Start Here | Guiding Light Memoirs

READ NOW | Chapter 1: The Boy From Iowa's Soap Opera Obsession

Before I worked next door to Guiding Light, I was a kid in Iowa planning my afternoons around a soap opera. This opening chapter introduces my sister Peach and the unlikely role Guiding Light played in our lives.

From Lifelong Soap Fan to Accidental Insider

If you’re new here, welcome.

This site is a collection of stories about Guiding Light, daytime television, and broadcast media, told from both sides of the screen: as a lifelong viewer and later as someone who worked just steps away from production inside the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.

I grew up watching Guiding Light in Iowa with my mother and sister. Years later, I worked as a news writer in the WCBS newsroom in New York City, just down the hall from the Guiding Light soundstage during its final years.

This project explores that overlap: fandom, television history, and the quiet moments when an era ends.

What You’ll Find Here

This is not a recap site, nor a spoiler blog. It is a memory-based storytelling project about television and the people around it.

You’ll find:

Guiding Light Memoirs | June 2026 Series Debut | Read Chapter 1 Here


Stories from my childhood obsession with the show, and what it was like being near its production during its final years.

Newsroom Stories

Behind-the-scenes moments from working inside broadcast news at CNN, MSNBC, WCBS, WABC, and other major newsrooms where television is made under pressure and deadlines.

Reality TV Tales

Reflections from my experience as a contestant on a television competition series, and what it revealed about how TV shapes reality.

Where to Begin

If you’re not sure where to start, choose one of these paths:

If you love Guiding Light and daytime soaps:
Start with Guiding Light Memoirs

If you’re interested in reality television:
Start with Reality TV Tales

If you’re curious about broadcast media and newsrooms:
Start with Newsroom Stories

Why This Exists Now

When Guiding Light ended, a version of daytime television disappeared with it. First Guiding Light, then As the World Turns, All My Children, and One Life to Live. It was a domino effect in which all the New York-based soap operas were cancelled within roughly two years.

But for many of us, those shows weren’t just entertainment; they were part of daily life.

This site preserves what it felt like to grow up in that world and later see how it was made.

Some stories are nostalgic. Some are personal. Some are about change. All of them are true.

A Final Note

This is a slow-building archive of memory and media history.

You don’t need to read everything in order. Just start wherever curiosity takes you.

Stay Connected

If you’d like to follow along as new stories are published, you can subscribe for free by leaving your email below.

You’ll also receive updates and new details from my Guiding Light memoir chapters.