Former NBC Correspondent George Lewis

Still Crazy After All These Years

George Lewis was a correspondent at NBC News from 1970 until his retirement in 2012. Before moderating a panel on the future of U.S.-Iran relations, he talked about the scoop that got away (if only he’d hung out in Vietnam just a little longer) as well as the country he reported from but is least likely to return to (Guyana) in the Zócalo green room.

Q:

What do you wake up to?


A:

I ask Siri to wake me up, so I wake up to my iPhone, followed by NPR, I think.


Q:

How would you describe yourself in five words or less?


A:

Still crazy after all these years?


Q:

What’s the last great book you read?


A:

I’m right now reading Robert Caro’s latest book on LBJ [The Passage of Power], and I think it’s a great book.


Q:

What country that you reported from are you least likely to return to?


A:

Guyana. Because I think the memory of the Jonestown Massacre that occurred there is really a sad one, and I don’t think Guyana has been in the news since.


Q:

Do you have a favorite constellation?


A:

The Southern Cross. My significant other is from the Galápagos Islands, and you can see the Southern Cross from the Galápagos.


Q:

What’s the last great dessert you ate?


A:

I had a killer crème brûlée a couple of nights ago.


Q:

What’s the best thing about retirement?


A:

Spending lots of time with my grandchildren.


Q:

What’s the scoop that got away?


A:

I left Saigon when the Americans were evacuated at the end of the Vietnam War, and I didn’t hang around to watch the North Vietnamese crash through the gates of the presidential palace.


Q:

What’s your least favorite thing about the Internet?


A:

The signal-to-noise ratio—all the crap that’s transmitted that’s untrue and exploitative and evil.


Q:

What’s your favorite (somewhat) hidden spot in Los Angeles?


A:

There are a number of stairways in Santa Monica Canyon. I’ve found one that most people don’t know about, and I climb that stairway all by myself for exercise.