Prologue

Lou, Dena, and my princess grandmother

My childhood

"Skinnymalinkydink"

Sixty-three cents

The pistachio green house

New York, New York

Miami at war

"A

very normal girl" -- Sarah Lawrence -- Television 101 -- Bad choices -- It gets worse -- Television 102 and a strange marriage proposal -- Passage to India -- A funeral and a wedding -- Thirteen weeks to thirteen years -- Becoming Barbara Walters -- Garland, Capote, Rose Kennedy, and Princess Grace -- Born in my heart -- Dean Rusk, Golda Meir, Henry Kissinger, and Prince Philip -- Sad times in Florida -- Winning Nixon, losing Sinatra -- Exit Hugh, enter McGee -- Marriage on the rocks -- Historic journey : China with Nixon -- A dead marriage and the Dead Sea -- Resignation in Washington. Victory in New York -- Fun and games in Washington -- Special men in my life -- Egypt, Israel, and ¡Hola, Castro! -- The million-dollar baby -- "Don't let the bastards get you down" -- Thank heaven! The Specials -- Finally, Fidel -- The historic interview : Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin -- Exit Harry, enter Hugh -- Heartbreak and a new beginning -- The hardest chapter to write -- 9/11 and nothing else matters -- Presidents and first ladies : forty years inside the White House -- Heads of state : the good, the bad, and the mad -- Adventures with the most mysterious men -- Murderers -- Uncommon criminals -- Over again, never again -- Celebrities who affected my life -- Monica -- The View -- Exit -- To be continued ... -- Acknowledgments -- Index.