Winter-2022

A Magnificent Life An Inter view wi th Cr aig Ki lborn B Y DAV I D OL S EN I met Craig Kilborn, aka Lord Kilby, for lunch at The Original Farmers Market near La Brea. We grabbed some Trejo’s Tacos and tucked away in one of the many shaded eating areas in the sprawling mall. Craig had a litany of questions of his own. Mostly pertaining to how much I love living on the Monterey Peninsula. He’d lived in Carmel before, in the late ‘80s and he loves to come back as often as he can. It was Craig’s career that brought him to Carmel, and it was his career that took him away. Over his career, he worked in sports announcing, was the original host of “The Daily Show,” hosted “The Late Late Show”—a network show where he interviewed A-list celebrities like Scarlett Johansson or Catherine Zeta-Jones—and starred in some of my favorite films. Like “Old School,” which also starred Luke Wilson,Will Farrell,Vince Vaughn and SeanWilliam Scott. He is truly living a life gorgeous. Q: Tell us about where you grew up.Your hometown. A: I grew up in Hastings, Minnesota, a small town of 12,000 that is nestled on the Mississippi River and 20 minutes south of St. Paul, the home of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I announce to my friends once a week, I had a very happy childhood. My dad was funny—a Johnny Carson type—and he made every- thing fun.We would play Password and watch old movies and Dad would boil bratwurst in beer and make milkshakes with malt powder. My child- hood was mostly comedy and basketball.And my brother and I had no idea that Minnesota was the coldest place around…until we got older. Q: Where did your love of basketball stem from?Tell us about your col- lege career. A: My dad was from New Jersey and was aWillie Mays fan. He wanted my brother and me to play base- ball but, when I was in second grade, he put up a basketball hoop in the driveway and I was a natural. There’s an old saying:“You may get married to a woman, but basket- ball will always be your first love.” I received a basketball scholarship from Montana State and I was the best shooter and passer on the team…defense was optional. I usually came off the bench but in my sophomore year I started a few games and in my first start, I scored 20 points on 8 of 9 shoot- ing, 4 of 4 on 3s, against the Idaho Vandals. Our conference, The Big Sky, had the longest 3-point line in the country back then—22 feet. I felt like Pistol Pete Maravich that night. Of course, Pistol averaged 44 ppg but you get my point. Q: Your love of basketball parlayed into your media career, right? Where was your first media job? A: I did a few fill-in weekends of sportscasting in Santa Rosa, California, for the local newscast. Then I drove cross country to do play-by-play for one season with the Savannah Spirits of the Continental Basketball Association. I had a blast but I missed California and wanted to do comedy. Q: When did you arrive in the Monterey/Carmel area? What brought you out? A: In 1989, I got hired by KCBA in Salinas, which serves the Salinas/ Monterey/Santa Cruz areas, the 110th market in the country and the most beautiful market in the country. Paul Miller was the news director at KCBA and he gave me my start.We’re still friends and Paul now ownsThe Carmel Pine Cone. I also got to work with a very talented news anchor, Kirstie Wilde who had worked in Los Angeles. Both Paul and Kirstie encouraged me and told me I was going places. 126 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 2 Drink deeply from the fountain of Craig Kilborn’s new Podcast, The Life Gorgeous, which debuted on July 22, 2022.