Just a note before we continue....

Norm Nathan was my mentor and a major influence on my broadcasting style. I knew him for over two decades and, from the beginning, he treated me like a son. I always felt he thought of me that way and several times he expressed it. I got a job at ABC News at the age of 25, and the first time I saw Norm after that and filled him in on the things I was doing he said, "My little boy has grown up." At his "50 Years in Broadcasting" party, I won a round in the "Norm Nathan Trivia Contest." WBZ's Gary LaPierre was handling that portion of the program and he and Norm were on the stage together. When Gary said, "...and the winner is, Steve LeVeille," Norm - who hadn't seen me yet in the crowd and didn't know I was there - burst out with, "Steve LeVeille? Steve LeVeille is my son!" As I went up to collect my prize (a Dave Maynard T-shirt!) I was thinking, "Wow, he said that in front of all these people."

I could go on - and I usually do! - but at this point Norm would tell me to stop being so damn mushy.