Michael Medved – 50th Reunion Essay

Michael Medved

1820 Eastlake Ave E

Seattle, WA 98102

goldenturkey@juno.com

206-726-7086

Spouse(s): Dr. Diane Medved (33 years as of 2018)

Child(ren): Sarah (1986), Shayna (1989), Daniel (1992)

Grandchild(ren): Julia (2017)

Education: Yale College, BA 1969; Yale Law School 1969–70 (no degree); MFA in Creative Writing, California State University San Francisco (1975)

Career: Political speech writer/consultant, 1970-74; advertising creative director 1974–75; book author (13 published titles), 1975 to present; film critic (CNN-1980–83), UK Channel 4, 1983–4; PBS Sneak Previews 1984–96; NY Post (chief critic) 1993–97; nationally syndicated radio talk show host, Salem Radio Network, 1997 to present

Avocations: history, classical music, synagogue support

College: Branford

Some Consistency, After All

What would my ’69 self possibly make of the crusty curmudgeon I’ve become? Would that kid—liberal, secular, defying practicality for a sense of adventure—feel embarrassed by this geezer—conservative, religious, pragmatic? Would the senior-year Yalie even recognize the senior citizen as a distant relative, let alone a latter-day edition of himself?

Despite the 50-year age difference, these two guys still share many of the same obsessions: history, classical music, politics (as both spectator and participant), hiking, movies, and writing books as the best way to participate in the national conversation.

Most importantly, the same grand passion that consumed my New Haven years still dominates my life and dictates my priorities. As an undergraduate, I always fixated on some female or another, searching (unsuccessfully, always) for that Great Romance that would last forever. I suspect our status as the last Yale College class never to encounter women as our classmates made us more obsessed with them as objects of romantic longing. In any event, my own youthful yearning found fulfillment in a way that would have gratified my adolescent self—with more than 34 years of passionate marriage to Dr. Diane Medved, clinical psychologist and bestselling author.

As to my religious evolution, it began during my final years at Yale. Motivated by panic surrounding post-graduation exposure to the draft, I talked for a while about studying for the rabbinate. Instead, I got my 1Y deferment for teaching seventh grade at a Jewish Day School during the year I started Yale Law. Shortly thereafter (between ages 22 and 24) I began observing the sabbath, following kosher laws, and praying every morning in the traditional formulation.

Meanwhile, my political shift from Kennedy Democrat to Reagan Republican became the subject of the 10th of my 13 books (Right Turns) in 2004. My own brand of conservatism has never demanded abandonment of the compassionate ideals that motivated me at Yale, though I’m convinced that unqualified support for the presidency of the current incumbent would betray such values—along with remnant shards of common sense and sanity.

This approach makes me a vulnerable anomaly in the world of conservative talk radio, where I’ve hosted a daily three-hour show (broadcast on 300 stations), for 22 years. But that’s another element of consistency—a contrarian streak, with an instinctive impulse to go against the grain. It made me contemptuous toward marijuana and booze during Bright College Years and pushed me toward traditional Jewish observance in spite of the prevailing skepticism toward religious organizations.

That contrarian instinct led me to the outpost in the Pacific Northwest that we’ve long called home. My career could have benefitted from continued residence in LA, or New York, or DC, but in ’96 we moved with our three kids to an island in a lake near Seattle.

That’s a final bit of consistency: my parents took me to the Seattle World’s Fair when I was 13 and I’ve always loved this place. I generally arise before dawn, with the glittering surface of Lake Washington framed by towering firs and the glaciered flank of Mt. Rainier looming in the distance. Even on cloudy days of limited visibility (yes, we get our share) the view still thrills, reminding me that with all my transformations, I’ve somehow managed to live out more than a few of my youthful aspirations.