5

TELEVISION STATIONS THE size of the Palm Springs ABC station usually had a sales structure that comprised a local sales manager, national sales manager, a national sales assistant and a local sales assistant, and then, of course, the sales team. News Channel 3, or TV3, was no different.

Ross Mitchell was the local sales manager for TV3. He recently joined the team after spending his early broadcast career in radio. Dick Thomas recruited Ross after losing his local sales manager to Los Angeles. Ross was a handsome thirty-year-old who loved broadcasting. It was all he had ever done. He was also considered a player. Dick liked this about him because it allowed Dick to live vicariously through this young kid’s exploits.

Ross drove his five-person sales department hard. He wanted every advertising dollar he could find and would be cutthroat to get it, even if that meant making lowball, dirty deals to steal the money away from his NBC competitor.

Ross was well liked by both the business and the social community in the Coachella Valley. The single girls at the station considered him a catch. He played that part well, but only because it helped him get things done as quickly as possible. Ross kept a secret that no one knew, but his secret was the reason he loved working and living in the Coachella Valley.

Steve Draper was the national sales manager. He came out of Los Angeles, where he had worked the agency side of the business for one of the big owner-operated stations—the O&Os. O&Os included the three major networks—ABC, CBS and NBC—and the stations that they owned and managed. In 1986, FOX was not a network yet.

Steve was forced out of his job in Los Angeles after a car accident. The sales manager at the Los Angeles station wasn’t willing to support his account executive through the recovery. There were too many dollars at stake and no guarantees that Steve would return at full strength. To say Steve was bitter was an understatement. He felt his career was stolen from him. He was forty-two and at one time was on the fast track for a network position. The cutthroat culture of a big-market television station robbed him of what he believed would be an incredible career.

Palm Springs was a pretty good place to recover and rebuild or finish out your career. Steve had his father to thank for the opportunity. John Draper knew Stewart Simpson very well. John called Simpson, who in turn reached out to Dick Thomas at TV3 in Palm Springs. Simpson didn’t promise anything, and he resented the request, but it didn’t matter; in the end he told Dick Thomas about Steve Draper, and Dick took that to mean that Simpson wanted him to hire the guy. That was not the case, but before the general manager understood that, it was too late. Dick Thomas didn’t realize it then, but that move to hire Steve Draper probably cost him his job later down the road.

Steve Draper turned out to be a dubious hire. He was very good at what he did with national sales, but he was not a team player by any means, and he wasn’t a nice guy. And Steve couldn’t stay focused for more than a couple of hours at a time. He joined the ABC station within a month of Ross Mitchell joining the team. The two would become rivals—both personally and professionally.

The day that Lisa Addelson walked into the station, the games between Ross Mitchell and Steve Draper began. Neither one of the sales managers knew how far out of their league she was, but that wouldn’t keep them from trying. Lisa never wasted her time on small fish. Lisa was star material. To her, the world was a giant aquarium and she wasn’t interested in anything but whales. Ross and Steve were not whale material. Those two were more like the food that whales ate and then shit out.

***

Frank Bogert was the mayor of Palm Springs. He had been mayor for a long time and would continue to be mayor until Sonny Bono showed up and launched his political career. Palm Springs had become a mecca for Hollywood. Palm Springs Life magazine was the big monthly society magazine that everyone tried to get their picture in. It was what Palm Springs was all about. Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, and former president Gerald Ford all called the desert home. Lisa Addelson fit right in with this crowd, riding her newfound celebrity as a crack local reporter. The crowd just didn’t know it yet. That was about to change.

Her story on the pyramid scheme provided her with some instant notoriety. She continued to chase new stories while she stayed on top of the police investigation into the bombing. It seemed to her that this was a very slow process.

In the meantime, Lisa Addelson was making her mark on the Palm Springs television market.

***

One afternoon, Lisa pulled up to parallel park in front of Nicolino’s, a popular deli in Palm Springs. She struggled with the angles—or at least that’s how she made it look to a driver standing next to his car. Lisa pulled the car forward and tried backing up again. The onlooker in chauffer attire giggled watching this beautiful girl struggle to do something that came so naturally to him. Having mercy on the young woman, he waved at her to stop and got into his car to pull it forward enough to make her parking easier.

Lisa got out of her car, red-faced, and walked up to her new friend. “Thank you, sir. You saved me”—a little pause—“and maybe your car as well.”

