Behind the (Writing) Scenes with...
Louise Webb, Santa Clara County Branch
Rubbing Elbows with Celebrities
From The Pen Woman, Fall 2018
My identical twin sister had a column called Newsy Susie. I thought to myself, “If she can have a column, why can’t I?” Maybe I could get a job at my local newspaper, the Saratoga News, starting with some interest stories.
There was a Richard Simmons exercise cruise I planned on taking. I called the editor and asked if she would like a story from a housewife taking a cruise with the exercise guru. She said she would love it.
I didn’t know much about writing but had taken one course on writing in Santa Barbara and knew you needed a beginning, middle, and end. However, I did the Richard Simmons story in diary form. Simmons was very funny and the story had lots of humor.
My roommate was going to kill herself. Richard Simmons and I ended up saving her life. There was a lot of drama.
Truman Capote was my second interview. I thought there would be many reporters in the room and I would be lucky if I could ask one question. It turned out only two of us were interviewing him.
He was fidgety and didn’t like the other reporter’s first question. Capote turned his chair toward me and it became a one-to-one interview. He tilted his chair on one leg and it looked like he was going to bolt the room any minute. Fortunately, he liked my questions and stayed.
Any celebrity I interviewed after Capote was easy by comparison. I learned from that experience to be well prepared.
Erma Bombeck was coming to the area and the editor asked if I would like to do a story on Erma. I basically learned how to write on the job and did numerous celebrity interviews, including Oprah Winfrey.
The newspaper writing started out as a side hobby but kept growing. Eventually I was asked to do a column on Saratoga, my home town. I wrote the column for 20 years.
It was fun doing in-depth articles on local people and I continued to do numerous celebrity interviews. I was given a press pass and obtained many of the interviews on my own. The paper would mention a celebrity was coming to the area and I would follow up by getting an interview. It was a lot of fun.
I have given many professional talks with the title Behind the Scenes with Celebrities.
Louise Webb has been writing memoirs and leading a memoirs class for over 17 years. During her writing career, she interviewed individuals such as Elizabeth Taylor, Willie Nelson, Bruce Jenner, Clint Eastwood, Vanna White, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford. For many years, she attended the Oscars to interview the stars.