by Preston Bealle
It’s true! I’m reminded of it while randomly encountering an excellent Twilight Zone episode at midnight.
One afternoon at University of Arizona, I saw a flier on the wall that Rod Serling would be speaking in a small auditorium, not even the main one on the campus. I was excited and immediately decided to go. I was an avid fan of the show and would sneak out of bed late at 8 years old to watch it.
A committed political activist, he was brilliant, provocative and absorbing on stage, but it got better. After the room emptied out, about 5 of us went up to speak to him. He said “C’mon, let’s go, where can I sit and have a cigarette?”
We took him to the Student Union and found some comfortable chairs in a small circle. He lit up and we sat there for over an hour. I was floating…mesmerized, having always been fascinated by celebrities. Now I had the legendary Rod Serling almost all to myself. We talked about Los Angeles and where we lived, and how he created the show. He was funny, clever, deep, charismatic, just what you’d expect. He was speaking of politics, and someone asked him if he would run for office. He said “I’m the opposite of Ronald Reagan”, then Governor of California. “He loves to run and hates to serve. I’d love to serve but would hate to run.”
He smoked 3 to 4 packs a day and died less than two years later at age 50, after 3 heart attacks in a couple of days.