Christopher comments on the passing of Peter Jennings
Working in the entertainment world, I have been blessed by having the opportunity to meet some really cool people. Thus, I feel compelled to comment on the passing of ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings because of the integral part that he played in my career.
Years ago, I created a song called "Hang On to the Dream" that spoke about never giving up on your dreams of becoming whatever you want in life. In between the verses of the song I put actual audio clips of famous people speaking (movie stars, singers, etc) who have hung on to their dreams. One of the clips was of Peter Jennings speaking about Jonas Sauk, who invented the polio vaccine. In getting permission and clearances to use the various clips, I had the pleasure of speaking with Peter on many occasions and when we first met he was so kind and complimentary about my song. He told me how much he loved the song and said that he was honored that I wanted to use the clip of him and said that he gives complete permission to use the clip. My song went on to become a television show for which I won an Emmy Award and I attribute part of that success to the kind words of inspiration that Peter gave me as I was on the road to fulfilling my dream.
One of the interesting reasons that I wanted to use that audio clip of him was, not only because of what he said about Jonas Sauk (whose dream saved the lives of millions of people), but because Peter also "hung on" to his dream and went on to become one of the top news anchors in the history television news, despite this little known fact - he was a high school drop out who quit school at the age of 17.
One other little known fact, is that Peter was also a "horse show dad". A familiar face on the show jumping circuit, you would often see him standing ring side as his daughter, Elizabeth, was getting ready to go into the ring. He and I met again over the years when we saw each other at the Hampton Classic Horse Show and I introduced him to friends of mine and we had a nice chat together. Peter was a super nice guy who will surely be missed in the television world.
For all of you smokers out there, Peter died last night of lung cancer at the age of 67 and he attributed his cancer to his years as a smoker. So the next time you want to light up today , don't do it in honor of Peter and reconsider ever lighting up again.
May Peter rest in peace.