Kathie Lee Gifford was born in Paris, France on August 16, 1953. At the age of fourteen, she organized a folk group with her sister called Pennsylvania Next Right. She won Maryland's Junior Miss title and the national competition's Kraft Hostess Awards at the age of seventeen. She studied communications, drama, and the arts at Kansas State University. She went to Los Angeles at the age of twenty and got a minor role on the soap "Days of Our Lives. In 1977, she was a feature singer for the game show "Name That Tune" and later was a co-star in "Hee Haw Honeys," which was a spinoff of "Hee Haw." Gifford was a guest host on "A.M. Los Angeles" and was seen by the producers of "Good Morning… America" and offered a job. She worked as substitute anchor and special correspondent, covering human-interest stories. Three years later, she auditioned for co-host of "The Morning Show" with Regis Philbin. She got the job and continued working on "Good Morning America" for the first year. In 1988, the show's name was changed to "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee." She left the show in 2000. On April 7, 2008, she started co-hosting the fourth hour of "NBC's Today Show" with Hoda Kotb. Gifford also has a singing career, which has included her singing with symphonies across the nation. She has recorded two songs for the Winnie the Pooh's 69th anniversary for Walt Disney Records and has completed an album of lullabies for children. She has also recorded albums titled "Sentimental," "It's Christmastime," and "The Heart of a Woman." She is also the author of "I Can't Believe I Said That," "Listen to My Heart," and "Just When I Thought I'd Dropped My Last Egg." Gifford has also been involved with many charities with her husband, Frank Gifford, such as Variety Club International's "The Children's Charity" and the Association to Benefit Children, out of which came the Cody Foundation. Resources from the foundation support Cody House and Cassidy's Place, named after their children, which provide shelter and care to H.I.V. positive and crack-addicted children.Patrick Robinson was a journalist for many years before becoming a full-time writer of books. His non-fiction books were bestsellers around the world and he was the co-author of Sandy Woodward's Falklands War memoir, One Hundred Days.
Marcus Luttrell (born November 7, 1975) is a former Petty Officer First Class and United States Navy SEAL. He received the Navy Cross for his actions in 2005 facing Taliban fighters during Operation Redwing. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Willis, Texas, Luttrell joined the United States Navy in March 1999. He began Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training with Class 226 in Coronado, California. He graduated with Class 228 after suffering a fractured femur early in his training. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2005. Prior to Afghanistan, Luttrell had been part of SEAL Team 5 and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom doing various operations there. Luttrell's New York Times… bestselling book, Lone Survivor, tells the story of Operation Redwing and the navy SEAL Team 10 who were assigned to a mission to kill or capture Ahmad Shah (nom de guerre Mohammad Ismail), a high-ranking Taliban leader responsible for killings in eastern Afghanistan and the Hindu-Kush mountains. Luttrell was the only survivor of the SEAL team. In his next book, Service: A Navy SEAL at War, Luttrell recounts his experiences in Iraq as a member of SEAL Team 5 and offers new insights into his miraculous rescue during Operation Redwing.