Who Am I? December 2019

I was born in Chicago towards the end of the Truman presidency. My mom, Ann, was of Romanian-Jewish descent who worked as a rabbi’s secretary. My dad, Morrie, emigrated from Ukraine and worked as a chicken feather plucker in a factory before he opened a chicken take-out stand. Dad was badly injured when a fire broke out at his stand and he rushed back inside to rescue the cash register which held the ENTIRE family nest egg. Eventually he was able to open and run a couple of eponymous delis.

I did go to college and earned a B.A. in social work. In 1971 I volunteered to work on an Israeli kibbutz. After finishing school I headed out to CA. I slept in my van for months. I found temporary work trimming eucalyptus trees for a tree service and worked as a waitress for several years.

I borrowed money to open a restaurant and foolishly lost all my grubstake trading options on the advice of an unscrupulous trader at Merrill Lynch. I decided to learn the financial business at Merrill and later moved on to Pru Bache before founding my own financial group.

I became well known as an author, an international lecturer on financial topics, a financial televangelist, a motivational speaker, and a longtime CNBC TV host. In fact I have earned 2 Emmys as a TV host. I have appeared on Oprah and am a contributing editor of “O”, “The Oprah Magazine”. I am sure you would recognize me from PBS appearances. I pride myself on being a prolific fundraiser for PBS. I am also a winner of the ‘MS Spirit Award’ for my many years of work in trying to find a cure for multiple sclerosis. My connection to north Jersey is the fact that I have taped some of my shows at network headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

I consider myself a role model and I admire people who have lost everything and recovered. I try to engage my audience and readers with simple words and concepts along with a holistic approach to financial matters. I am an advocate for tough love, financial responsibility, self-empowerment and remaining as debt free as possible. I preach resistance to unbridled consumerism and materialism.

I favor the Democratic Party. I am not religiously observant but I am spiritually very interested in the concept of God both in Judaism and in eastern religions.

I sometimes do unpaid public service announcements for the F.D.I.C. I’m pretty sure many of you recognize me from my pearly whites, my baby blues, my perpetual tan and my wide lapels. You know you’ve arrived at the big time when you’ve been spoofed like I have been, on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ several times. That’s me and my pop in the photo below.

(1a)Who Am I? (1b)I’ve written at least 6 books that made the N.Y. Times Bestseller List. Name 2 of them. (2a) There is one city I feel that “no place is more beautiful, more serene or more healthy.” What is that city? (2b)What was the name of that business in Berkeley, CA that employed me as a waitress for 7 years? (2c)Every morning I say a prayer. What is that prayer? (3a)I once paid $7500.on a watch to impress a date. What was the name of that watch? (3b) Where did that watch end up and why? (4) Suppose I was looking for Morry’s Deli. Could you provide me with the address, phone number or website? (5a)I once called myself a 68 year old virgin, but I do have a mate who doubles as my business manager. What is her name? (5b)How did I first woo ‘KT’ with flowers? Which kind of flowers?