She was holding the cell phone to one ear while the special-events producer in New York was on her earpiece in the other ear, almost shouting, "Andrea, Tom Brokaw is coming to you! Are you ready?"

Wagner wrote a will that would do this: to each of his four brothers, he left one of his legs or arms, his nephew got his nose and his two nieces each got an ear.

He stood motionless, one hand to his ear.