An inspirational new book about a Bermudian?s rise through the ranks of American broadcasting was actually motivated by anger and disappointment.

?It?s a Dirty, Rotten, Wonderful Business - My Life in Radio and Television Broadcasting?, written by Nell Bassett hit store shelves this month just in time for the Christmas season.

In the United States, Ms Bassett has worked for a number of radio stations including WNEW FM, WLIB and WNBC/WYNY New York among others. She has also been a cast member of two daytime soap operas, hosted a syndicated television show called ?For You... Black Woman?, and even been in a movie.

Although Ms Bassett has gone to the heights of American journalism she is still remembered by many Bermudians as ?Auntie Nell? on a children?s programme called the Junior Club.

She started to write a book about her career when she was fired from her job as executive director of public affairs at NBC in 1985 during a reorganisation of the company.

She?d lived in the United States working in American media since 1965. The situation forced Ms Bassett to review her life and career, and she started noting down important moments. The writing acted as therapy and helped her to see that her reasons for living in the United States had passed.

?All of the sudden, I thought, ?why am I in this country??,? she said during an interview with the . ?Bermuda is such a great place. I was in America because I wanted to pursue my career and to see how far I could go. I went pretty far quite honestly.?

She said when she decided to write about her life, her pen seemed to flow across the page.

?I couldn?t sleep at night because I wanted to write,? she said. ?I had a little pad beside my nightstand. I jotted down ideas and instances that I could refer to. Then I began to put it all in the book. I wrote and I wrote and then one day I decided that I was going back to Bermuda. I wasn?t ill, or anything like that. I called my sister Marlene Landy, and told her I was coming home. I said, ?I don?t know where I am going to live?. I just decided to come home. It was easier to come home than to leave.?

A chapter in her book called ?Family Confrontation? details just how difficult it was to make the decision to pull up roots and move to the United States when a job offer came her way.

?When I first pulled up stakes because I was invited to be a member of the WNEW FM team, my mother (Venetia Richardson) was incensed that I wanted to leave Bermuda and go abroad,? Ms Bassett said. ?She didn?t believe in broadcasting in any sense. She said education is the way for you to go. I was teaching and then this offer came to come to America and I did.

?The family conferences were incredible. I am not sorry that I did go abroad, but the upheaval in the family was something.?

Ms Bassett has five siblings, but it was her older sister, Marlene ( who has worked for ZBM for more than 40 years), who really encouraged her.

?It was like brothers and sisters against each other,? she said. ?And yet we still are a very close-knit family. Marlene said: ?Go, go away and see what you can do?. I had her support. I didn?t have my mother and father?s support, but they came around.?

Despite being in the same line of work, Ms Bassett said there has never been any rivalry between her and Marlene.

?There was never any competition between us, even when we were kids,? she said. ?We both did track and field, but she ran faster than I did. I thought I was great. She was always supportive. She said ?darling, whatever what you want to do, do it?. She was always like that. Even today, we are the best of friends.?

When asked if she is now retired from radio, Ms Bassett guffawed and said, ?perish the thought?.

She is now on the air again in Bermuda, working for VSB radio. ?I love being on the air,? she said. ?It is so much fun. It really is, getting the calls from the people.?

One of her favourite roles during her career was being host of ?For You... Black Woman? a nationally syndicated television programme that even ran in Bermuda. The show had guests including, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?s daughter Yolanda.

?She was one of the guests that I interviewed,? Ms Bassett said. ?It was a wonderful time. We mainly dealt with black women although we would have white women as well.?

One of her proudest moments was when she worked for radio station WLIB in Harlem during the tumultuous 60s.

?The riots were going on. I asked if I could take my radio show outside. I did that to try to calm the community. A few people came around and then it swelled and the police had to cordon-off off the whole block for people to come and be a part of the show.

?It did stem the tide of riots. People seemed to be calmer. It was a poignant time. I was supposed to do it for one week and I did it for two weeks. We were out there every day rain blow or shine. When I went into the shops, and people said ?I have you on, and people come in to listen, and it is calmer, several blocks from here?.

?It was powerful to hear that. It was really glorious and wonderful to think that radio station had that kind of power because I was outside. There was a sense of calm and applause when I played the music.?

In addition to her job at VSB, she also runs a public speaking course at the Bermuda College.

?I use to do that when I was in NBC,? she said. ?I would train the executives. I have done that recently at the Bermuda College, and I am going back to do that again in the spring of next year. It doesn?t matter if you are an executive or what you are. Some people just have problems with a microphone. They are shy of it.?

She currently has five public speaking clients. One of her students is a lady who has to read scripture in church. Until taking Ms Bassett?s course, she was terrified. When she finished the course, she said she loved public speaking.

?I am good at teaching public speaking,? Ms Bassett said. ?I am understanding about people?s fear of public speaking. Some people, when they are called upon to speak, they freeze. There is no reason to freeze. There is a very easy way to get around that.?

She said there is definitely a need for public speaking training on the Island, particularly amongst Bermuda?s politicians.

?Some of our politicians speak so badly; I am really ashamed of them,? she said. ?Dale Butler is a guy who does it well. He is proficient, he knows what he is about to say, and says it fluently. He is one of the great politicians.?

She said her praise has nothing to do with that fact that Mr. Butler mentioned her book in the House of Assembly a few days ago, and urged his colleagues to read it.

?I am thankful to him for that, but aside from that he is really proficient at public speaking,? she said. ?He just has the knack. Some of them are so sorely lacking in the way to present themselves. They stumble over what they are about to say. They sound terrible. It is pathetic to listen to it. I listen to the public debates because I like that. I have to listen carefully to distinguish what they are saying, and there is nothing wrong with my hearing. I really am saddened about that. I wish they would do something, call me or something.?

She said in the early days of her career when she was working at ZBM, her mentor was Quinton Edness who was then ZBM Programme Director.

?He taught me so much about broadcasting,? she said. ?He said, ?make love to the microphone. People will feel this. It will come across?.?

?I have written to him how thankful I was when I went to WNEB and WNBC for all the things he taught me about broadcasting,? she said.

Although her father eventually came around to the idea of her having a broadcast career in the United States, her mother never accepted it.

Ms Bassett said despite her mother?s reservations, the entire family was musically inclined, even her mother.

?My mother use to play for the silent films, I am told,? she said. ?There were times we would go in the parlour she would play and narrate the movie, as it were. We were fascinated by it. She would tell the story as she was playing. Daddy (William Richardson) sang throughout the Island. He was a wonderful tenor. My mother didn?t like Americans. She said they were dysfunctional people. Daddy loved them because he used to work in the hotels. I don?t play the piano or anything like that, but I talk.?

She said moving back in 2000 was not nearly as difficult as moving away.

Soon after her return to Bermuda in 2000, she married Kenny Harris who also works at VSB Radio.

?My husband and I decided to publish on our own,? she said. ?We edited it ourselves. We worked night and day.?

Ms Bassett said, so far the response to ?It?s a Dirty Rotten... Wonderful Business? has been wonderful.

?I am very pleased and I have started another book,? she said. ?The next one will be called ?Memories of Junior Club?. We had many children appearing on Junior Club who are now well known. Former Tourism Minister Renee Webb was on Junior Club. She won a spelling bee. I am soliciting her help in remembering what that spelling bee was like.?

Ms Bassett said now that she is back in Bermuda she hopes to contribute as much as she can to the local community.

?It was here that it all began for me. It began for me at ZBM when I was known as Auntie Nell,? she said. ?I want to give back as much as I possibly can to this Island community of ours. It is great to be back home.?