Usually due to space limitations, some of the more interesting elements of many of my interviews end up on the cutting room floor before publication. For example, in my recent interview with Douglas Brode about the book Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone: The Official 50th Anniversary Tribute, I couldn’t include the entire story about his first meeting with Rod Serling.
Here is the complete unexpurgated tale:
“As he was getting ready to leave, I just walked up to him,‘Mr. Serling, I’m Doug Brode. I’m one of the new professors here. I would love to do an interview and article with you.’ [At the time, Brode was a regular contributor to the now-defunct Premiere-style publication Show Magazine.] Without a moment’s hesitation, he quickly pulled out a piece of paper — didn’t have a business card — wrote down his home phone number, and said, ‘Doug, I’m gonna be busy for the next month. If you can call me one month from today at this number, I’d love to set something up.’ Just like that, and he left. A month later to the day, I dialed the number, and an unmistakable voice picks up at the other end. I started to say, ‘Mr. Serling, you probably won’t remember me.’ ‘Yeah, is this Doug?’ That’s the kind of guy he was. ‘Are you free for lunch next week?’ ‘Yeah. Sure.’ ‘Can you get down to Ithaca?’ ‘Sure’ ‘Great. Meet me at the Ithaca spa.’ ‘Fine’ Ithaca spa. So I packed up a swimming suit and a towel since I was going to the spa, right? Well, the Ithaca Spa is a little a diner. It’s just a name. I walk in with a wrapped up towel and a bathing suit I didn’t need. We sat and talked. He couldn’t have been more wonderful and open about everything. Like we were best friends. He mentored me as a writer. And just a few years later, he was dead.”