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Mischer recounts six eventful decades as a television director.

The author grew up in San Antonio in the 1940s and ’50s, “coming of age as television was coming of age.” At the age of 9, his father, Elmer, took him to a live television broadcast in his hometown, and he became hooked on the medium. Three years later, his father bought him an 88-mm Bell and Howell camera, and the author began to make home movies of his family—fledgling attempts to learn a craft to which he would devote 60 years of his life. Despite his youthful enthusiasm, he didn’t study filmmaking in college; instead, he studied political science and sociology, with the intention of becoming an academic. In 1963, however, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, he was moved by how the TV coverage “brought us together in our darkest hour.” Mischer enjoyed a career as eclectic as it was impressive; he helped develop national television programming for Saudi Arabia in the 1960s, as well as directing Super Bowl halftime shows, the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies, and President Obama’s Inaugural Concert in 2009. Unsurprisingly, Mischer has some remarkable tales to tell, including accounts of close working relationships with such well-known figures as Michael Jackson and Muhammad Ali. The author not only shares anecdotes of remarkable experiences but also reflects deeply on the power of television and his role as a director in “finding the emotional center of each show and each moment”: “Every decision I’ve made, whether it’s about where to put a camera, and when to cut away, which songs to suggest, how deep a blue to wash the stage[,] when the dancers should enter, or how many times the pyro should go off—it comes from that place.” Mischer’s writing style is informal and charming—he creates an atmosphere of candor and intimacy without going out of his way to ingratiate himself to readers. As a result, his recollection is thoroughly entertaining, but also affecting and thoughtful.

A frank, insightful recollection of an accomplished career.