It’s starting to look like 2013 is the year of Ron Burgundy.
It’s hard to believe it has been a decade since the making of “Anchorman,” and it was flat-out surreal when I was on the set of the sequel not long ago. If you saw me talk to Harrison Ford about his time on the set, he lit up at the mention of the film, and the same was true when I talked to Steve Carrell recently about “Despicable Me 2.”
I know that Adam McKay and Will Ferrell are the best-known public spokesmen for Burgundy, but it appears that he’s going to be speaking for himself later this year when Crown Archetype publishes “Let Me Off At The Top! My Classy Life And Other Musings,” a memoir, on November 19th. That’s about a month before the new movie hits theaters, giving audiences a chance to learn more about the real man before we see another film about him.
The press release that was sent out by the publisher today certainly makes a case for them seeing this as one of the most important books of this year or, indeed, any year. “I don”t know if it”s the greatest autobiography ever written. I”m too close to the work,” Burgundy said, adding, “I will tell you this much: the first time I sat down and read this thing . . . I cried like a goddamn baby, and you can take that to the bank!”
With that sort of humility guiding him, how can this book be anything but great?
The press release said, “Ron Burgundy is known to all as the lead anchorman of San Diego”s award-winning Action 4 News Team and anchor of the first 24-hour news channel, GNN (Global News Network), but few know the real man behind the news desk. In LET ME OFF AT THE TOP! he will share never-before-told stories of his childhood and the events that led him to choose a career in the news business. He will offer a rare glimpse behind the camera into the real life of a man many consider to be our greatest living news anchor. In his own words, he will share personal anecdotes about the women in his life, about his dog, Baxter, and his legendary news team. Along the way, he”ll also give sage advice on a variety of topics that matter most to him. The long wait is over. Ron Burgundy pulls no punches in this widely anticipated, fully authorized tell-all autobiography.”
It’s obvious that Mauro DiPreta, Vice President and Editor in Chief at Crown Archetype, knows just what kind of event this is, culturally speaking. “The list of legendary American broadcast news journalists is short: Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and, of course, Ron Burgundy,” says DiPreta. “The printed page will allow Ron to tell his story in a much more intimate way. LET ME OFF AT THE TOP! will be a classic for years to come.”
I look forward to this, to the movie, and to the inevitable Pulitzer and Oscar cavalcade that will follow.
“Anchorman: The Legend Continues” arrives in theaters December 20.