The two laughed and extended hands to greet each other. “I’m Lisa Addelson. Thank you again for being so kind.”

“Ms. Addelson, I’m George, and it was my pleasure to be at your service.”

As the two ended their handshake a familiar face came out of the deli.

“George, who do we have here?”

“Mr. S, this is Lisa Addelson.”

“Lisa. You’re the new reporter on TV3.”

Lisa was shocked that Frank Sinatra knew who she was. She had planned this meeting for a long time, never knowing when it would take place. She certainly didn’t count on Frank Sinatra knowing who she was.

“Mr. Sinatra, it is a pleasure to meet you. George has been very gracious to help me park my car.” Lisa didn’t let on how big a deal this was to her. Or how planned this meeting was.

“That’s good, or I’d have to have him rubbed out.” Sinatra winked at Lisa. He was always joking about his supposed mob connections and tough-guy media portrayal. Lisa smiled. She could play this cat-and-mouse game as well as anyone.

“Say, why don’t you come by my house tonight? Barbara and I are having some people over and it’ll be fun. Come by around seven.”

Sinatra climbed into the car. George gave Lisa a thumbs-up before settling behind the wheel. Lisa turned and walked into Nicolino’s Deli. Once the Sinatra car drove away, Lisa came back out and got into her car and drove off. She had accomplished her goal. Now she had a party to get ready for.

***

Lisa drove up to the double gates on Frank Sinatra Drive at ten after seven. She didn’t want to seem anxious by showing up exactly on time. The gate opened electronically after Lisa gave her name on the intercom. Lisa drove up the driveway. The Sinatra house was full of music, laughter, lots of celebrities that Lisa recognized and some she didn’t.

“Lisa Addelson, it’s nice to have you here. Say hi to my wife, Barbara.” And with that, Frank Sinatra introduced the valley’s newest news talent.

Barbara Sinatra was a beautiful woman and a very gracious host. “I loved what you did on the pet adoption story. That is so close to Frank and me and I thought it was a great piece.”

“Her investigative story on the pyramid scheme I think was some of the best work I’ve seen in this market,” added Sinatra.

Lisa was surprised at how much the Sinatras seemed to know about her work.

“Come with me and we’ll get you a drink.” Barbara and Lisa walked into the living room and over to one of the waitresses holding a tray of wine glasses with red and white. Lisa took the white, hoping it was chardonnay.

“Let me introduce you to someone. You probably already know him. Stewart, this Lisa Addelson. I believe she works for you.” Barbara winked at Stewart Simpson and walked away.

Lisa hadn’t expected this surprise—to meet the owner of her station. She had done her homework and knew about Simpson’s wealth, his broadcast company, his conglomerate of worldwide companies, and his affection for beautiful young females. She didn’t expect to meet him outside the station setting, and she didn’t expect him to be as good-looking as he was. There was a twenty-seven-year age difference, but Lisa found herself attracted to him almost instantly.

“Mr. Simpson, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Lisa, I’ve heard a lot about you. You are even more beautiful in person than you are on the TV. So, tell me, how do you like my TV station so far? Better yet, how do you like being in the news business?” Stewart Simpson was very intrigued by his newest reporter.

Another waiter walked by with wine and Stewart took one white and one red. He gave the white wine to Lisa, replacing the mostly full glass in her hand. For the next thirty-five minutes, the station owner and the best-looking girl in the Sinatra house stood in the corner by themselves, forgetting the others in the room. By the end of the evening it was clear that there was chemistry between the two.

Simpson didn’t play his normal hand. For whatever reason, he felt differently about Lisa. Not like the others, who he would have just jumped in bed with. This girl from Texas got his attention, but he wasn’t ready to close the deal, and he didn’t understand why.

The reporter couldn’t remember the last time she had such an immediate reaction to someone she had just met. Lisa went to the Sinatra party with the intention of possibly finding her new whale. The problem with whale hunting was that you had to be very careful that the whale was not the one doing the hunting. For the first time in her life, Lisa felt she might be out of her league. But it was hard to think about that while Jack Jones serenaded the partygoers with his ballads and jazz tunes. This was just another typical night around a piano at someone’s home in Palm Springs. And playing the piano that night was Bill Marx, son of Harpo, one of the Marx brothers.