THROUGH MERRIMACK. MEANWHILE, 93 IS MOVING WELL, A SIGNIFICANT HONOR TONIGHT FOR LONGTIME JOURNALIST AND TV PERSONALITY MEREDITH VIEIRA. THE NEW ENGLAND NATIVE IS RECEIVING THE GOVERNOR’S AWARD, PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS AND SCIENCES, BOSTON, NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER. OUR KATHERINE UNDERWOOD SPOKE WITH VIEIRA VIEIRA ABOUT RECEIVING THE ORGANIZATION’S HIGHEST HONOR. SO TELL US WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD THAT NEWS, HOW DID YOU FEEL? WELL, FIRST, I DIDN’T BELIEVE IT. YOU KNOW, IT’S ALWAYS LIKE ME. ARE YOU. ARE YOU SURE? AND THEN IT’S IT’S VERY HUMBLING. AND I TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN THIS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I GREW UP IN NEW ENGLAND. I’M A RHODE ISLAND GIRL. EAST PROVIDENCE, RUMFORD, RHODE ISLAND. THE PERSON THAT I AM WAS FORMED BY THOSE NEW ENGLAND ROOTS AND BY MY PARENTS WHO WHOSE PARENTS WERE PORTUGUESE IMMIGRANTS. SO AZOREAN ACTUALLY, AND BOTH MY PARENTS WERE EXTREMELY HARDWORKING AND VERY ETHICAL PEOPLE AND JUST LOVELY HUMAN BEINGS. AND I THINK THEY INSTILLED IN ME A VALUE OF WORK AND DECENCY AND, AND AN ETHICAL CODE TO LIVE BY. I WENT TO A QUAKER SCHOOL IN PROVIDENCE THAT ADDED ON TO THAT LINCOLN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. AND THEN I ENDED UP AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY IN THE BOSTON AREA, MEDFORD, SOMERVILLE, AND MY FIRST JOB AS AN INTERN WAS AT ALL NEWS RADIO IN BOSTON, EEI, AND THEY TOOK A CHANCE ON ME. I WAS A SENIOR IN COLLEGE AND REALLY LOST. I HAD HAD EVERY MAJOR UNDER THE SUN, ENDED UP MY SENIOR YEAR AS AN ENGLISH MAJOR BY DEFAULT. TOOK THIS COURSE NOT FOR CREDIT IN BROADCAST JOURNALISM, AND WE HAD TO DO A TAPED DOCUMENTARY RADIO TAPE. AND I WAS THE VOICE OF MINE, AND IT WAS JUDGED BY THE HEAD OF CBS NEWS, BILL SHURMUR. HE CAME IN TO CRITIQUE AND HE ASKED, WHO IS THAT? AND I RAISED MY HAND. HE SAID, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU. I LITERALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET THROWN OUT OF SCHOOL. AND HE SAID, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHEN YOU GRADUATE? AND I SAID, I DON’T KNOW. AND HE SAID, I DO. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE A BIG CAREER. AND HE HIRED ME ON THE SPOT AS AN INTERN AT AT W E I, WHICH WAS A BIG STATION. AND STATION IN NEWS AND, AND I WAS JUST I IT WAS A BLESSING. I DIDN’T EVEN GET IT AT THE TIME BECAUSE I WAS NOT A NEWS PERSON. BUT I TOOK TO IT. I JUST LOVED IT. AND I HAD SO MUCH SUPPORT FROM THE PEOPLE THERE WHO BELIEVED IN ME. I DON’T KNOW WHY, BUT THEY DID, AND I WORKED EXTREMELY HARD AND THEN ENDED UP AT CHANNEL TEN IN PROVIDENCE AND FROM THERE TO NEW YORK. AND THE REST IS, AS THEY SAY, HISTORY. BUT ALL OF MY INITIAL BREAKS CAME FROM FOLKS IN NEW ENGLAND WHO JUST SAW SOMETHING IN ME THAT EVEN I DIDN’T SEE. AND AND WITHOUT THEM, I WOULD NOT BE WHERE I AM TODAY. AND IT’S NOT LOST ON ME. YEAH, IT’S SO IMPORTANT IN THOSE EARLY YEARS TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO BELIEVES IN YOU AND TOTALLY, TOTALLY. MY NEWS DIRECTOR AT EEI, MIKE LUDLAM, I DIDN’T PASS THE WRITING TEST THE FIRST TIME AND HE SAID, WELL, YOU’LL BE MY SECRETARY. AND THEN WE’LL, YOU KNOW, AND YOU’LL TAKE IT AGAIN. AND HE DIDN’T REALIZE I’D GONE TO KATIE GIBBS THE SUMMER BEFORE, JUST SO I COULD HAVE SOMETHING TO DO. WHEN I GRADUATED SOME SKILL SET. BUT I WASN’T GOOD, AND HE WOULD END UP RETYPING EVERYTHING AT NIGHT. HE WOULD STAY LATE AND ALL MY ERRORS HE WOULD FIX. SO HE MADE IT HIS MISSION TO FIND ME A JOB, AND HE FOUND ME A RADIO JOB IN WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. I DIDN’T KNOW AT THE TIME THAT HE WAS JUST TRYING TO, LIKE, VERY NICELY GET ME OUT OF THAT GIG OF BEING A SECRETARY WHEN I WASN’T GOOD AT IT. BUT BUT THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF PEOPLE I WORKED WITH. THEY JUST, YOU KNOW, THEY I FOR WHATEVER REASON, I THINK THEY LIKED ME. THEY THOUGHT I WAS SMART AND THEY THEY WERE WILLING TO HELP ME. AND YOU CAN WATCH KATHERINE’S INTERVIEW WITH MEREDITH VIEIRA IN ITS ENTIRETY RIGHT NOW OVER ON OUR WEBSITE AND MOBILE APP. AND VIEIRA’S GAME SHOW, 25 WORDS OR LESS,