How Words Brought Me To My Irish Connections

(Eileen Shapiro & Rosie O’Donnell

photo: Billy Hess )

With my last name, people  assume I’m Irish. Not so. My father’s original name was “Greenberg” – but when he was applying to medical schools in the 1940s, some institutions were not admitting Jews. So he changed the name to “Greenly” and that’s what I was born with — the name my parents were proud to see quoted in TIME magazine as “planet Earth’s first interactive electronic journalist.”
Well, my facility with words seems to have made me a kind of honorary Irishman. especially when I shared my tips for giving successful presentations with the Irish Business Organization of New York. My talk went so well, and the members found it so useful, that I was invited to join as an official IBO NY member. (“You don’t have to be Irish to join,” I was told. “You just have to like the Irish.” And I certainly do.)

I’ve seen the statistics: over 33 million Americans have identified themselves as being of Irish ancestry. That’s more than five times the population of the island of Ireland.

I’ve found shared traits among the Irish and Irish Americans I’ve encountered. From the high-level corporate leaders I’ve worked with, to casual interactions with tourists on sidewalks of NYC – I continually find them people to be charming, affable and fun. My Dad would enjoy knowing that his name change from “Greenberg” to “Greenly” had supported the interesting relationships I now enjoy with the Irish American community.

After attending IBO NY breakfasts, lunches and dinners, I do feel like an honorary Irishman. My positive experiences with the group led me to think about two members of the media I know who’ve interacted with and interviewed Irish Americans.

One of them, journalist Eileen Shapiro, writes for over 40 publications around the world. She may not be Irish herself, but she certainly has what others might identify as the Irish “gift of gab.” Among the Irish celebrities she has interviewed is Dublin-born Patrick Connolly Bergin, perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in ‘Sleeping With the Enemy’. That 1991 psychological thriller set a world record at the time for the highest domestic opening for a female-centric film. Also among the Irish American celebrities she has interviewed is comedian/talk show host Rosie O’Donnell.

I recently turned the tables and interviewed the interviewers.

First I’ll outline my talk with Eileen.

MG: You’ve interviewed hundreds of celebrities over the years. How did you become such a widely published journalist?

ES: My literary journey began at age 18 when I was attending university and majoring in nursing on a scholastic scholarship. In my attempt to entertain myself while memorizing biochemistry I began watching late reruns of the endlessly popular science-fiction series Star Trek.

I became strangely fascinated with Leonard Nimoy who portrayed Spock. I developed an immature obsession with Nimoy or Mr. Spock – I’m still not sure which – and the actor eventually became my first celebrity interview.
Shortly after the interview, I was commissioned by Paramount to write The Star Trek Medical Reference Manual which quickly became a best seller. I continued to write for a Star Trek magazine, followed by a Star Wars magazine. Then I took a 25-year hiatus from writing to raise a family.

I cringe when I recall my first celebrity conversation after resuming my writing – this time in print for a gay, New York City weekly entertainment magazine. I was asked to have a conversation with the iconic comedian, Sandra Bernhard. I was nervous to begin with but then – unbeknownst to me – my recording device was jammed until the interview was over. Panic-stricken, I sat there, contemplating suicide. (OK, I’m being a bit dramatic.)

Thanks to the fact that I’d listened well and remembered even better, I managed to turn a near disaster into a triumph. I wrote the article using the power of memory.After Sandra’s interview I began receiving more and more celebrity interview requests. It seemed every star desired the gay community fan base. After speaking with artists including Annie Lennox, LeAnn Rimes, Brook Shields, Jennifer Hudson, Cyndi Lauper and a host of others I began writing for additional magazines including Huff Post, Louder Than War (a U.K. publication) and then a Dublin magazine entitled PureM. My celebrity interviews continued with Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Emma Stone, Boy George, Maroon 5, Nile Rodgers, Adam Ant and still others. By then I’d become pretty well known and was invited by other publications to write for them. Soon I was writing for over 40 publications, a number that seems to grow bigger weekly.

MG: Any overall observations about your interactions with famous people?

ES: That’s a very large question, one I could answer for days. If I were to give you just one observation, I’d say – without exception – that they were all extremely nice to me. I’ve met in person most of the celebrities I’ve interviewed and am friends with many of them, great friends with some. Most of my interviews were given repeat performances per their request. In some cases, I’ve had multiple heart-to-heart chats. For example, 12 times with Cyndi Lauper, nine with Sandra Bernhard, seven with Bianca Del Rio, four with Dionne Warwick and three with Fran Drescher. But who’s counting! (LOL) Each is a “star” but when you get the chance to know them, you discover that they’re just “regular” people.

