I was given an assignment to co-host with Richard Sher who is still in Baltimore. My first interview was with the Carvel Ice-cream man, it’s mini play first, and Benny from "All My Children".

 

Oh, this is just wonderful!

 

I came off that stage, August 14th, 1978 and I knew that I was home. I knew that in all my years of being discontent, feeling like something is not quite right, feeling like I'm in the wrong place, in the wrong job, I knew this is it. It felt like home because it felt so natural. It felt like I could be myself.

 

When you are getting towards some magic…

 

Oh terrible I got a hair in mine.

 

You can have..

 

I put, one of my hairs fell on it. I'm sorry.

 

I felt like I could ask a question or not ask a question. I could just listen. I could pay attention. It was the most natural I ever felt at work.

 

One of the big treats on this diet, you can have a peanut butter and blackberry jam sandwich which I will be having later on today.

 

I reached a point in Baltimore where I felt I needed to grow myself to the next level and so I decided Chicago. I started singing Chicago My Kind of Town. One of the producers on my show in Baltimore moved to Chicago and she called me up one day and said, "Look, they're looking for a person to host the show, why don't you send a tape?" So I rushed this tape and stayed up all night with an editor and sent a tape in.

 

Wow, now that is amazing because this is the tape. This is the tape with my bad handwriting on it. Oh, it's pretty amazing. Where did you get this? It's in the archives. I’m glad somebody kept them. We should get to double this or something, don't you think? This is the tape I think we all would like, I would actually like to have this myself. Can I just see what's on it? Do you have it?

 

My name is Oprah Winfrey, Oprah spelt O-P-R-A-H and if you notice it's ‘Harpo’ spelt backwards.

 

Yes I love that, that's my priest uniform.

 

Originally I was named from the Bible by Aunt Ida, who named me from Ruth the first chapter and the 14th verse “Orpah”, but no one knew how to spell in my home and that's why it ended up being Oprah.

 

That was when I was wearing a little Afro because I've been bald for such a long time, and I wouldn’t let anybody touch my hair.

 

And after being in Baltimore for 7 years, I'm ready to come to Chicago.

 

As I was flying into Chicago and walking to State Street to interview for the job, I thought I just feel like I belong here, and if I don't get this job, I'm gonna figure out how to get a job in this city.