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As a young boy growing up in St. Joe, Michigan, I loved to go down to the lake and sit at the foot of the lighthouse on the north pier to watch the sunset.  It was there that I would dream about what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I dreamed that I would be many things; a baseball player, a musician, an actor or maybe a preacher.  Whatever it was, I knew that God had a plan but as I turn 60 and take a look back, I have to admit that my life has been better than any of those childhood dreams.  I am beyond thankful for it all.

Reflecting on the past 26 years that I have worked for QVC has made me realize that I have had remarkable opportunities and thousands of memorable moments.  I have been able to broadcast shows from around the world and have often found myself looking out my hotel room to see the Goodyear Blimp.  At those times, I realized I was where the rest of the world wanted to be. 

I’ve hosted shows from throughout Germany, New Zealand, Italy and Australia.  I witnessed the first dawn on the planet over the Indian Ocean in Gisborne, New Zealand with our amazing crew and musician extraordinaire John Tesh.  Our New Year and New Millenium show was a full 18 hours ahead of Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve in New York. 

As the host of many of the QVC Sports shows over the past few decades, I have attended and broadcast from seven Super Bowls, two MLB All Star Games, Two World Series and two Summer Olympic Games (Atlanta-’96 and Sydney, Australia-2000.)  I witnessed those events from either the press box or great seats in the stadiums.  But the best seat I ever had was sitting next to so many of my childhood heroes as I interviewed them on QVC.  I was so fortunate to interview dozens of Hall of Famers, Olympic heroes and legendary athletes.  From Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Cal Ripken, Jr. to Jim Brown, Emmitt Smith, Johnny Unitas, Dan Marino and Brett Favre to Bill Russell, Shaquille O’Neal, Nadia Comenici and George Foreman (and that is to just name a few) it has been absolutely incredible.  I am privileged to say that some of these people have actually become good friends away from the camera.  I wrote a book in 1999 about many of my experiences called, “Best Seat in the House: Untold Stories of DiMaggio, Mantle, Foreman and Other Sports Legends.  George Foreman was kind enough to write the Foreword to the book.

Music is a huge part of my life.  It has been an honor to play with the band “Blue Sky” for the past ten years performing at over 100 charity events and helping to raise money for many worthy organizations. 

You can imagine how exciting it has been for me to play guitar with the likes of Jose Feliciano and Jeff Cook of Alabama on QVC.  I had the opportunity to interview and work with the likes of Daryl Hall and John Oates, Smokey Robinson, Michael McDonald, Alabama, Martina Mcbride, Kenny Loggins and Willie Nelson, to name a few.

Finally, one of the biggest thrills of my life was to work with some of the brightest stars of film and television; Charlton Heston, Rich Little, Tim Conway and Bob Hope.  To sit next to Mr. Heston and hear that rich, powerful, one- of –a- kind voice literally gave me goosebumps.  Rich Little and Tim Conway had me laughing so hard I was crying.  But perhaps one of the most amazing days of my life was spent with Bob and Delores Hope.  Bob was one of the most talented and one of the kindest people ever to walk this earth.  To interview him and hang out with him in the Green Room was the best. 

As I look back, I am so thankful and so humbled by this journey that I have been blessed to travel.  None of this would be possible without my loving family, QVC and you.  As I blow out the candles on my 60^th birthday cake this Sunday I will be giving many thanks for all of you who have made more than I ever dreamed come true!  “Thanks for the memories” as Bob Hope used to sing.  Let’s make many more!!!

-Dan