What's A Nice 'Girl' Like Felicia Knight Doing In A Place Like Washington, DC?

Mainers love her {or her insight, facility with language (finally, a Maine journalist who is fluent in French), talent (a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, she's a musical theater soprano), wit, charm, and candor. So, naturally, we've lost her.

What's A Nice (Girl'Like F~l!qiq..wK11ight

Interview By Colin Sargent

aine lost one of its most respected television journalists - and gained a friend in Gomorrah, perhaps - when NewsChannel 13's popular anchor Felida Knight fJUddenlyleft the local market early this year to become spokesperson for freshman U.S. Senator Susan Collins. Not only did this move surprise media watchers, it fJUrprisedKnight herself

It must be quite a change foryou to J1KWe clown to Washington like this. What's it like living on the Beltway?

FK: It's great! I live right on the Beltway in a little shack on 395. (Laughs) No, I live in the district. FK: It's not that different yet. Ilostmywallet a month ago and someone returned it! A few days ago, I lost it again on the Metro, though, and I'm still waiting to get that one back.

Of course Washingtonians enjoy a peculiar celebration called spring.

FK: There are daffodils out there. I saw one with my own eyes yesterday, but today it's dropped down to fifteen degrees, so...

It's been cut right down! That must make you feel right at home.

FK: Yeah.

You had a high-pressure job as an anchor for Channel 13 up here. But considering Senator Collins's en~nd there's no one who won't credit her for that-this must be exhausting for you.

FK: This is very intense. There are many deadlines in the course of a day, but it's very issue-oriented, like Channel 13. It's the same in that I'm taking huge amounts of information and making it digestible for people who need it in smaller amounts.

Give us some examples. What has Senator Collins been up to?

FK: Fighting big tobacco, for one thing.

Senator Collins-whom the Los Angeles

Times has dubbed a "champion of good government" -and Senator Richard

Durbin of Illinois led the fight to repeal the $50 billion tax break that was slipped into the tax bill at the last minute to benefit the tobacco industry. The Senate voted . overwhelmingly in favor of the Durbin-

Collins amendment to repeal the $50 billion give-away, the House concurred, and the President signed the repeal into law.

We're pretty proud of that.

Ibelieve you've got the lingo. What else?

FK: Well, Senator Collins's firstlegislative bill dealt with an issue that had been a centerpiece of her Senate campaign - protectingand strengthening small business. The Collins bill, entitled "The Family Business and Family Farm Preservation Act of 1997," was designed to provide estate tax relief for family-owned business-

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es and farms to help them survive the transfer between generat~ons. She's been a central figure on investigating improper and illegal campaign finance practices, too. Asthe second-ranking Republican on the Committee on Governmental Affairs, Senator Collins played a major role in the investigation into campaign finance abuses in the 1996 elections. In the Boston Globe, Thomas Oliphant wrote that "even to those who disagree with her, Collins has been an earnest, effective performer on Sen. Fred Thompson's committee investigating lastyear's money mess. Collins ...has been very tough on Bill Clinton's White House and Democratic Party,but also factual and fair." "Likewise, columnists Jack Germond and Jules Witcover reported, "If there was a single (winner,' it may have been Senator Susan Collins, the freshman republican from Maine, who was persistent and probing in her questions without becoming a showboat.'

That's reminiscent of her mentor, Sen. William Cohen, when he was a freshman· senator during the Watergate hearings. But of course he had the more soulwrenching task of breaking with his own party when he challenged President Nixon. With all this activity, has Sen. Collins won any positions within the Senate structure? Is she working her way into more influence?

FK: Senator Collins is the Chair ·ofthe Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. She isthe firstfreshman ever to hold that post in the 50-year history of the subcommittee. Since assuming the chairmanship, Senator Collins has directed her subcommittee to investigate such consumer complaints as securities fraud, Medicare fraud, internet fraud, telephone ((slamming" (the unauthorized switching .ofa consumee slong-distance service),and food safety.

You have a lot of loyal viewers in Maine. I've asked you what it's like working with Sen. Collins. But a few years ago, you were better known to Mainers than she was! What's it like for her to say, my spokesperson is Felicia Knight?

FK: rd better let Sen. Collins answer that one.

Senator Collins: Felicia is the consummate professional- hard-working, dedicat-

ed, very smart, and knowledgeable. She has tremendous personal integrity and an amazing capacity for work. During the Ice Storm, Felicia was a human whirlwind - working 14-hour days throughout the storm. She is also a joy to have around the office. Her quick wit and her ability to poke fun at herself have made her very popular with her co-workers. I am delighted that she has come to work forme!

Felicia, did you write those quotes?

FK: (Laughs) I swear I didn't write them mysel£

With qUlllifiers like that, you sound absolutely presidential! Were you headhunted for this job? How did it happen?

FK: I heard there was an opening, and I made inquiries. Of course, ifyou make inquiries, it'sa matter of courtesy and integrityto be ready to back them up. At 40, I'm amazed that a change this profound could be happening to me now. It's one of the most exciting things I've ever done, though naturally a move like this brings a degree of fear. But I'd have a greater amount of fearof how I'd feel later ifI were to pass on a chance like this.

You're descended from a polar explorer, aren't you? So it's not in your background to shy away from challenges.

FK: My father travelled to the Antarctic with Admiral Byrd in the late 1940s. He wasthe Communications Officer. There's a great book about the early days of exploring the South Pole - it's called The Last Placeon Earth.

What have you clone on your free time?

.FK: I've been to the National Symphony once, and to Georgetown once, both times with friends from Maine who wanted to go out. But working from 8:30a.m. until 7:30 p.m. means I haven't had much time to settle in yet. I eat in the Senate Cafeteria, usually the North Servery. My place here isstill unfurnished! The best thing is, my husband (Towle Tompkins, Marketing Director ofWGME- TV) is coming to visit soon. We've been married II years and met in 1978 when we were both working . at Channel 5 in Bangor. If time ever opens up, we'll go buy a couch. 6-

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