"Mr. New Year's Eve" replies

Dick Clark

Reference Date:
October 5th



As I write this, it's a quarter to twelve on December 31st, 2007. In fifteen minutes, it will be the first day of 2008, exactly two years from the time that I started on my "Letter A Day" project for 2006.

If you look at my posts for 2007, they are slim. This is not because I was lazy and didn't want to write (OK, there's a little of that in there) but mostly because the flow of replies slowed to a trickle.

Originally, I was going to publish my collection of replies at the end of 2007, but I'm going to push that back for another six months or so. Judging by Geoffrey Rush, who took over a year to get back to me, I know that my letters don't always get to the recipient as soon as I mail them out, so the reply can come much later, through no fault of their own.

Another case in point is the reply I got from "Mr. New Year's Eve", American broadcasting legend Dick Clark. He's been on the air for over sixty years! His biggest success came as host of "American Bandstand" from the early days of rock and roll to the rap/hip-hop era. He also started a successful production company, and is one of the most powerful men in television.

In the 1970's, after Guy Lombardo (the legendary bandleader whose "Auld Lang Syne" would ring in the New year for millions on the radio and TV) passed away, Dick took over hosting duties from Times Square. He has held the New year's mantle since, even after suffering from a stroke in 2004.

I wrote to Mr. Clark on the anniversary of his first "American Bandstand" show. This was his very kind reply:

Chris,

Please forgive the long delay in responding. I was sick for the past 5 weeks and, unfortunately, didn't get much work done.

In response to your note, here we go...

The best words of encouragement I received early in my career were from an old morning disc jockey and they were to never become discouraged with the outcome... just forge on.

The only pitfalls I have met are ones I built for myself with my over-enthusiasm. One must be careful not to oversell oneself.

The greatest lesson I ever learned was work hard and steadily. Never become discouraged and look forward to your next challenge.

Thank you for your very kind note. Again I apologize for not being able to reply sooner.

Sincerely,

DICK CLARK

I sent him a nice thank you letter