February 2012 American Way Magazine - page 44

CHARLESSYKES/NBC
Marathon—butheadmits thateatingstill sootheshim
whenhegetsupset.
His relationshipwith food, however, isnowamuch
healthierone.He’searnedareputationassomethingofa
gourmet,thanksinparttothenumerousfoodsegments
he’sdoneon Today overtheyears;hispairofcookbooks,
AlRoker’sHassle-FreeHolidayCookbook:Morethan125
Recipes for FamilyCelebrations All Year Long and Al
Roker’sBigBadBookofBarbecue: 100EasyRecipes for
BackyardBarbecue;andhisindependentproductionsfor
theFoodNetwork, including MyLifeinFood, Aroundthe
World inNewYorkCity and Recipe forSuccess.
ThoughRokerwearsmanyhats, therolehetakesthe
greatest pride in isbeingahusbandand father.While
inhis office during a break from taping, surrounded
byworksofartmadebyhis13-year-olddaughter,Leila,
whichadornthewallsofhiso€ce,Rokerwonders ifhis
son,Nicholas, 9, ate thewaƒes from thebatterRoker
madebefore leaving thehouseat4a.m. “All he’ll eat is
waƒesorpancakes,”hesays.Hecallsuphiswife,Debo-
rahRoberts,acorrespondentforABC’s 20/20,tofindout.
Later, he recalls their firstmeeting, 22 years ago.
“She’sgorgeousandmade forTV,”he remembers think-
ing. “Me, not somuch.”Hewonher over after house-
sitting forherwhileshewasonassignment. InRoberts’
home, hediscovered thebarekitchenof acareernews-
woman: nothing in the refrigerator, empty cupboards,
eventhepackingcardboardstillinthestove.Rokerfilled
the larderswith staple food items and left her ahome-
cookedmeal.Theybegandatingandmarried in1995.
Thatwas 17yearsand twochildrenago. (Rokeralso
hasadaughter fromapreviousmarriage,Courtney, 24,
who is studying tobecomeachef. “She takesafterme,”
hesays.“Iusedtocookwithherwhenshewasakid,and
now she’s just takeno˜.”)Anold-fashioneddad,Roker
serves as a classparent at his son’s school.Whenhe’s
askedwhetherhiskidswatchhimeverymorningonTV,
hesaysno.“Iparentthewaymyparentsdid,andmydad
limitedtheamountofTVwewatchedduringtheweek,”
heexplains.
Whilehischildrenmaynotbecloselymonitoringhis
on-screen career, Rokerhasnoplans to stop anytime
soon.He loves theunpredictabilityof hisdays,which
start at 3.15a.m. ashe readsmajornewspapersonhis
iPad. But as his professional responsibilities become
morevast andvaried,Roker’s still asdedicatedasever
totheshowhecallshome.
“I’mnotabouttoquitmyday job,”hesays. “I’mgoing
toridethistraintothelaststop,andeventhen,I’mgoing
tomakethemtakemeo˜.”
Butwith consistentlyhigh ratings andanaudience
whoadoreshim,heseemstohavea long,successfulride
ahead.What’shissecret?
“Willard [Scott] always used to tellme, ‘Be you. Be
yourself,’£”hesays. “Andthat’swhatIdo.”
Iwouldeat.IfIfeltgood, ‘Hey, let’seat.’£”Hissizehelped
boosthislovableon-airpersona,buthesayshefeltsobad
aboutbeingsobigthathe justatemore.
Itwashis father’sdeath thatfinallybrought things
toahead. “Mydadhadbeensick fora long time,”Roker
recalls. “And in thefinal fewweeksofhis life… theone
thinghewasworriedaboutwashisson’shealth.”Several
weeks later, Rokerwas covering theWinterOlympics
forNBC inSaltLakeCity.He’dhit320poundsandwas
wearinga size60—andeven thatwas getting tight. “I
looked in the closet, andnothingfit,”he says. “Size62
was just not anoption.”Finally, hemade thedecision
he’dbeenconsideringforsometime:toundergobariatric
bypasssurgery.
Thoughheacknowledges thepotential risks of the
procedure (“It’snot for everyone,”he admits), theop-
erationwas a success forhim.Hedropped 140pounds
withinayear, and thoughhe’sgainedabout20of those
back, hemaintains aweight of around200poundson
his5-foot-8-inch frame.Hekeeps theweighto˜byrun-
ning—heevenparticipated in the2010NewYorkCity
for a career as an animator.
Butwhile takingmeteorology
courses at theStateUniversity
of New York at Oswego, he
landeda jobastheweatherman
at theCBSa€liate inSyracuse.
Itwas 1975,when televisionop-
portunitieswere justbecoming
availabletoAfrican-Americans,
though Roker says he wasn’t
aimingtobreakanycolorbarriers. “Ihadnoplanatall,”
hesays. “I just fell into it.”
Roker’snewfoundcareer eventually tookhim from
Syracuse toWashington,D.C., toCleveland, and then,
justeightyearsafterhefinishedschool,backtoNewYork
fora jobatthe localNBCa€liate.Hebeganfilling infor
legendary Today weathermanWillardScottin1990and
tookover thepost permanently in 1996.Hehadbeen
developinga televisionpersonalityall along, hostinga
talk showonMSNBC called RememberThis? Andhis
popular LateShow elevatorraceswithDavidLetterman
in theGEbuildingwonhima late-night following that
extendedtotheearly-morninghours.
Buthissuccessesmaskeddeepfeelingsofinadequacy
thathemanaged,foryears,byeating.Andashisstarrose,
sodidhisweight.
“Itwas likeagraywhale— justopenupandthrowthe
planktondown thegullet,”heremembers. “If I feltbad,
JUNECROSS isaprofessor of broadcast journalismatColumbiaUniver-
sityand theauthor of amemoir, SecretDaughter.
Al isgame for
prettymuchanything,
including lettingactor
RyanGosling sweep
himoff his feet during
a segment on Today.
Beitmorning,noon,night—oreveninthe
painfullyearlyhoursbeforedawn—Rokerexudes
agenuine,folksypersonathathasmadehim
oneofthemostpopularmembersofthe
on-airteamsincehisdebutnearly16yearsago.
48 FEBRUARY 01, 2012 AA.COM/AMERICANWAY