Ever since Mike missed a flight waiting for Paul Harvey to end his radio show with his signature, "And now you know.the rest of the story," he has wanted to share stories that can't be turned off or put down until the very end. In THE WAY I HEARD IT, he does just that with 35 mysteries you don't know.about famous people you do know-your job is to figure out who Mike is talking about before the story ends.
Interspersed throughout the book are stories from Mike's life including:
· How his membership in a barbershop quartet pulled him into show business.
· Details on his first TV job, working for QVC, selling everything from Christmas dolls to cat toys.
· How he lived in a mansion for free because the house was haunted (what he calls "the strangest year of my life so far.")
· How his mom and dad, Peggy and John, managed to stay married for 57 years.
· The Dirty Jobs promotion he devised using a real pig on a pedestal.
· Details on his beloved and famous dog, Freddy.
· The best advice his grandfather ever gave him.
· The betrayal by the trusted financial advisor he thought of as a friend.
· How he was cast in bronze by a local artist and his quandary about where one displays a 200 pound bust of one's head.
· His meetings with celebrities including Joan Rivers, Dick Clark, and Ted Williams.
· His foray as an opera singer with the Baltimore Opera.
· Hosting such cultural touchstones as Worst Case Scenario and How Booze Built America.
· Figuring out that telling stories about others was key to the success of his shows.
· Paul Harvey's influence on him.
Delivered with Mike's signature blend of charm, wit, and ingenuity, THE WAY I HEARD IT is a mosaic-fascinating stories about others combined with a memoir full of surprising revelations, sharp observations, and intimate, behind-the-scenes moments drawn from Mike's own remarkable life and career.
MIKE ROWE is best known as the executive producer and host of the hit shows Dirty Jobs, Somebody's Got to Do It, and Returning the Favor. He also hosts the podcast The Way I Heard It, a collection of stories "for the curious mind with a short attention span." As CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, Mike has led the effort to close the widening skills gap and facilitated the granting of millions of dollars for work-ethic scholarships. He was born in Baltimore, lives in California, and works part-time for a fifteen-pound terrier named Freddy.