Rest In Peace, Mr. King. And Go Gators.

I wish I could say this is the moment I knew I wanted to be a journalist, but considering how I look in this photo, I didn’t know much of anything.

It was May of 2007, and we were on a family vacation. The four of us were standing obliviously on the streets of Beverly Hills when my mom spotted Larry King scooting inconspicuously out of the Beverly Wilshire hotel. After several oh my gods and are you sures, my dad and I took off. My mom and sister were too penosa to physically chase after a celebrity in broad daylight, but Paul Zilio and I had (and have) no shame. Poor guy got stopped at a crosswalk, where he was greeted by an awkward looking soon-to-be high schooler and her dorky dad in a University of Florida baseball cap. My dad told “Mr. King” we were big fans and asked if he would mind posing for a photo with his daughter. After he obliged, he gave my dad a “Go Gators!” Turns out one of his kids had actually gone to UF, where Lynette was about to start her freshman year, and where I would go on to graduate a fellow Gator in May of 2015. One week after that, I would move to Los Angeles to start my career as an entertainment reporter. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME, LOL. I could babble on about this legend’s unmatched résumé (fun fact: his broadcasting career began on Miami radio eyyy), but I’d rather just thank him for what he did for the industry.

Rest In Peace, Mr. King. And Go Gators.