To be less judgmental and more confrontational.
What is your greatest regret?
Not taking a year off after ending The Oprah Show and jumping right into running
a network.
When and where were you happiest?
All-time? Filming The Color Purple in 1985, hosting the Legends Ball for African American She-roes, and Christmas Kindness 2002, where we surprised thousands of kids throughout South Africa with gifts.
What is your motto?
What Glinda the Good Witch said: “You’ve always had the power.”
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
I inherited my father’s big bunions.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The Oprah Show, and all 21 dogs I’ve had throughout my life, who’ve taught me so much about living and dying.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.
What is it that you most dislike?
Chewing gum—and people who chew with their mouths open, showing the gum. Ugh!
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Creating spaces where people could see themselves more clearly and recognize the best of who they are.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
Not one, but a grove of oak trees.
What is your most treasured possession?
My first-edition Pulitzer Prize books, dating back to 1918; slave rosters with the names and ages of each enslaved person in the household; and six charcoal drawings Nelson Mandela drew from prison. He called me into his office and gave them to me by hand.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Ordinary folks who do extraordinary things: what author Dacher Keltner calls acts of moral beauty.
What are your favorite names?
Alexandra and Canaan.
How would you like to die?
As the traditional African American spiritual goes: “I wanna die easy when I die / Shout salvation as I fly.”
