I heard the whirring of the helicopter blades before I saw the big bird flying toward me over the treetops of the Montauk Airport.
As the helicopter — belonging to Sean Hannity — gracefully dropped to its designated spot and taxied to a stop, the pilot stepped out to open the door for my great friend Geraldo Rivera, who exited with his beautiful wife Erica Levy, her arms filled with newspapers and her computer.
We pulled my car up onto the short runway to the helicopter, where we greeted Geraldo and Erica and picked up their bags, as they had spent the previous night at Sean’s home.
We drove a few miles together to Bill O’Reilly’s beautiful home perched on the edge of the ocean in Montauk. He was waiting at the door to greet us as we drove into his pebbled driveway. I noticed his black car in the garage with press plates like mine.
As I walked into the sun-filled house, my eyes popped as I saw ahead of me the glass wall of the living room with its spectacular, breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean.
We walked out onto the deck to feel the ocean breezes. I couldn’t take my eyes off the lush green lawn leading to a waterfront deck inches from the ocean. I just stood there transfixed by the view.
We had come to Bill’s home for lunch and to talk about Life’s WORC’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebration, where the three of us will be recognized for our lifetime of fighting for the cause.
Following Geraldo’s lead, Bill and Sean joined him in committing $50,000 to the cause they have been supporting for years.
Bill has created a foundation in his parents’ name and has generously raised more than $30 million for causes, such as providing high-tech wheelchairs for injured veterans.
Now, the three marvelous men — all brought up on Long Island — are supporting a cause in their own backyard by helping Life’s WORC — an organization that helps more than 1,000 people with developmental disabilities and on the autism spectrum in warm, loving group homes and day programs supporting them and their families.
We were talking about how these “Three Musketeers” can help us to create a legacy fund for Life’s WORC.
I laughed loudly when Geraldo got Sean on the phone via his Apple Watch and brought it to Bill to say hello and thank them for their support! What a world!
After a delicious lunch of lobster salad, Bill took us on a tour of his well planned house.
He shared with me that about seven years ago, he found the piece of property when he was driving down a Montauk road and noticed a sign. There were small houses sitting surrounded by high weeds, but he immediately fell in love with the property’s potential and superb views.
Within six months, local building legend Joe Farrell built him his spacious, but warm and well laid out home.
During my tour, I was delighted to follow the 6′ 4″ Bill down the steps to the basement to see his unique art collection of antique movie posters and one of a kind flags from the Vietnam War days.
He showed us a photo as he told us the remarkable story of the battleship where his grandfather served in World War II.
I especially appreciated his framed copy of a Chicago daily newspaper blasting in big type “Dewey Beats Truman,” a great collectible of a whopper of a mistake made in wrongly calling the election!
As a great fan of his many historic novels, I was impressed to hear about his research and writing of his latest book, “Killing the Killers,” which takes readers deep inside the global war on terror.
He candidly admitted that writing the book himself was “the hardest” he ever had to write.
“We had to obtain classified material about each killing,” he said. “You will not believe what is in this book.”
He expects it to be out in 2022. I’m pre-ordering my book on Amazon and can’t wait to read it!
We then visited the space he had set up as a broadcasting room, where he does his celebrated radio shows and podcasts that are carried by over 300 stations nationally and internationally.
It was hard to pull myself away, but Geraldo and Erica had to catch a plane back to their home in Cleveland, Ohio.
With great appreciation and joy, we parted after planning our campaign to raise much-needed dollars for a legacy for Life’s WORC.
Stay tuned for more of the accomplishments of these modern-day “Three Musketeers.”
