and this is all important…it’s salacious.
I’m talking about Barbara Walters, host of The View on ABC, and her affair 35 or so years ago with then-Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts.
She’s written a book titled Audition: A Memoir that includes the revelation and perhaps others. I haven’t read the book and don’t plan on it. But lots of people will. She’s been hawking it on various television shows, and is scheduled to appear in San Francisco Thursday, May 15th at the Nob Hill Masonic Center, 1111 California, at 8 p.m.
The only real nugget of relevant (if you can call it that) information is Brooke’s ethnic identity. He’s Black, no big deal in most of the U.S. today, but around 1973, the story would have been dynamite. Had an affair between a White woman and a Black man become known, their careers would have faded faster than a speeding bullet.
Perhaps, if nothing else, the affair and its revelation may cast some light on race relations 30 years ago and illustrate only a slight degree of social progress in the intervening years, Barak’s popularity not withstanding.
So far, Brooke, who is 88 now and reportedly living in Florida, hasn’t officially affirmed or denied the story. We have nothing but Barbara’s words to rely on. Still, we can be fairly certain of their authenticity. She has a great deal to lose should the story turn out to be a figment of her imagination.
In the long run, Barbara’s book and her affair with Brooke will become a footnote to a footnote. For awhile, though, we will be properly titillated in the manner of Americans while we settle back and wait for the next scandal.
