News Boroughwide

Remembering Larry King

January 25, 2021 Editorial Staff

Larry King. AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

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From Brooklyneagle.com

By Andy Furman, Special to the Brooklyn Eagle

We never met – but we talked.

Several times.

We had a bond – and now it’s gone.

Larry Harvey Zeiger died Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his TV production company, Ora Media, announced on his Twitter page.

Larry King lived on 84th Street in Bensonhurst – I grew up on 80th Street.

Our bond – we both attended Lafayette High School. He graduated in 1951 – me many years later. And, as I understand it had barley passing grades.

One of my “bucket list” dreams is to form an investor group and purchase an NBA franchise.

Presently, I’m working with a group and Louisville, Ky. is the city we’re targeting.–>

One problem – we need close to a billion dollars — and, of course the league has to agree to expand – or an owner must be willing to sell and re-locate.

I write and pester people with money all the time – hoping for a “hit.”

It’s like fishing, I believe. The more you cast your line – the better chance in catching a fish.

Larry King was to be my big-fish.

So off it went – a letter to Mr. King.

Certainly, I explained I was a Lafayette kid from the neighborhood – and looking for investors to purchase an NBA ballclub.

Why not?

I knew King was a baseball nut – anytime the Los Angeles Dodgers were on TV there he was sitting right behind home plate in those expensive seats.

And about four-to-five days later I got a phone call – with an unrecognizable number. Area code, 301.

I picked it up – and it was – believe it or not – Larry King signing the Lafayette High School song.

Unreal.

Yes, he was interested in our project. We chatted. I sent him more materials. And he promised to meet us in Louisville.

It never happened. He passed at 87.

He loved sports – in high school he listened to Dodgers’ games on the radio.

In the early 1960s he was a color commentator for Miami Dolphins football games.

He was a schmoozer – he interviewed an estimated 50,000 people of every imaginable walk of life and claim to fame – every president since Richard M. Nixon, world leaders, royalty, religious and business figures, and experts.

He was a son of European immigrants who grew up in Brooklyn and never went to college. He began as a local radio interviewer and sportscaster in Florida in the 1950s and ‘60s, rose to prominence with a national call-in show starting in 1978 and from 1985 to 2010 anchored CNN’s highest-rated, longest-running program.

Larry King is gone – I won’t forget him – he was a friend.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected].