Editors ' Note : Below is an excerpt from Larry King 's new autobiography `` My Remarkable Journey '' published by Weinstein Books . Larry King anchors `` Larry King Live at 9 p.m . ET on CNN . In 1959 , Bobby Darin , left , was Larry 's first major guest on his WKAT radio program . Larry Zeiger left Brooklyn , New York , for Miami Beach , Florida , at the age of 23 to try to find a job in radio . This is how he got his new name : . I went to stay with my Uncle Jack in Miami Beach . I was so excited that I started knocking on doors the next day . I stopped at a small station on First Street , WAHR . The guy in charge liked my voice . `` We get a lot of people coming and going , '' he told me . `` If you hang around , you 'll get the first opening . '' I sat and watched in fascination for a few weeks . It was a tiny operation , but the sight of the UPI and AP machines furiously clicking out news made me feel like I was on the brink of something big . Miami Beach was like a dream . The palm trees . The ocean . I remember walking past Joe 's Stone Crab . Joe 's is more than a restaurant , it 's a landmark . It was full when I arrived in 1957 , and I guarantee you , people will be waiting in line tomorrow night . I stopped outside the front window with only a few dollars in my pocket , unable to afford a meal , looking at the happy faces , wondering what it would take to get into a place like that . Then came my big break . There was a morning deejay named Tom Baer . He was making sixty dollars a week and his alimony was sixty-five . He claimed to be living off the coconuts falling from trees . He quit on a Friday , and the general manager told me I could start on Monday . I must have rehearsed the entire weekend . I do n't even think I slept . On Monday morning I showed up at WAHR with the record that would play my theme song , `` Swingin ' Down the Lane . '' The general manager called me into his office to wish me good luck . `` By the way , '' he said , `` what name are you going to use ? '' `` What do you mean ? '' `` You ca n't use Larry Zeiger , '' he said . `` It 's too ethnic . People wo n't be able to spell it or remember it . You need a better name . '' There was no time to think about whether this was good or bad or what my mother would say . I was going on the air in five minutes . The Miami Herald was spread out on his desk . Face-up was a full-page ad for King 's Wholesale Liquors . The general manager looked down and said , `` King ! How about Larry King ? '' `` OK , '' I said . This was the opportunity of a lifetime . I was n't going to blow it . `` Fine . You 'll host The Larry King Show . '' Nine o'clock was approaching . That 's when the news came on . A few minutes later , The Larry King Show would make its debut . I went through the control-room door , sat down , and set up my record . The news ended . I started my theme song , then faded down the music so I could introduce myself . I opened my mouth . It was as dry as cotton . For the first time in my life , I could n't speak . So I brought `` Swingin ' Down the Lane '' up again and faded it once more . Again , not a single word came out of my mouth . I could only wonder if listeners were hearing the pounding of my heart . I 'd waited for this moment my whole life . How could I be blowing it ? Once more , I cranked up `` Swingin ' Down the Lane '' -- but not a word came out of me . The next thing I knew , the general manager was kicking open the door to the control room . `` This is a communications business ! '' he roared in a way that only a general manager can . Then he turned , walked out , and slammed the door behind him . Shaken , I leaned in to the microphone and said , `` Good morning . This is my first day ever on the radio . I 've always wanted to be on the air . I 've been practicing all weekend . A few minutes ago , they gave me my new name . I 've had a theme song ready to play , but my mouth is dry . I 'm nervous . And the general manager just kicked open the door and said , 'This is a communications business ! ' '' That 's how my career started on May 1 , 1957 . Years later , Arthur Godfrey would tell me , `` The only secret in this business is ... there is no secret . '' He was right . I learned a great lesson on my first day . There 's no trick to being yourself . I do n't think I 've ever been nervous on the air since then .
Larry Zeiger moved from Brooklyn to Miami in 1973 in pursuit of a radio announcing gig . He became Larry Smith when his first boss thought his name ` ` too ethnic '' Larry recalls being unable to speak his first time on - air . He quickly mastered his first - day jitters and has felt at home on the air ever since .