Birthday: Sept. 21, 1940.
Birthplace: I was born in Pensacola, Fla., and raised near Independence, Kan.
Occupation: Broadcaster.
Current home: Chicago.
Marital status: I’ve been living with Donna LaPietra for 25 years.
Children: Mary Kristin, 32, and Scott, 28.
Car: A 1998 gray Oldsmobile Aurora.
Working on: I’ve got three series on A&E: “The New Explorers With Bill Kurtis,” “American Justice” and “Investigative Reports.” On Monday, we’re airing a report on air rage.
The last good movie I saw: “The Sixth Sense.”
I stay home to watch: Old movies, news and documentaries.
The book I’ve been reading: “Grasslands.” I have a place in Mettawa where I’m restoring a prairie and woodlands.
Favorite meal: A Kansas breakfast of buckwheat pancakes, maple syrup, sausages, raisin toast and orange juice. It stays with you all day.
Favorite performer: Ramsey Lewis.
Prized possession: I have a ranch in Kansas that’s my spiritual center. It combines the things I care about: stewardship, nature and wildlife.
Personal heroes: Any Medal of Honor winner and Walter Cronkite. He exhibits the professional standards I admire and he created a life I admire, also.
People always think I’m: In Chicago, it’s Walter Jacobson; around the country, it’s Robert Wagner, Dan Rather or Bill Moyers.
Nobody knows I’m: Funny. I come off as being so serious on television.
I’d give anything to meet: Leonardo da Vinci. He had such an inquiring, curious mind.
The one thing I can’t stand: Someone lying to me.
If I could change one thing about myself: I’d lose weight.
Most humbling experience: Whenever I’m at the scene of a natural disaster, I’m humbled by the force of nature. It puts all of us into perspective.
The words that best describe me: Curious, lighthearted and hard-working.