MG: Now about Rosie. She had a feud with Donald Trump when she was hosted The View. She has a reputation for being a very direct “straight shooter.” Is that how you found her?

ES: I met Rosie on the Red Carpet of the GLADD Awards. The press line was enormous and the celebrities in many cases were rushing by. Rosie also rushed by, but I was determined to say hello and perhaps get a picture with her. I called out to her and she immediately stopped what she was doing and came right over, commenting on my then rainbow-colored hair. We spoke for about 12 or 13 minutes about her children, her up-coming events and projects and her family life. I found her to have a vibrant yet gentle spirit. She seemed to enjoy our interview. We laughed and talked as if we were friends and had met up in the supermarket. I would have to say that Rosie was by far the kindest person walking the carpet that night, and the most “regular.” The Irish have a reputation for being friendly and social, and that’s exactly how she was. And yes, we took a picture together!



My other close media friend is Jimmy Star, who hosts The Jimmy Star Show with Ron Russell. By 2016, it had become the biggest Internet TV/radio syndicated show in the world, with over 4.5 million listeners weekly. His podcasts often achieve the “Top 100” list on iHeart Radio.

Among the Irish American celebrities Jimmy has interviewed is Brendan Keeley (one of Ireland’s most successful singer/songwriters with seven top 10 singles and three platinum selling albums.) Also, Pink – the multi-platinum superstar (pictured to the right with Star/ photo by Star) – and many more.

MG: Jimmy, did you become a radio host and what’s the “secret” to attaining your global popularity?

JS: It’s a fun story. Early in my career I was a very successful clothing designer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I was featured in DNR, the men’s version of Women’s Wear Daily. The producers at Y-100 radio station contacted me to be the fashion guru on the radio version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I was on the air every morning fielding questions for about three months and caught the bug. My secret to becoming popular is to be nice to people. I interact daily with fans in social media and on our webshow, The Jimmy Star Show with Ron Russell. We interact with fans and supporters live on air, including them in everything going on during the show. Everyone wants to be a part of something, and as long as you are sincere, being nice really pays off.

MG: Tell me about some of your interactions with Irish and Irish American celebrities.

JS: I’ve been very fortunate and have had the pleasure of interviewing several really big celebrities of Irish descent. Brendan Keely came on our show to promote his second album and was an amazing interview. He’s a phenomenal success in Ireland.

Pink was one of my first really huge interviews. We talked immediately after her first album release and she was a superstar right from the start.

Truthfully, everyone’s been gracious. Bianca Ryan has been on our show three times. She was the singer-songwriter winner of America’s Got Talent, Season 1. Bianca’s grown up in the public eye and is now an amazing woman. We love and support everything she does.

I was a huge Pussycat Doll’s fan, too, and interviewing Jessica Sutta was a dream come true. She is so gorgeous and talented, it’s almost unbelievable. All of the interviews I’ve done have been wonderful experiences. Notable celebrities of Irish descent include Superman’s Dean Cain, horror/comedy icon Leslie Easterbrook (the Policy Academy film series), Chris Trousdale from the boyband, Dream Street and Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC – one of the most successful boy bands of all time.

MG: You’re a published author, too. How did that come about?

JS: I became an author as a fluke. I’m an avid reader and had several friends who were always saying they were writing a book. I’d see them once or twice a year and they were always still writing the same book. I thought to myself, it can’t be that hard to write a book, so I sat down and wrote a short story. It took about two days to complete. Then I wrote a novella. It took two weeks to complete and, these days, I’m exploring turning into a TV show. After discovering that I could author material without taking years to do it, I wrote a biography of Charlie Chaplin that became a documentary. Recently I wrote the foreword to incredible book — Success Factor X by Sean Kanan and Jill Liberman. It went to #1 on Amazon.

I also participate in an amazing book series, The Change: Insights into Self Empowerment. Co-authors who are part of the project share life-enhancing realizations that seem to touch every aspect of life. In volume 16, I contributed a chapter — “Secrets of Social Media Success” — with my tips on how make a significant impact in social media. My own active use of social media has certainly helped me, personally, to gain global popularity as a television/radio talk show host.