A column by NBC chairman and CEO Bob Wright on the Television Week web site (tvweek.com), which I found out about from TV Barn, talks about the late Johnny Carson and his gift for languages. Carson apparently had both an ear for languages and the discipline to work at learning them. He enjoyed learning a new language before traveling. He even learned Swahili:

I remember one night in particular, when we were on safari in Tanzania, camped in the middle of the Serengeti, pretty far from everything. Suzanne and I heard peals of laughter drifting our way. We left our tent and found Johnny in the middle of a group of Tanzanians, entertaining them in Swahili.

I wanted to learn Swahili before Kenya 2004, but never buckled down and made myself. As it turned out, most of the people we worked with directly spoke excellent English. But there were some in the church who were more comfortable in Swahili, and our worship services were translated into Swahili.

Anyway, I just love the image of Johnny Carson telling jokes to Tanzanians in Swahili. Billy Hester, a Mountain T.O.P. staffer who taught himself Swahili as a mental challenge, would be proud.