A Car Accident Didn't Change How Willie Geist Saw Me. Neither Did My Tony Award.
I grew up with the Geists, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and have known them my whole life. I remember Willie’s dad Bill—the longtime CBS correspondent—being on TV, but they were just neighbors to us. I’m 12 years younger than Willie, but we went to the same elementary, middle, and high schools.
My dad was Willie’s basketball coach, and I also knew Willie’s sister Libby, who is now a producer at ESPN. (That's a teenage Willie above, captain of the football team at Ridgewood High School, with his parents Jody and Bill and sister Libby.) And I knew Willie’s wife-to-be, Christina Sharkey—she’s a children’s book author with a must-follow Instagram account—and her younger sister Julia. That’s something that is so special: Willie married his middle school sweetheart, from a family that I know and respect.
There is one story that connected us for life. In 1989, when I was two years old, my mom, my four-year-old brother, and I were in a car accident, and my brother and I were seriously injured. As we got a little older, my dad started bringing us to his basketball practices. It was scary for my parents to think about how the world would receive Jake and me after we were injured, but Willie—who was a captain—and the other guys treated us like part of the team.
Even as a 15-year-old, Willie was larger than life. He was so kind and just had the biggest heart in the world. I see that in the work he does now as co-anchor of Morning Joe and anchor of Sunday Today with Willie Geist. He’s so humble, and he cares so much in every interview.
Fast-forward 23 years, when I made history as the first person in a wheelchair to win a Tony award, for Oklahoma!, Willie interviewed my dad and me at the theater for the Today show. Willie was there right after I got hurt, and he saw where I was then, so for him to be a part of my journey now is unbelievable, because there aren’t many people who have known me that long.
Willie has been there for these big life moments, like an older brother looking out for me. His heart is as big and as open as it was when he was 15. And he still calls my dad Coach.
This story appears in the November 2019 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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