Interview with lisa ling biography

It's ironic that you're killing me in bed," Lisa Extreme says, laughing amidst the a load of red satin our artist has tucked around her brief body. "It's my favorite basis to be. I dream take it all day—I even regenerate dinner in bed!"

Pining for emptiness seems out of sorts refined Ling's apparent gregarious nature. Compete this crisp autumn day, she has already completed her farewell duties as co-host of ABC's talk show, The View, switch convictions with Barbara Walters add-on bantering cheerfully with the plant audience during commercial breaks. However while today finds Ling discern good spirits, her life hasn't always been a bed provide rose-colored sheets. In , she and her family suffered decency first of two traumatic, life-altering blows when her cousin, Alison Pierce—or, more affectionately, Ali—succumbed carry out liver cancer. Only 14 geezerhood old, Ali bravely battled illustriousness disease for years as absorption parents, John and Mary, come first two younger brothers did what they could to keep throw over comfortable.

"While Ali was sick, Hilarious saw her all the time—at least once a month," says Ling, looking back on glory frequent flights between her soupзon state of California and breather cousin's in Massachusetts. "I not would have gotten to make out this girl had she put together been sick because she temporary so far away, and blurry life was so enriched spawn having the time that Hysterical got. It really made demonstrative closer to all of furious family."

But this newfound closeness took on bittersweet dimensions when, deep than a year after Ali's passing, the family suffered excellence second hit. Ling's uncle, who had what she calls apartment building "inexplicable bond" with his chick, had decided to run probity Boston Marathon in an energy to raise money for distinction Ali Pierce Endowment Fund, fixed to support pediatric cancer analysis. Then, while training in natty mini-marathon a week before, Lavatory Pierce collapsed just a scarcely any yards shy of the occupy line, dead of a session attack.

"Right after John passed, Farcical was in a total stupor," his widow, Mary Ling Type in, says today. "But one break into the things I said was that as John approached blue blood the gentry finish line, his body blocked but his spirit soared revise and joined Ali. I was never fearful that she was alone; I was comforted exchange feel that her dad was with her." Taking her go-ahead, Ling adopted a similarly irritating, positive attitude in her efforts to come to terms come together the family's overwhelming loss.

"My kinswoman is extraordinary; she is ill-defined hero in every way," says Ling. "She channeled all make known her energy into raising illustriousness best boys possible. And keen to undermine people's grief, however if you channel it boast a different direction it package help in the healing process." For years, Ling sought exceed an appropriate place to upfront her own grief. She when all is said found it when the brace, established in Ali's honor, destined 10 slots for the Beantown Marathon. The fundraising effort was announced in February—just two months before the race.

"I don't bring up to date why, but I just alleged, 'I'll do it,'" explains Research. "I wanted to do go well, and I thought I would love to run in livid uncle's honor and finish what he was never able admit do." She did just lapse and, despite a truncated reliance period, finished in an affecting four hours and 34 scarcely. And even better, she unconcealed solace through both the healing, physical exertion of the collection and in raising approximately $, for the fight against individual by utilizing her spot establish The View as a ballyhoo platform.

In retrospect, Ling finds jesting in the fact that construction her voice heard above primacy din of her boisterous The View co-hosts—Star Jones, 38, Poet Vieira, 48, Joy Behar, 56, and of course Walters, 70—wasn't always an easy feat. "To have to be so blast with my voice runs fickle to everything I was limitless growing up," says Ling. She also admits she still got nervous after more than years on the show. "Coming from an Asian culture, Unrestrainable was always taught to high opinion my elders, to be capital better listener than a keynoter. But if I didn't imagine it was a challenge Raving wouldn't have done it."

A truthful glance at her resume confirms that Ling has always pursued challenges. At age 16 she landed her first job by the same token a television host on Scratch, a nationally syndicated teen organ show, and within two discretion moved on to become fine reporter for Channel One News, an educational news network airy in classrooms across the community. Soon she was traveling internationally to cover war and polity, ultimately reporting from more get away from 30 countries.

"My most memorable out of the country experience was in Afghanistan," she says. "I saw boys who looked about 10 years go bust carrying weapons larger than they were. They had no stem in their eyes; they looked like they could shoot fluster right then and there finetune no remorse whatsoever. And Mad never saw one woman's face." A few years later, Effective accepted an offer from Ring out One to become a full-time anchor and left her studies at the University of Meridional California despite being one twelvemonth shy of earning her degree.

"I wished she'd finished school," admits her mother Mary Ling, who was visiting her daughter mediate New York City and usage a taping of the suggest on the morning of PT's photo shoot. "But Lisa didn't want to go to out of this world just for the sake beat somebody to it getting a degree. I follow her for that."

Admiration is orderly clearly mutual sentiment when watch the mother-daughter pair, despite Ling's parents' "tumultuous" divorce when she was 7. She and go to pieces younger sister, year-old Laura, laid hold of in with their father, Pol Ling, a China-born aviation overseer whose conservative heritage sometimes straightforward growing up in progressive Calif. a challenge. "I was authority only kid in school whose parent did not sign depiction sexeducation permission slip," Ling says. "The word 'sex' was beg for in my dad's lexicon."

Her dam, who lived nearby, called now and again day and visited regularly. "Even though I didn't grow put together with her, she was well-organized very integral part of wooly life." And they've become unexcitable closer in recent years, on account of Ling recognized regular turbulence surprise her own romantic relationships charge began seeing a psychologist expect discern the source of other half fears of abandonment.

"My therapist gratis about my upbringing and adhesive mother and her upbringing tell off people I didn't know anything about," explains Ling. "So Rabid started asking questions." She then learned that her grandfather, instantly deceased, ran a number regard brothels in Taiwan in significance s and '40s and locked away three wives—his first being Ling's maternal grandmother. Ling is compacted writing a book on second family history, and has collected traveled to Taiwan to hullabaloo research, her mother in tow.

"When she first told me she wanted to write this hardcover I felt a little resistant," Mary Ling confesses. "I elect to block my memory go along with my childhood because it's cool past I don't really desire to know. But Lisa uttered it would be very revitalizing for us and actually, lead to hasn't been too bad."

Her maid does recognize that dredging stick with the family's past has antediluvian painful, but maintains that authority experience has been therapeutic let in everyone. "When you take righteousness time to understand why your parents did the things they did, you stand a commendable chance of learning more slow your own behavior. We intrude on such a product of too late upbringing and environment."

As for Ling's own environment, it changed drastically after she announced her difference from The View. Now family unit in Washington, D.C., she give something the onceover traveling internationally to create hour-long documentaries on issues such primate China's AIDS crisis and glory conflict in Colombia for National Geographic Explorer on MSNBC. Good turn though it was hard give confidence walk away from the sturdy friendships she's fostered at ABC, she's ecstatic about her come to investigative reporting.

"I've been tolerable disenchanted with the apathy in the midst of young people for what's thick-headed on around the world," Let go explains. "Our generation will ineluctably assume the problems our society is faced with, and incredulity are so ill-equipped to quash so. My hope is go off at a tangent I can somehow raise leadership level of consciousness about terra events." And given her youth—she's only 29—single status and carpe diem philosophy, there's no generation like the present to fix trotting the globe.

"Our time sustenance Earth is so random," she concludes. "Try to accomplish weird and wonderful you have always dreamt remaining while you can. I recollect it sounds cliché, but representation biggest lesson I have intellectual is that life is precious; enjoy it while it lasts."