The Fonz is coming to Raleigh. But first, Henry Winkler talks to us about his new memoir

Here’s what happens when you let a child of the 70s interview Henry Winkler: a good five minutes of the 20-minute interview, right off the top, is devoted to gushing.

I surrendered all journalistic integrity the moment in late September when I answered the phone and a familiar voice said, “Hello, this is Henry.”

But in my estimation, few celebrities deserve unadulterated adoration more than Winkler, who became a global sensation playing Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli on “Happy Days” from 1974 to 1984, and who then navigated the next 50 years (and counting) of his career to end up widely regarded as one of the nicest people in Hollywood.

And throughout our call, the Emmy-winning star of HBO’s “Barry” and dozens of other notable projects did nothing but reinforce that reputation. He was kind and gracious, funny and self-deprecating.

He listened patiently as I told him about the Fonzie poster on my wall growing up, the Fonzie socks I got in my Easter basket, and the joke letter (never sent) my mom and I composed to the electric company the night the power went off in the middle of “Happy Days” and we never found out if the mad scientist sucked out Fonzie’s cool (Winkler laughed and assured me that The Fonz’s cool was left unscathed).

The occasion for the interview was Winkler’s new memoir, “Being Henry: The Fonz ... And Beyond,” which will be published on Oct. 31 by Celadon Books. As a bonus, Winkler will be in Raleigh for an appearance on Nov. 16 to promote the book. The reading and Q&A session, at NC State’s McKimmon Center through Quail Ridge Books, is already sold out for the general public, but there are a few tickets available for NC State students. Details are at lib.ncsu.edu/events/author-event-henry-winkler.

Some favorite moments from ‘Being Henry’

Do not let my heavy pro-Henry Winkler bias give the impression that “Being Henry” only appeals to Fonzie superfans.

The book is a fascinating look at Hollywood in addition to being a tour through Winkler’s life, with lessons of humility, perseverance and personal growth in every chapter.

From Winkler’s childhood, raised by stern, withholding German immigrant parents in New York, through the Fonzie craze and the unfortunate dearth of job offers that followed, to a sort of scrappy reinvention as a successful producer, director, author and once-again-beloved actor (we can add memorable “Arrested Development” and “Parks & Recreation” guest roles to the “Barry” success).

Readers might imagine they can hear Winkler’s voice popping off the page, as if he’s talking directly to them. And turns out, in a way, he is.

Winkler is severely dyslexic and teamed with writing partner James Kaplan, talking to Kaplan for more than 70 hours to tell his story in his own way, and then working with Kaplan to edit, rewrite and add to the drafts. The resulting book of personal and professional vignettes reflects Winkler’s voice and personality. (I bet the audiobook, read by Winkler, is going to be amazing.)

Here are some of my favorite parts of “Being Henry.”

1. “Happy Days” tea: Some of the most engaging passages of “Being Henry” are when Winkler writes about the conflicts that arose when the popularity of his “Happy Days” character threatened his relationships with the co-workers he loved.

“My character had become bigger — much bigger — than the character the show had originally been based on, and everyone in America knew it, especially Ron and me. ... I did not want to do anything to this man I loved, Ron Howard, that would hurt his feelings or cause him discomfort in any way. But I also knew that I had a dream and I was now living this dream..”

Later, he describes the tension on set when ABC gave the other cast members wallets for Christmas and he got a gift worth thousands of dollars. Ron Howard was not happy.

2. Scenes from a marriage: In some chapters, Winkler’s accounting of his courtship and marriage to wife Stacey Weitzman, and some of the difficulties in their lives together, is balanced by Weitzman’s own perspective on those times. The device is particularly effective when Winkler writes about his inability to fully be there for his wife when she was being treated for breast cancer, and then Weitzman weighed in with her thoughts.

“Would I have liked him to come home without me having to ask? Sometimes, you bet,” Weitzman wrote. “A very big thing I’d learned about Henry was that when he wasn’t working, he was absolutely miserable. Adrift. Insecure. Anxious.”

3. He loves shoes and sweaters: A recurring theme in the book is Winkler’s frugality. His wife references “his quirks when it comes to money” in the section about him taking jobs while she was getting cancer treatments — his fear that the money would “run out.”

So when I interviewed him, I asked: Is there anything you splurge on?

“I have an idiosyncratic relationship with money,” he said first. Then immediately named his vice: shoes and sweaters.

“I love shoes and they usually turn out to be suede. And sometimes sweaters ... That seems to be my trademark, and I didn’t realize it until someone pointed it out, but it is true. I love sweaters and I have them in every color.”

As for his taste in shoes, Winkler tells us that his daughter finds him to be a bit predictable.

“My daughter says, ