THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 81 lines
YOU KNOW THE NAME. Tom Bodet. You know the voice. Flat. No resonance. It's persuaded countless travelers to bed down at Motel 6.
``We'll keep the light on for ya.''
You know the name. You know the voice. Now see the face.
Bodet, who for the past 10 years has been Motel 6's folksy spokesman on radio and television without showing his puss, pops up on television this month on the Travel Channel. ``America's Historic Trails with Tom Bodet'' next appears Friday between 7 and 8 p.m. as part of the cable channel's new ``Experience America'' programming.
Bodet has been trudging the old Post Road, Wagon Road, the Natchez Trace, Camino Real, the Mission Trail and other historic passages in a 13-episode series for the Travel Channel. It will also air on Public Broadcasting stations later in 1997.
Viewers finally get to see the man who's been selling Motel 6 to them while telling stories about his Cousin Moe. David Fowler of the ad agency which created the Motel 6 spots says of Bodet, ``His is the most famous voice in advertising today. He has a flat delivery. He has no range. He's all wrong for this, and yet he's also perfect.''
Once you hear Bodet, there's no forgetting him. As for his style, one writer said that listening to him is like drinking a cup of cocoa in front of a roaring fire on a stormy day.
In other words, you feel good when Bodet talks.
Now that TV has brought his face - he's a good-looking guy, by the way - to millions, Bodet no longer has what he calls ``perfect'' fame, which is being well-known, making lots of money and never being bothered in airports or when you sit down to dinner with your family.
People today are connecting the Bodet voice to the face.
``I keep my head down, and try not to be recognized. But I am. Up until now, people didn't know what I looked like. Now they do. I like to be the one who decides when and where I'll talk about my work. Now, others decide. It makes me uncomfortable,'' said Bodet long distance from Homer, Alaska, where he lives with his 11-year-old son.
There is more to Tom Bodet than The Voice.
He's a novelist (``The Free Fall of Webster Cummings'') who has also written four other books including a collection of stories from his syndicated radio show, ``The End of the Road.'' There are 15 of Bodet's stories (including ``Peach Picking Time'' and ``No Place Like Home'') on CD, and lately he's become a TV script writer.
A Tom Bodet sitcom? Could be.
How would Bodet describe himself?
Humorist will do nicely, he said.
Steve Allen called him the new Mark Twain, the young Garrison Keillor, another Jean Shepherd. Folk humorist.
Calling Bodet a carpenter and builder wouldn't be wrong.
He was designing and building homes in Alaska 13 years ago when the local public broadcasting station asked if he'd like to read his essays on the radio. Before long, he was commenting on everything from picking peaches to the wonders of the Great Divide for ``All Things Considered'' on National Public Radio. That's where the advertising agency discovered him.
In 1986, the first Motel 6 commercial was heard on radio.
Tom Bodet became a household name. He's made millions for Motel 6.
If the fates had not been so kind, Bodet would not have minded. ``I was a good builder. A good architect. A good contractor. I struggled at times, but I was happy doing what I was doing.''
Then Motel 6 came into his life. ``And changed my life forever,'' said Bodet.
He's a history nut, so it wasn't hard for the producers of ``America's Historic Trails With Tom Bodet'' to talk him into doing the series for the Travel Channel. ``I love history. I love American history. This was the perfect project for me to do.'' He's thinking about visiting our neck of the woods.
The Travel Channel of late has burnished its image with new programming that includes Bodet's series. Starting on Jan. 20, the channel will expand its ``Experience America'' series to include five cities which have hosted the Super Bowl. Last month, the channel premiered a terrific special on the old Route 66 - ``A Cruise Down Main Street.''
Host supermodel Hunter Reno gave us some kicks on Route 66.
And this month on the ``TC,'', you get the man who will leave the light on for you no matter where you travel. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by The Travel Channel < Tom Bodet