From CBN to CNN -- John DeDakis talks Pat Robertson, Donald Trump and more!

Since 1969, I've been a just-the-facts-ma'am journalist working in radio and television newsrooms in Wisconsin, Germany, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Highlights of my career include getting tear gassed while covering the anti-Vietnam War riots in 1970 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; doing a 40-minute, one-on-one radio interview with Alfred Hitchcock in 1973 during my stint in the Army at the American Forces Network (AFN)-Europe; and covering the White House for CBN News during the last three years of Ronald Reagan's presidency.

In 1988, I joined CNN as a writer. From 2001 to 2005, I supervised the writing on "Daybreak" anchored by Carol Costello. From 2005 to 2013, I was a Senior Copy Editor on "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." In March of 2013 I retired from CNN after 25 years with the network. I now write full time.

I grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin and earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1977).

The name DeDakis first appeared in the Chicago phone book about 1915 as a typographical error. My grandfather, who had just immigrated from Greece, felt the accidental capitalization of the second D made the name look more "dignified" so, Dedakis became DeDakis.

It's pronounced dih-DAY-kiss, by the way.

Mr. DeDakis, being shy, didn't mention the highlight of his media life is appearing on True Crime Uncensored on Outlaw Radio with fellow old school journalists Burl Barer and Howard Lapides  LISTEN LIVE SATURDAY 2PM PT/5PM ET BY CLICKING THIS LINK   WE ARE CELEBRATING THE RELEASE OF JOHN'S NEW NOVEL, "BULLET IN THE CHAMBER"