mr. randolph responded and said, in his baritone voice, "mr. president, this will be an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent protest." we left that meeting, came out on the lawn of the white house, and said we had a meaningful and productive meeting with the president of the united states. and we told him we were going to march on washington. >> can you sum up what was going on in america at that time that led to the march that had people like john kennedy worried and people like you adamant about what had to be done? >> well, the years leading up to the march on washington had been an unbelievable amount of action on the part of the movement. people had been sitting in lunch counters, standing in at theatres. people had been arrested and jailed by the hundreds and thousands. people had been beaten. the signs that said, "white and colored." "white waiting." "colored waiting." "white men." "colored men." "white women." "colored women." they were still around. medgar evers had been assassinated in mississippi in june of 1963. bull connor, the police com

mr. randolph was considered the dean of african american leadership. he was always wanting to have a march on washington. so he convinced us it was time for us to march. and a few days later after meeting the president, we met in new york city at old roosevelt hotel on -- >> 42nd. >> right, 42nd. i walked by their sometimes there sometimes. and we invited four white religious leaders to join us, and we issued the call to the march 3 we thought we would get 50 to 75 people. to the march. we thought we would get 50 to 75 people. we hear of a hot young lady -- of a young lady who worked in the office in new york. we called her up and we said, ruschel, how many people come in from new york? how many people are coming from philadelphia, boston? how many will be on the train coming from the south? how many people coming from the west coast. -- from the west coast? and i remember so well that morning in 1963, the 10 of us, the six plus the four, came up on capitol hill. we met with the leadership of the house, both democrat and republican. we had been on the

mr. randolph and martin luther don'tr. and dr. king said ifso rigid and he asked martin luther king contrived -- could grow his hair he was my hero and inspiration. 1955 and was 15 years old and met him in 1958 when as 18. -- when i was 18. there was some rhetoric here and there. would march on certain cities, certain towns and certain villages, certain hamlet. in the end, i said wake up america, wake up america. the rest is history. >> i wanted to ask you about some of the note to people you have known over the years. let's begin with dr. king. iss is a man whose birthday likely we will set -- celebrate as a national holiday but you knew him before he was a national figure. what was he like? >> he was a wonderful man. he was a wonderful human being. i was was growing up, out of troy, alabama, finishing high school in 1957. wrote to dr. king in a letter. i told him that i needed his help. i needed his support. a lot to attend a little state college called troy state only two miles away. the did not admit black students. and he kne

mr. elder, who is randolph elder? >> guest: randolph elder was my father. you heard the term tiger mom?my

mr. elder, who is randolph elder? >> guest: randolph elder was my father. you heard the term tiger mom? my dad was a junk yard dog dad. he was one of the first black marines, and i knew that my dad was a marine, and because of his gruff exterior i sort of thought that marines were just sort of mean, brutal people. my brothers and i could not stand my father. i mean, we couldn't stand the s.o.b.. we thought of him as cold, as uncare, as unloving, unlovable, and whenever he came into the house, it always changed the atmosphere in the home. when i was 15 years old, my father and i had a furious fight. we didn't speak to each other for ten years. so the book is all about the conversation my dad had when i was 25 years old a conversation that i thought was going to last ten minutes, it ended up lasting eight hours. and he morphed into this kind, caring, sensitive man that i completely misunderstood my whole life. so the book really is a 247-page apology to the man. >> host: in here you write that your dad felt during that conversation that he hadn't done anything wrong in your childhood. >>

but william randolph hearst wrote a letter to his mother--once quoting, then, from mr. st-- that if he could spend a month anywhere in the world, it would be at the ranch at san simeon. >> today, william randolph's cowboy dreams are being lived out by his gisat-grandson steve hearst. the now 80,000-acre hearst ranch is one of the largest and oldest working cattle ranches on the california coast. but when the new generation of hearsts took over, the question quickly became, how can the ranch keep thriving in the modern era? >> and it was my ranch manager cliff garrison who said, "gee, steve, it's a shame we couldn't do anything with our beef." and i said, "well, why couldn't we?" and so ultimately we started pursuing the grass-fed beef, and it fit right in with the whole conservation solution for the property. >> it's fun. it's a picnic every day. you know, we love it. it's a beautiful place and a great place to work. >> so from the shadow of their famous neighbor, the hearst ranch is stepping into the spotlight these days with their brand-few grass-fed beef operation. gr