Every time you hear Bonnie Hunt’s name mentioned, it’s usually in reference to what a wonderful talk show guest she is. Letterman loves her. Leno loves her. So it should come as no surprise that Bonnie Hunt now has her OWN talk show. It’s light-hearted and irreverent – kinda like her. Somewhere between “The Green Mile” and her new talk show (the aptly named “The Bonnie Hunt Show”) – she starred in several sitcoms. Yes, really. Blink and you missed them. I don’t think America was ready for her high-brow humor and they were subsequently shelved. Here’s the funny thing … in real life … she isn’t funny at all. (Well, at least not during my interview.) In fact, she acted downright annoyed at my questions. There was a lot of unnecessary eye-rolling and looks of disdain. I tried to get her to reenact that scene from “Dave” where she was a White House tour guide. (“And we’re walking … we’re walking …”) She flat out refused. Oh well, even geniuses of improv can occasionally have an off day … or in Bonnie’s case, clearly needed a day off.

Harry Benson is THE quintessential, preeminent photojournalist of his generation. And my generation. And any generation in between those two eras. I met him at a recent book signing event in West Palm Beach. Turns out, he’s good friends with my boss. Benson is from Scotland – so, of course, he perked up immediately when he heard my last name. (Mackie was originally “Mackay” – which smacks of tartan and bagpipes.) I didn’t realize he was such a big deal until I saw some of his photos. You’ve probably seen his work in Life, Vanity Fair, People and The New Yorker. He’s very polite, very soft spoken and has a razor-sharp wit about him. Every one of his stories has a story behind it. You name the celebrity – he’s shot them. Once I realized he’d photographed Dolly Parton back in the ‘70’s, I didn’t want to talk about anything else. Go figure.