"Watch it?" the caller responded. "We want you to be in it!"
He and several other foreigners were included into a float, becoming the first foreigners to take part in China's National Day parade. "This is China, where anything can-and often does-happen," Maher writes in his book.
Maher had come to China in a way that he had never expected.
It was in April 2003, and he was stalled at the lowest period of his life-he had lost his wife, who died of a brain tumor in 2000, and then he had quit his job at ABC.
One day, when he was tuning into his antique valve radio, a news report from China Radio International crackled on the short wave. On a whim, he sent an e-mail to CRI, mentioning his background in radio and TV. To his surprise, he received a job offer as a voice coach.
Hoping to leave his past behind, Maher flew to China, and after completing his contract with CRI, he joined CCTV and began a new chapter in his life in 2004.
Already in his 70s, Maher looks energetic and exercises every day. "I feel that age is just a number," he says.
"As long as I can read the news at the same level that I have done in the past decade, and as long as CCTV wants me, I will stay."
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