Mark Halperin

before the planes hit.

And so I'm one of the few people who were in both cities on 9-11.

And Peter was here and I was desperate to get back to be with my wife, but also to to be sitting on the set with Peter.

And I couldn't get back for a couple of days.

And so that was very frustrating.

And then.

as you may not know we may know he started smoking again after 9 11 because of all the pressure and anxiety and and and you know the the the impact of it he had smoked when he was younger but like most sensible people he'd stopped um and so probably a longer answer than you wanted but no i'm so glad i asked this one of the reasons it's it's still very tough on me is

He got sick and he had to go for medical treatment.

And I never really got to say goodbye to him because no one knew when he left abruptly to go deal with his health that he would never come back.

Not only not come back on the air, but not come back to be seen.

And he wasn't talking to anybody.

He lost his voice almost entirely.

And, you know,

you think about incredibly famous, powerful, rich, handsome, extraordinary voice.

And that's how I had experienced him as everyone had experienced him.

And then the cancer took him so quickly and so thoroughly that the only reason I was one of the few people allowed to talk to him is I was going away to Japan on a fellowship.

And, uh,

You know, I forget exactly what happened, but the thought was Peter wants to talk to you before you go because you're going away for three months and he'd like to talk to you.

So we had a very short phone call.

Very emotional.