I've been a flat-out "news junkie" since I could talk. From the late 1930s onward, my mother instilled in me the desire to listen to radio (and eventually television) newscasts, to know what was happening in the world. Thanks to her tutoring, I could name every state capital by the time I was four (circa 1940). She emphasized knowledge was one of the most important factors in life. I represented Pittsburgh in the semi-finals for the national spelling bee in 1949. Obviously, mine was a very special Mom and pumped information into my noggin almost as similarly and as diligently as the fictional Jorel's words being pumped into baby Superman's head during his journey in the capsule from Krypton to Earth (in the movie "Superman", of course.)

Because of my immersion in news and information, from toddler stage to current geezerdom, my fascination for not getting enough information has never waned.

Sidebar: As chronicled here in a recent blog, but I think worth repeating here, germane as it is to the current subject, my late second cousin, CBS and ABC newscaster Cecil Brown, was one of Edward R. Murrow's "boys" during World War Two. His most famous book was "Suez to Singapore". The British warship HMS Repulse, from which he was reporting a few days following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, was torpedoed in the western Pacific and cousin Cecil was rescued just moments before he almost drowned while clinging to a piece of debris. He also has a star for radio news excellence on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. My grandmother and his mother were sisters. He and my Mom both shared their childhoods together in my native Pittsburgh, as well as later years in Cleveland, and I had the honor to share many great dinners with him and his wife, Martha, during my 1950s acting days on national television in New York. Heavy-duty memories of some truly great times I was blessed to experience.

In my opinion, the above-stated simply illustrates when one's life is blessed enough to be enriched with quality and curiosity, it serves as a guide to what is enjoyed and to which gravitated in later years, especially regarding information, to wit:

This morning, I watched my favorite of all the Sunday morning news programs, The McLaughlin Group, carried here on TPT2. During one of the exchanges between the panelists and host John McLaughlin, panelist Pat Buchanan briefly referenced the late Hearst newspaper columnist, Westbrook Pegler. Pegler was best known in the 1930s and 1940s for being the thorn in the side of President Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, perhaps the classiest first lady, ever. Pegler attacked them daily during all the years Mr. Roosevelt held that office. If you think today's political attacks are vicious between and against candidates, Pegler's vile attacks on the Roosevelts made today's diatribes seem as innocent as the Mary Poppins script. Buchanan's reference triggered the fact, to me, that people of Buchanan's personal and professional history remember figures of Pegler's ilk. To me, that's refreshing, because, in my opinion, it illustrates that not everypme in the news or information business these days gets their information from Wikipedia. The really excellent analysts and newspeople themselves have LIVED the history that built the encyclopedic foundation upon which most of the Sunday television news programs are built.

In case you don't watch or are unfamiliar with The McLaughlin Group, the program features current events opinions of seasoned participants such as the aforementioned Buchanan, as well as Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift and Mort Zuckerman, billionaire Canandian-born owner and publisher of U.S. News and World report, among other of his entities.

Other Sunday news programs that are "must see", almost sacrosanct, viewing for me are Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace and his panel of analysts. My favorites on that program are former ABC newsman, Brit Hume and former PBS news analyst, Juan Williams. Then, for me, it's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Geoge, as many may remember, was President Clinton's press secretary who resigned because of disgust with his boss when the Monica Lewinsky debacle surfaced. Columnist George Will is the analytical "Rock of Gibraltar" on the conservative side, with others like Cokie Roberts and Donna Brazile flanking the liberal view. Others in the Sunday "pack" who are equally urbane, intelligent and dignified, include Bonnie Erbe and Fahreed Zakaria, hosting their own programs. To the Contrary and GPS, respectively.

Bottom line: Even if your Mom, Dad or any other adult in your early life didn't trigger a quest for encyclopedic knowledge, especially in regard to learning what's happening daily in the world in which you live, and are a part, it's not too late to hop aboard the in-depth information bandwagon every Sunday morning. In my opinion, those two or three hours each Sunday morning are the most enriching of the week. Again in my opinion, they offer much more food for thought in a nation subliminally or openly craving and needing more than informational sound-bites.

(For more opinions from yours truly about other subjects, and if you're a glutton for punishment, please "tune in" to my Star Tribune webcasts entitled A SENIOR MOMENT at www.startribune,com/video. The subject changes every Monday, as does my choice of morning donuts.)