The standing room only crowd at Mt. San Antonio Gardens was in for a real treat as writer, producer and director Norman Lear spoke about his life, family and the state of television in an hour long informal talk. Mr. Lear looked great at the tender age of 94, as his sharp wit was front and center for the several hundred in attendance. Among other things, he’s been married three times, has six children from those marriages, with his oldest now at the tender age of 70. He knew Carol O’Connor was perfect for the role of Archie Bunker immediately (he had that face), although did talk to Mickey Rooney about the job. His story about meeting his first wife in Buffalo touched the crowd, which was love at first sight, at a very young age. Mr. Lear still believes there’s a lot of excellent television still produced, but audiences are now blitzed with so many choices and programming, it can easily feel like information overload. Mr. Lear will be 95 in July. COURIER photo/Peter Weinberger