- From the Fairfield Ledger. Caption reads: George’s Pizza and Steakhouse waitress Danielle Soltis, left, poses with Oprah Winfrey and customer Don Hubbs late Wednesday afternoon outside the restaurant after the television personality surprised downtown Fairfield with a trip to Cafe Paradiso for a quick cup of coffee. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh it’s Oprah,’” said Soltis, “and she gave us a hug.” Soltis and her husband Tom asked Oprah for a picture, and she asked if they had a camera. Tom Soltis quickly snapped the photo with a cell phone.
So after my initial shock over Oprah practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM) in my old hometown, I looked for news coverage of the event. It was picked up by the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune. I found a short piece in The Huffington Post, and a great article on Yahoo: Voices. But my favorite media coverage by far is the article in the hometown paper, The Fairfield Ledger.
Back when I was first began researching Maharishiville, my novel based on Fairfield, I used to get the paper mailed out of state to my home. (I even culled a couple of quirky plot points from actual riffs between “Townies” and “Roos” — short for gurus). I love the local paper. You can’t beat it for the details that provide a true sense of how news unfolds in a small town. Reading the Ledger feels like going home again.
To read the entire article about Oprah’s visit you need an online subscription, but I will share a few paragraphs for you (as written by Ledger staff writer Diane Vance):
“My wife Linda and I were driving over to pick up The Ledger in the late afternoon,” said Ralph Messerli this morning by phone. “We saw a commotion, a bunch of people clustered on the sidewalk near George’s Pizza.”
[Quick aside: George's Pizza is fantastic — thin crust, round but cut into squares.]
“My wife said, ‘that looks like Oprah!’ and I said, ‘yeah, right.’ We saw a parking space and started to pull in. Police Chief Julie Harvey was standing nearby and motioned us to go ahead and pull in,” said Messerli. “Then I see a gal who looks like Oprah. It was Oprah! She was talking with Fairfield folks, shaking hands and letting people take pictures with her.”
The Messerlis stayed in their car, observing. “After she took some pictures, she walked over to our car, stuck her hand in to shake ours,” said Messerli. “We said some nice things and chatted briefly. It was pretty informal.”
Messerli said they don’t watch the Oprah show normally, but have caught a few now and then. “She’s certainly made her impact,” he said. “She’s quite a lady.”
And my favorite bit of detail was from an employee of Maharishi University of Management (M.U.M.) who told the reporter that she and her daughter got to meditate in the women’s Golden Dome with Oprah:
“It was a very sweet experience. The room seemed to be filled with more love and bliss than usual. My daughter, 19, especially enjoyed being there.” … “My daughter’s comment afterwards, ‘I got to meditate with Oprah in the dome and my sister didn’t. I’m gonna rub it in her face!’”
So, I don’t really follow Oprah that much. Does she still have a bookclub on her OWN network? Cuz, I’m thinking Maharishiville would be a perfect selection. Just saying…
Hi Kerry! I don’t believe she has the book club anymore, though her magazine does highlight a lot of suggested reading. My book isn’t publish yet, but perhaps she’d be interested in the screenplay of the book
It’s just weird knowing that Fairfield is the town I was born in and raised in along with my 7 siblings . Seeing the show will bring back such different emotions.
Marilyn, I know what you mean. When was the last time you were in Fairfield? The last time I visited was 10 years ago to research the novel. It was the first time I’d been back as an adult, and it was interesting to view the town through grown-up eyes. In my memory, the house I grew up in, the field we played in, the walk to school — everything seemed bigger when I was a kid!