What’s on my reading table right now? Besides my life-loving succulents, which I got at Ikea, of all places, and have been thriving ever since leaving the Swedish big box?
“I Was Saved by the Bell – Stories of Life, Love and Dreams that Do Come True.”
I am the only person I know who didn’t watch Saved by the Bell growing up. Somehow I missed out on America’s favorite teen sitcom — all 86 episodes and 2 TV films, which author Peter Engel executive produced.
It doesn’t matter, though. Even without the thrill of recognition of characters watched pre-cable-proliferation, I loved this book. I’m normally not a bio imbiber – more of a fiction fanatic. But Engel’s life is so interesting, and the way he tells his story is so charming, that I was captivated from the first page. Also, as someone who’s produced a bit of film and television myself, I can identify.
He got his start as a page at NBC in the Fifties, working on shows like The Tonight Show and The Perry Como Show. He detoured into political activism, campaigning for John F. Kennedy. He even had a brief marriage to a Canadian Ice Capades skater.
However, his heart never strayed from his main passion: making a hit TV show that he could believe in.
As the page-turning stories intensified, I began to realize that Engel’s reason for writing his book is beyond autobiographical. He has a message to everyone pursuing a dream: never, never, never, never quit. It’s a good one to take to heart.
