In front of an audience of millions, King interviews writers, actors, athletes and most notably, politicians. In the 1992 presidential election, Ross Perot and Al Gore ’69 used the show as a forum for debate, with Perot even announcing his bid for the presidency while on the air with King.
Often referred to as the “master of the mic,” King is known for the softball questions he throws his guests, a diverse set of celebrities, world leaders, and outcasts, including Princess Diana, Frank Sinatra and Yassar Arafat.
The Speech
King’s rise to success has been accompanied by the awarding of honorary degrees from many institutions, including George Washington University, the New England Institute of Technology, Brooklyn College and the Pratt Institute. “Every time I get one, it just flips me,” says King, who was also a recent commencement speaker at Columbia University Medical School.
In 2000, King won Harvard’s Mahoney Award for increasing public awareness about neuroscience.
With a talent for public speaking and improvisation, King, who has been on the air for 46 years now, does not like to rehearse speeches just as he does not rehearse for his show.
“I like to speak extemporaneously, off-the-cuff,” he reports. “I do not have a planned, prepared speech for [HLS], in fact, I probably won’t think too much about it until that morning.”
“The way I’m introduced might affect the way I speak,” he adds. “Who knows—but it will definitely be a different speech—it will not be your typical ‘we are going to rise together, folks . . .’ deal.”
Richard Coe, a third-year HLS student and one of the four class marshals who invited King to speak, will introduce him today.
“Since the O. J. Simpson trial, the public perception of the law has been increasingly influenced by the media,” Coe says. “Larry King shapes what issues the public cares about, and in that sense, we were very interested in him as a speaker.”
“And the skills that one uses in an interview and as a lawyer are very similar as well,” Coe adds.
King, whose passion for broadcasting extends far back into his childhood, says he hopes to convey this sense of passion, as well as humor, in his speech.
“I always wanted to be on the radio, always,” he says. “And as a broadcaster, you have the chance to make those whom you are interviewing and those who are watching you laugh—and there is no bigger joy than that.”
In his speech King says he wants to convey that risk taking was central to his career, which was jumpstarted when he hopped on a bus for Miami.
“I learned the hard way,” he says. “I learned by doing. I never had a teacher, but the thing I always had was fortitude and the ability to take risks.”
King says he hopes to convey the sentiment that “he who hesitates is lost” to HLS students.
“In my life, I always went to the moment—and that always worked,” says King. “If you want to be the best lawyer you can be, and you want to do the best you can, everyday, then let the chips fall.”
“I’ve always trusted my instincts,” he adds. King says that this sentiment was inspired by a sign that hung in the first radio station he worked at, which read “If in doubt, leave it out.”
—Staff writer Lauren A.E. Schuker can be reached at schuker@fas.harvard.edu.