Jane Pauley Says Goodbye

May 30, 2003 -- In a candid interview, Jane Pauley talks about fame, the future, her children, and why she decided to leave NBC. Following are excerpts of an interview Pauley gave to 20/20's Barbara Walters.

On Retirement

BARBARA WALTERS: Are you scared at all?

JANE PAULEY: No, I'm not the least bit scared. Um, can I rephrase that? At the moment I'm not the least bit scared. Uh, a couple weeks ago I started revisiting some of the things that I had said back in February when the announcement first came out, and oh, there was some attention and I, you know, gave some interviews and, uh, uh, probably repeated myself often enough that I, um, I heard myself over and over saying something about how comfortable I was making bold decisions. And, you know, I started thinking, "You're out of your mind!"

On Her Children's Reaction

WALTERS: How do your kids feel about your giving this up, being home?

PAULEY: I don't think they'd notice if I wasn't. Uh, they are teenagers, after all. I was frankly a little surprised at my daughter's reaction and she didn't know what I was thinking. This was last fall when we were together with friends. Old friends. Who always, you know, say, "How's it going, Jane? What's happening?" So Shannon would be sitting next to me and I took this opportunity to answer that question in the fullest possible way. Here's what I'm thinking, and here's why. The whole conversation was really intended for her. I sensed that something was happening beside me. So I said "Do you want to go upstairs?" So we went upstairs, just the two of us, and were eventually joined by her brother, so it became a little threesome.

WALTERS: Twin brother?

PAULEY: Yes, and she started to cry. Not a sob. But just a little, little tear. She went, "Everything is changing." She meant, you know, she's off to college now. She even won't forgive me for this but her brother's room wasn't his room anymore. But that was just for her another sign of change. And so me not being on television, I was on television her whole life, it was just another aspect of change. But I think teaching her the lesson that life is about change and that change can be good. That is, if you can, you can manage change and sometimes change comes and that's part of life.

On Comparisons to Barbara Walters

WALTERS: We had gone, the Today Show had come to Chicago and we had interviewed you, because you were doing some morning show, I guess. But we interviewed you. You were on then, and you were adorable.

PAULEY:Well, let me tell you what my recollection is. At some point, after my arrival in Chicago, um, where I was also, even more ridiculously young, and, the local newspapers were not impressed. But someone comes back from a visit to New York, so they say, "I've seen Barbara Walters over the weekend and she said to give you a message. That you're doing a great job." I mean yeah, right. And then a month or two months later, someone else comes back. Only here is a man who had a Pulitzer Prize. He's seen Barbara Walters over the weekend. And she said, "Tell Jane she's doing a great job."

WALTERS: Mm-hm.

PAULEY:Now I knew it was true. So I didn't know why you even knew of me, and I didn't know why you sent me those, those messages. I really was glad to get them.

WALTERS: After you came to NBC there were people who said that you talked like me. Now remember, I was already gone.

PAULEY: Oh God.

WALTERS: I was really very proud of you. Were you trying to talk like me?

PAULEY: Well, every now and then I would hear the preposterous notion that that Jane Pauley sounds like Barbara Walters. Like I could if I tried? Well, one day in a barnyard, of all places, in Illinois, the Today Show had sent me out to do a remote, from a location. Suddenly I'm thinking, "What, what's Barbara Walters doing in New York?" And I realized, that's not Barbara Walters. That's you.

On Her Father

WALTERS: Tell me about your father.

PAULEY: My father was so good-natured and had such a happy disposition. I've always confused him with Jimmy Stewart. So, think Jimmy Stewart. That's my dad. The story he tells about this tragic car accident involving his mother, I never knew about that. At some point in my late teens, maybe, early 20s, I learned that his mother had died in a car crash. I don't know when I first understood who had been at the wheel. My parents had an experience of life that is as opposite to mine as you can imagine.

On Fame

WALTERS: Will you miss the perks? Will you miss the fame?

PAULEY: I've always been profoundly ambivalent about fame. I think it just eats the reality out of you and it can be intoxicating because I like some of it. You know? I do like some of the perks, like being, recognized, especially if I've had my makeup done and I'm going to be photographed and people admire me. Who wouldn't like that? But it's not about real life. One of the reasons I've been so really fierce about keeping my kids away from my career, or Gary's too, is because I don't know too many children of famous people for whom the fame part was a blessing. It can look like a blessing, maybe it got them in doors or even careers. But so much of the time it's toxic. So, me and fame, we've got some issues.