Whose Counsel Do You Seek for Important Decisions?

By Deb Boelkes

Most everyone feels the need to seek counsel from a wise, trusted mentor now and then, especially when we face an obviously big decision that clearly has the potential to change the direction of our lives. Yet, we don’t always know when a seemingly small or insignificant decision might head us in a direction we could never anticipate.

Just think back to all those little everyday decisions you have made over the course of your life that not only completely changed your trajectory, but the lives of countless others as well. Many such decision points confront us when we least expect them.   

Recently, an octogenarian friend of mine, Brian, shared a story with me about a young couple he lived next door to when he was a child. His story was about how an unanticipated decision the young couple made together, literally in an instant, ultimately rocked the world. 

Based on his best recollections, here is Brian’s story:

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I was blessed to have grown up with my family, for a period, out in the country. We lived in the first garden-type apartment complex—known as Drexelbrook—in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia. While living there, we lived next door to a nice young couple named Mr. and Mrs. Clark.

Each Halloween I enjoyed tramping around the neighborhood all dressed up, either wearing a store-bought costume or one made by my mother. On the first Halloween that we lived at Drexelbrook, I rang the Clark’s doorbell and quickly discovered that Mrs. Clark made magnificent cookies. Since the Clarks had no children, over time I returned next door quite often for some of her delicious treats. Mrs. Clark always seemed to enjoy my visits.

I came to know Mr. Clark as “Richard” but other people called him “Dick,” which was his handle on his local radio show. After he, literally overnight, became the host of a local TV show called Bandstand, the world came to know him as Dick Clark.     

Before Dick Clark took over as the Bandstand show host, the show was hosted by a guy named Bob Horn. While Bob Horn was host, Bandstand became the #1 afternoon show in Philadelphia, and there was talk of the show going national.

One Friday afternoon, when Bob Horn had finished his session for the day and was leaving the building, the Philadelphia police detained him at the exit door. The cops charged him with pedophilia—a term I later came to learn was used when the victims were pre-teens and young teens. Horn was immediately fired for making inappropriate advances to the high school-aged female dancers on his show.

Word of the criminal charges quickly got to the station’s management office on City Line Avenue in Philadelphia. The entire Philly management team quickly assembled and immediately called the network executives in New York City.  This was a crisis.

The network executives responded curtly: "We don't want to miss a show. By Monday afternoon you must have a new show host on board."

The Philly team had no idea what they would do, but they answered "Yes, Sir!"

As they agonized together over what to do, they brainstormed one crazy idea after another. Out of sheer desperation, one brave guy finally suggested the craziest idea of all: “A few months ago the radio division upstairs hired a young but bright guy. What about him?”

The fact was, the young man referred to looked so young that most of station staffers thought he was in high school. One of the more rational team members instantly pushed back. "Now, wait a minute! We just fired a 40-year-old, and now you’re suggesting we hire a youngster.  If he's that good looking, we might have an even bigger problem on our hands than we already have. Besides, what kind of experience could he have with television?"

Virtually out of any other alternatives, the TV station chief reluctantly agreed to at least meet the young radio guy, and asked, “Where might we find him at this late hour?”

It just so happened that the young man’s radio show was live on the air at that very moment. Since there was a radio in the office where the management team was huddled, they immediately tuned into Dick Clark’s live broadcast to listen. After a few moments, the TV station chief called the radio division chief and gave instructions for the young man to come downstairs to meet with them as soon as his show was over.

To make a long story short, when Dick Clark came downstairs, everybody on the management team agreed that his looks were perfect. Even though he had never worked in TV before, they made him a monetary offer he couldn't refuse.

But the young man told them he simply couldn’t accept an offer like that on the spot. He explained to them that he had only been married for less than 2 years, and he would never make such a major decision without consulting his wife first.

Well, the management team was so pleased with the young man’s character, they responded excitedly, “OK…Call her! Is she home?”

Dick replied in the affirmative, “Sure. She's probably cooking my dinner right now.”

So, they handed him a phone and in less than a minute, Dick had his wife on the line. In front of everyone, he told her where he was and what the TV station management team had just offered him.  In response, Mrs. Clark simply asked what happened to Bob Horn, so he told her.

She immediately reminded Dick that they had discussed Bob Horn’s character before. They had both agreed that Bob Horn bothered them because during his shows he would often come down off the bandstand to dance with the prettiest of the girls on the set. The Clarks had agreed with each other that Horn’s behavior wasn’t appropriate.

Dick’s wife continued, reminding him that the nuns at West Philadelphia Girls Catholic High School—which sourced most of the girls for the show—watched the show faithfully.  The nuns forbade the girls to go on the show wearing their school uniforms. So, the girls had to take a change of clothes to wear on the show.

Mrs. Clark then went on to remind Dick that the nuns had not only complained about Bob Horn dancing with the girls, but he had also been caught peeking into the girls’ changing room.  The station management team didn't even know that!

After a brief period of silence, Dick’s wife confirmed that the offer sounded like a great opportunity.

To mitigate any concerns the Clarks might have, the station chief offered to give Dick a two-week probationary period before deciding whether he wanted the job on a permanent basis. With that, the deal was done. A photo was taken of Dick and the meeting concluded with the management team suggesting that they meet with Dick on Monday morning for an early breakfast to help him prepare for the show. Once Dick had left the room, the station chief called the New York execs and wired them a copy of Dick’s photo.

During that phone conversation, the New York office was adamant that they did not want anyone to know what had happened to Bob Horn. The story was not to be published in the Evening Bulletin. So, someone from the local news division was tasked with calling the police station to put a lid on the story.

The police wouldn’t censor the story without a call to the Police Commissioner by the New York network executives. All was agreed to for the time being, but eventually word did get out about Bob Horn’s firing. But by then the story was softened, claiming Horn had been arrested for drunk driving. 

Meanwhile, the New York executives were worried that Dick was an unknown, which could cause another problem. So, one of the network execs suggested, “Why not just send someone from here to the Bandstand studio and have them sit in the wings to observe the show? If anything goes wrong, Dick will be history.”

But who would they get to do that? One of the executives suggested sending a rather persistent page who had been bugging him about some idea for a new show. “Maybe that will shut him up for a while!”

After a brief discussion, they offered the page an opportunity to commute to Philadelphia for a couple of months to sit in the wings to personally observe Dick Clark’s performances. All went well—all the dancers and the viewers loved Dick Clark. He quickly became a household fixture, and nobody even remembered Bob Horn after that.

Ultimately, Dick Clark’s Bandstand show went on to broadcast nationwide on ABC as American Bandstand, introducing rock and roll music to millions of Americans. Dick Clark hosted the show from 1956 to 1989, making it the longest-running variety show in television history. 

Oh, and the name of the page who commuted to Philly for two months to observe Dick was Chuck Barris. He eventually formed his own television production company in Los Angeles. His first success was a show called The Dating Game, which was followed by The Newlywed Game….and years later he produced and hosted The Gong Show.

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The moral of this story is that you just never know where a seemingly innocuous, spur of the moment decision might take you, or how it might come to impact the lives of millions of people.

Whether the innumerable decision points you encounter each day are spontaneous or diligently pursued and thoughtfully considered, may each of your decisions serve to make the world a better, more heartfelt and joyous place.  

And always remember, whoever you choose to seek counsel from could make a world of difference.