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American Morning

Interview with Ken Park

Aired January 02, 2003 - 09:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You might say that it's the world's oldest reporter. Every year, the "World Almanac" quenches our thirst for information, and the 2003 version is the 135th edition of the big book. And, as usual, it's full of facts, figures, and some special features. We are going to learn about some of those special features right now.
Ken Park is publisher of the "World Almanac," and he joins us now. He is going to share some of the year's highlights for us. Good to see you, happy New Year.

KEN PARK, PUBLISHER, "WORLD ALMANAC": Same to you.

HARRIS: Lots of different things about the book this year, huh?

PARK: Right. We've been -- "World Almanac" has been published since 1868, but there's always a lot that's new, and that is why people go out every year and find the facts.

HARRIS: All right. Let's start off with some of the top news stories from 2002.

PARK: Well, each year, the editors of the "World Almanac" and Facts.com vote on the top news stories of the year.

This year, of course, No. 1 story was the international fight against terrorism and terrorists fighting against us, unfortunately.

And No. 2, international efforts to disarm Iraq. No. 3 story was continued Israeli-Palestinian violence. No. 4, the corporate scandals and the slowdown in the U.S. economy, and No. 5, the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal.

HARRIS: No surprises to me there. Any surprises to you that come up in some of the top stories?

PARK: No. I think if -- sad to say, if you bet on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, you will be right probably just about every year.

HARRIS: That is one of the reasons why we were saying yesterday, glad to see 2002 get out of here anyway.

Now each year, the almanac does a special section, and this year, you are focusing on the elderly?

PARK: Right. As the baby boom generation ages here in America, more and more elderly people will be living in our country. I think each month, over 800,000 people around the world come to the age of 65, and it's a very large section of the population.

HARRIS: We talk about that quite a bit here in the States, but this is going to be a big one around the world.

PARK: Right, especially in more developed nations like Singapore, around that area. They will be having a lot more elderly people than ever before. And for instance, you could find facts in this section -- for instance, the average 65-year-old person in the United States will live to age of -- 83.

HARRIS: Eighty-three? How much has that number changed over the past few years?

PARK: Oh, certainly -- over the century, quite a bit. But once you get up to 65, I think you have made it through most of the hurdles, so you are on your way to 83.

HARRIS: Let's get to the quizzes.

PARK: Sure.

HARRIS: Can't wait to do this. Let's get right to the quizzes. There are some quizzes that are included in the book. Let's take a look at some of the questions. Here -- which one of these U.S. cities is the highest and farthest west? A, Detroit; B, Knoxville, Tennessee; C, Atlanta, Georgia; D. Tallahassee, Florida. That's a good question. My guess would be Detroit.

PARK: Atlanta.

HARRIS: It is actually Atlanta?

PARK: Your hometown there.

HARRIS: We're further west than Detroit is?

PARK: That's surprising, isn't it? That is why we asked it. It's tricky.

HARRIS: There you go. All right. Let's get to the next one. Do we have another one? We have any more questions?

PARK: I have got one for you.

HARRIS: OK. Here we go.

PARK: Which of these stars was not born in Brooklyn, New York -- Valerie Harper (ph), Mary Tyler Moore, Beverly Seals (ph), or Barbra Streisand.

HARRIS: Oh, Gees. You would ask me that one.

PARK: A lot of famous folks from Brooklyn. HARRIS: From Brooklyn. Let's see. The only one that does not have -- I haven't detected a Brooklyn-type accent would be Mary Tyler Moore.

PARK: That is what you think? Valerie Harper.

HARRIS: No.

PARK: South from New York, Rothland (ph) County.

HARRIS: She has got more of an accent than any of the others do.

PARK: The others from the county of kings: Brooklyn, New York.

HARRIS: I assume that's your county, then?

PARK: That is...

HARRIS: How can I tell that? OK. That's pretty interesting. You also have some noted personalities that you're listing?

PARK: Right. The "World Almanac" has information on nearly 10,000 personalities, and we have one section that we call "Widely Known Americans of the Present," and that lists about 400 people that are the sorts of people that everyone knows -- the real elite of our nation of which...

HARRIS: Yes -- I'm looking at some of these names that came up in this particular list. This shows you that we are a culture driven by pop culture. Kelly Clarkson.

PARK: Ari Fleischer, and of course, CNN's own Wolf Blitzer.

HARRIS: Wolf Blitzer made the list.

PARK: How about that? As does Richard Parsons, and they were born in the same year.

HARRIS: Is that right?

PARK: That is right.

HARRIS: They would happen to be related to the county of kings, would they, and all that?

PARK: Not that I know of.

HARRIS: OK. Great. Ken Park, thanks much for coming in. Happy New Year to you.

