Terry Gross has been the host of NPR'S Fresh Air for the past quarter-century. The tables are turned and she takes the Proust Questionnaire:
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A glass of wine, a good dinner with my husband, and a day ahead of me without a deadline is close enough.
A glass of wine, a good dinner with my husband, and a day ahead of me without a deadline is close enough.
What is your greatest fear?
Living with severe chronic pain, or forgetting the name of the person I’m interviewing.
Living with severe chronic pain, or forgetting the name of the person I’m interviewing.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
It’s hard to choose from among the many short Jewish women celebrated in the history books I read in school.
It’s hard to choose from among the many short Jewish women celebrated in the history books I read in school.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
The inability to stop talking about themselves when they’re not being interviewed.
The inability to stop talking about themselves when they’re not being interviewed.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Eating out with my husband every night.
Eating out with my husband every night.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Entrepreneurialism.
Entrepreneurialism.
Which living person do you most despise?
My personal sense of discretion and my commitment to journalistic impartiality prevent me from answering this honestly.
My personal sense of discretion and my commitment to journalistic impartiality prevent me from answering this honestly.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“This may be too personal, but I was wondering if … ”
“This may be too personal, but I was wondering if … ”
What is your greatest regret?
Not getting out of my chair, away from my research, and exercising when I was younger.
Not getting out of my chair, away from my research, and exercising when I was younger.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My husband, Francis Davis, who is also one of my favorite writers.
My husband, Francis Davis, who is also one of my favorite writers.
When and where were you happiest?
In 1978, I started seeing my husband, and Danny Miller, Fresh Air’s executive producer, started working on the show. Who would I be, where would I be, without 1978?
In 1978, I started seeing my husband, and Danny Miller, Fresh Air’s executive producer, started working on the show. Who would I be, where would I be, without 1978?
What is your current state of mind?
Like someone is hitting the Delete button on the things I’d like to remember, and putting the things I wish I could forget in boldface.
Like someone is hitting the Delete button on the things I’d like to remember, and putting the things I wish I could forget in boldface.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
The Fresh Air archive—and, with Danny Miller, hiring the producers responsible for getting our guests and editing their interviews.
The Fresh Air archive—and, with Danny Miller, hiring the producers responsible for getting our guests and editing their interviews.
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
A great jazz singer.
A great jazz singer.
What is your most treasured possession?
The note my mother wrote to my father when she was dying.
The note my mother wrote to my father when she was dying.
What do you most value in your friends?
Their willingness to put up with my endless explanations about why I can’t see them because I’m under deadline.
Their willingness to put up with my endless explanations about why I can’t see them because I’m under deadline.
Who are your favorite writers?
Scott Spencer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Updike, Jane Kenyon, and The Colbert Report’s writers.
Scott Spencer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Updike, Jane Kenyon, and The Colbert Report’s writers.
Who are your heroes in real life?
War correspondents.
War correspondents.
How would you like to die?
Swiftly, painlessly, and old.
Swiftly, painlessly, and old.
What is your motto?
“Hope for the best, expect the worst.” (Thank you, Mel Brooks.)
“Hope for the best, expect the worst.” (Thank you, Mel Brooks.)
