Ted Turner Taught Me a Thing or Two

I had the opportunity to meet and spend a few minutes with Ted Turner about 15 years ago. I met him at a function; I was partners in a magazine, travelgirl, and Renee Werbin had put his wife, Jane Fonda, on the cover and that offered us entrance to a private event with them.

Ted and I spoke for about seven or eight minutes, and I walked away a much better person. I am sure he had no clue. One of the things we spoke about during this short conversation was his penchant for picking up trash. He was known to pick up a piece of trash on the street or in a stadium or anywhere where someone else had littered. I asked him about it and said, “Is your goal to clean the streets?” His response was poignant. No, he was not attempting to clean the streets, he was merely doing his small part, as we all should, to make the streets a cleaner place to traverse.

As you can imagine, my friends now all notice when I pick up garbage along the street or in a store. Just doing my part; think what the streets would look like if we all followed suit.

The other thing I learned I had to glean from his actions. As one might suspect, I waited patiently for my few minutes with Ted Turner. He was the star of the show wherever he went. When it was my turn, he shook my hand, looked me in the eyes and asked what brought me to this event. For the next seven or eight minutes, we covered three or four topics, and at no time did his eyes wander from mine. He was laser focused on our conversation. A conversation with someone he had never met and most likely would not again, yet, his attention to our conversation was unwavering. His eyes were not wandering around the room looking for someone more important he needed to speak with, he genuinely engaged in our discussion.

I walked away from Ted feeling important, heard and empowered. Ted, on your passing, you have renewed your lessons of humility and respect. Next time we have the opportunity to meet, I can guarantee you will see me with renewed passion for emulating my teacher and I hope you spot me picking up a piece of trash, just doing my part.