PARK: Happy New Year to you, Leon. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 2, 2003 - 09:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You might say that it's the world's oldest reporter. Every year, the "World Almanac" quenches our thirst for information, and the 2003 version is the 135th edition of the big book. And, as usual, it's full of facts, figures, and some special features. We are going to learn about some of those special features right now.
Ken Park is publisher of the "World Almanac," and he joins us now. He is going to share some of the year's highlights for us. Good to see you, happy New Year.

KEN PARK, PUBLISHER, "WORLD ALMANAC": Same to you.

HARRIS: Lots of different things about the book this year, huh?

PARK: Right. We've been -- "World Almanac" has been published since 1868, but there's always a lot that's new, and that is why people go out every year and find the facts.

HARRIS: All right. Let's start off with some of the top news stories from 2002.

PARK: Well, each year, the editors of the "World Almanac" and Facts.com vote on the top news stories of the year.

This year, of course, No. 1 story was the international fight against terrorism and terrorists fighting against us, unfortunately.

And No. 2, international efforts to disarm Iraq. No. 3 story was continued Israeli-Palestinian violence. No. 4, the corporate scandals and the slowdown in the U.S. economy, and No. 5, the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal.

HARRIS: No surprises to me there. Any surprises to you that come up in some of the top stories?

PARK: No. I think if -- sad to say, if you bet on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, you will be right probably just about every year.

HARRIS: That is one of the reasons why we were saying yesterday, glad to see 2002 get out of here anyway.

Now each year, the almanac does a special section, and this year, you are focusing on the elderly?

PARK: Right. As the baby boom generation ages here in America, more and more elderly people will be living in our country. I think each month, over 800,000 people around the world come to the age of 65, and it's a very large section of the population.

HARRIS: We talk about that quite a bit here in the States, but this is going to be a big one around the world.

PARK: Right, especially in more developed nations like Singapore, around that area. They will be having a lot more elderly people than ever before. And for instance, you could find facts in this section -- for instance, the average 65-year-old person in the United States will live to age of -- 83.

HARRIS: Eighty-three? How much has that number changed over the past few years?

PARK: Oh, certainly -- over the century, quite a bit. But once you get up to 65, I think you have made it through most of the hurdles, so you are on your way to 83.

HARRIS: Let's get to the quizzes.

PARK: Sure.

HARRIS: Can't wait to do this. Let's get right to the quizzes. There are some quizzes that are included in the book. Let's take a look at some of the questions. Here -- which one of these U.S. cities is the highest and farthest west? A, Detroit; B, Knoxville, Tennessee; C, Atlanta, Georgia; D. Tallahassee, Florida. That's a good question. My guess would be Detroit.

PARK: Atlanta.

HARRIS: It is actually Atlanta?

PARK: Your hometown there.

HARRIS: We're further west than Detroit is?

PARK: That's surprising, isn't it? That is why we asked it. It's tricky.

HARRIS: There you go. All right. Let's get to the next one. Do we have another one? We have any more questions?

PARK: I have got one for you.

HARRIS: OK. Here we go.

PARK: Which of these stars was not born in Brooklyn, New York -- Valerie Harper (ph), Mary Tyler Moore, Beverly Seals (ph), or Barbra Streisand.

HARRIS: Oh, Gees. You would ask me that one.

PARK: A lot of famous folks from Brooklyn. HARRIS: From Brooklyn. Let's see. The only one that does not have -- I haven't detected a Brooklyn-type accent would be Mary Tyler Moore.

PARK: That is what you think? Valerie Harper.

HARRIS: No.

PARK: South from New York, Rothland (ph) County.

HARRIS: She has got more of an accent than any of the others do.

PARK: The others from the county of kings: Brooklyn, New York.

HARRIS: I assume that's your county, then?

PARK: That is...

HARRIS: How can I tell that? OK. That's pretty interesting. You also have some noted personalities that you're listing?

PARK: Right. The "World Almanac" has information on nearly 10,000 personalities, and we have one section that we call "Widely Known Americans of the Present," and that lists about 400 people that are the sorts of people that everyone knows -- the real elite of our nation of which...

HARRIS: Yes -- I'm looking at some of these names that came up in this particular list. This shows you that we are a culture driven by pop culture. Kelly Clarkson.

PARK: Ari Fleischer, and of course, CNN's own Wolf Blitzer.

HARRIS: Wolf Blitzer made the list.

PARK: How about that? As does Richard Parsons, and they were born in the same year.

HARRIS: Is that right?

PARK: That is right.

HARRIS: They would happen to be related to the county of kings, would they, and all that?

PARK: Not that I know of.

HARRIS: OK. Great. Ken Park, thanks much for coming in. Happy New Year to you.

PARK: Happy New Year to you, Leon. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com