Going Gently Into That Tonight Jay Leno Says Goodbye: Again

71 pages.

What a ride it's been. And I've had a front row seat for the whole thing.

Well, maybe 10th row, stage left. Or on lucky nights, row 2, seat 1. As not just an avid viewer of The Tonight Show, I've had the chance to attend many a Burbank taping over the years. Mr. Leno is a wealth of 101 stories, all of them interesting -- even the ones he'd repeat to us.

As he departs -- yet again -- I wanted to chronicle the whole wild ride, from Jay's childhood, to the friendship with Letterman, to the Conan debacle, but try and pepper it with stories maybe you *didn't* know.

Enjoy this more rapid-fire, truncated version, from Jay's Boston days, to landing at that Burbank desk and into a chain of events that shook the late-night world that continue to be re-shaped everyday.

So, from my various nights in the crowd, and culled from tons of other sources, comes the Tonight Show/Leno book you hopefully haven't seen before. Sure, I touch on Dave and Johnny, et al, but try and leave out the redundancy. A little.

Rated PG, for mild language.