Today, March 24th 2023, would have been comedian Louie Anderson’s 70th birthday.
I first met Louie in 1989, when he published a book of letters to his alcoholic father, a book called Dear Dad. We talked again about that book a couple of years later, and then in 1993 I interviewed him again, for his book called Goodbye Jumbo, Hello Cruel World.
Louie struggled with his weight, and his self-image, for decades. Of course, he turned his weight problem into a source of comedy that made him immensely popular.
But it was in writing both those books that Louie Anderson really started to figure out who he was, and what he really wanted.
So I’ve decided today to offer you highlights of both interviews , starting with our conversation about Dear Dad. S
The next time I talked to Louie was in 1993. His book Goodbye Jumbo, Hello Cruel World was a chronicle of his struggles with weight. So here now, from 1993, Louie Anderson.
Louie Anderson died of cancer in January 2022.
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