The $1,000,000 question...

What are the most popular questions quiz show winners get asked? It seems pretty universal:

1) What did you do with the money? 

and

2) What's _________ really like?

If I had $1 for every time I'd ever been asked these two, I'd be collecting royalties every time I ventured out to Publix...

So, in case you're wondering: 

What's Meredith really like?

I wrote a first-person piece about the whole experience in December 2007 right after it happened and mentioned her. (Read it on my journalism blog, here: http://lynpaynejournalist.blogspot.com/2008/06/personals-column.html)

She's a mensch: genuine, grounded, supportive of the contestants, incredibly giving and kind. We had real conversations about real things between takes, and when I won my half million, she cried tears of joy for the little slumdog journalist. And a consummate professional at what she does--on time, prepared, hitting her marks, paying attention, remembering your name, polite to everyone on set, focused, relaxed and having fun. She sat patiently joking and kidding around while about half a dozen assistants came pouring onto the set to fix one of her earrings that they thought was looking a little uneven. When we had a technical problem and stopped the take, she and I vamped along exchanging what passed for witty repartee to keep the audience from getting restless. I also have to say she's a terrific journalist. Every time I see one of her interviews, I learn something. How she manages to do all this well in the course of a single day without going insane I have no idea. I thought I was a good juggler, but she keeps several balls up in the air, spins plates and leaps off trapezes and over flaming tigers and makes it all look effortless. I want to be Meredith Vieira when I grow up...