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“Audition” couldn’t be a more perfect title for Barbara Walters’ candid, graceful memoir.

“Audition” is her story, from childhood, where her perception of the world was formed, to her groundbreaking career in television where she made it to the top in a male-dominated industry.

I found her stories about her family fascinating. Her father, Lou Walters, the creator of the Latin Quarter nightclub, was always a risk-taker and Barbara saw him make and lose several fortunes. She lived with plenty of financial and emotional insecurity which played a large part in the choices she made throughout her life, in friendships, relationships, marriages and finances.

Barbara Walters graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and it was in those years that she learned to ask questions and listen. She learned never to be afraid of speaking up. She considered herself introverted prior to college but her experiences at Sarah Lawrence had a profound effect on her future success.

The book is full of detailed stories and accounts of people who came in and out of Barbara’s life. Many are still her friends today and/or had a large impact on her life and career: Lee Stevens, Alan Greenspan, Nancy Reagan and Roone Arledge, to name just a few. Her memoir also reads like a history of the three major television networks, the rise of ABC, the changes in TV news and personnel and the big business that TV news has become.

One of the best career stories was Barbara’s trip to Israel for her interview with Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat in November 1977. She had to take initiative, move fast and think fast to pull off this monumental, history-making interview. Wow.

She has interviewed every president and first lady since Nixon. She knows some personally like George H.W. Bush. She first met him in the 1960s but got to know him in 1971 when he came to New York to begin a three-year appointment as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. They had mutual friends.

Marriage was never her strong suit. She admits that many times. She realized she wasn’t the marrying kind or just never found her complement. We all saw the headlines about her personal life, but I found the accounts about her relationships and three marriages so interesting and diary-like.

The most revealing part of her memoir is about her sister Jackie and her daughter Jackie. Her sister was mildly retarded, but in those days there weren’t programs, schools or much support of any kind. Barbara’s parents sheltered Jackie her whole life and expected Barbara to take her along and provide for her. Guilt was an underlying theme throughout Barbara’s life. Her daughter Jackie, adopted at birth, went through teenage turmoil, drugs and behavior issues. Both “Jackie” stories are fascinating reading.

Barbara Walters has been auditioning her whole life. She moved with her family many times as a young girl so there were always “auditions” in new schools. After college, she continued to “audition” in her professional life as she moved up the ladder in the television news industry. She and ABC took major growth steps together. She felt she was always auditioning for a new job or making sure she kept the one she had. She writes just like she talks and I felt I was listening to her speak.

This biography can be found at one of the La Crosse County libraries.

Sarah Stuber is a La Crosse County Library System staff member at the Campbell branch.