Dick Henning marks 40 years as Celebrity Forum host

By Alison R.G. van Diggelen, Special to the Town Crier

Celebrity Forum founder and moderator Dick Henning celebrates 40 years of the forum this year.

Dick Henning might be mistaken for an ordinary guy as he enjoys dinner with friends at Le Petit Bistro, one of his favorite haunts. But it’s not every Los Altos area resident who peppers his conversations with personal anecdotes about Henry Kissinger, Lauren Bacall and Joe Montana.

The word “treasure” comes up often when talking with local residents about Henning and his life’s work as founder and host of the nationally acclaimed Foothill College Celebrity Forum Speakers Series. His series boasts a roster that reads like a Who’s Who of the 20th and 21st centuries: Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, Jane Goodall and Neil Armstrong, to name a few.

All the more baffling, then, is Henning’s reluctance to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his speakers series. But Henning is firm: “There will be no celebration … it’s too small a thing.”

Modesty? Avoiding the limelight? The truth: He has his eyes set on the gold. The prospect of a 50th anniversary in 2018 has given him a personal goal.

“If I’m trying to set a record, it’s a self challenge,” said Henning, who just celebrated his 73rd birthday and has fond memories of his father, a journalist, who continued to write until he was 88.

Many describe Celebrity Forum as Henning’s “baby,” something he’s created, nurtured and grown for four decades – and he has no intention of letting go of such success.

Each of Henning’s speakers appears for three evenings and attracts an audience of more than 7,000 to the Flint Center for the Performing Arts at De Anza College in Cupertino.

Legendary timing

Always impeccably dressed, white hair coiffed and boyish face often revealing a twinkle of humor, Henning is well respected for his punctuality, competence and wit as host, but his reputation for timing is legendary.

“He must have a lucky star overhead,” said Boo Bue, former owner of Dale Carnegie franchises. Bue said that Henning has a knack for booking speakers one year in advance who become hot topics at the time of their appearance. Last year, for example, former Vice President Al Gore, booked a year beforehand, spoke at Celebrity Forum the same week he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

“In Celebrity Forum, you see beyond the one-dimensional sound bite. You get to see some personalities, get to know them,” Henning said.

Henning has a loyal following among his audience, who are demographically well educated, sophisticated and mature – the average age is 58. One couple told him they wanted to retire to Arizona but wouldn’t dream of leaving the area because of the speakers series.

Knowledge of his audience and careful selection of speakers is Henning’s forte. Like a maestro of intellectual curiosity, he ensures he has a celebrity for every taste: from political junkie to sports fan, from science buff to literati.

“I have a reputation of always looking for women,” Henning said.

Henning has a hard time choosing favorites among the hundreds of speakers who have graced his stage.

“Favorites are difficult,” he said. “It is almost like the question of which of your children do you like the best. You have to consider the content and the timeliness as well as how well it was presented … in other words, the mechanics of the delivery.”

However, one speaker he’d love to get to the Forum is former South African President Nelson Mandela.

“He’s usually impossible to get,” Henning said. “When he speaks, he speaks to thousands at a time. (But) I’d like to get him because he is a hero to me.”

Yearly challenge

Henning’s challenge is finding seven prominent speakers each year that will appeal to both men and women, because most attendees come as couples or in groups.

Henning has to ask: “Can I sell 7,200 tickets for this person?”

A celebrity may be a Nobel Prize winner, but the question remains: Can he or she speak?

Henning takes it personally when a speaker soars or bombs.

“I have to live a whole month in between,” said Henning, grimacing at the prospect of facing his friends at the Los Altos Rotary Club.

“He’s Mr. Los Altos,” said Bue, a club member. “There’s no one in Los Altos who doesn’t know him or know of him. He’s the most respected member of the club … but he’s not a big blowhard.”

Marge Bruno, former mayor of Los Altos, agreed.

“He’s a self-effacing regular guy,” she said. “And yet he brings in people of international stature to little old Los Altos.”

Named Los Altan of the Year by the Town Crier in 1996 for being a goodwill ambassador, Henning was described by colleagues as “both nice guy and savvy, successful promoter.”

According to Bernadine Chuck Fong, former president of Foothill College, the series has enriched not only the local community, but also the college. Speakers such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher have attended private receptions with students and staff.

“Dick is an icon within the college – truly loved,” said Judy Miner, president of Foothill College.

Henning has brought the speaker series a long way from its modest beginnings during the turbulent student days of 1968. As dean of community services at Foothill College, he created the series in the college gymnasium to provide students with tangible value for their student-body membership. With a modest budget, early speakers were paid $600 and included icons such as anthropologists Louis Leakey and Margaret Mead and oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. Today’s budget is $350,000.

Focus on the future

Not content to rest on his laurels and consider retirement, Henning is focused on the next 10 years. He is still active in the community and at the college.

“I’ve got to be doing things,” said Henning, who recently traveled to Vietnam. “I could choose the La-Z-Boy in the back room or this.”

Inspired by an 86-year-old friend who “runs circles round him,” Henning said he is determined to continue to his 50th year as host of Celebrity Forum.

But can he do it?

“That’s absolutely going to happen,” Miner said. “He’ll be as vibrant and dynamic at 83 as he was on day one. He’s like a fine wine.”

“Maybe I’ll pour a glass of Dom Pérignon for Paulette (his wife) and me on the 50th,” Henning said. “I’m looking forward to it and wondering which people in the world will be famous 10 years from now.”

For more information about the Celebrity Forum, visit www.celebrityforum.net.

Alison R.G. van Diggelen is editor of siliconmom.com, a website for mothers, and blogs about Bay Area events.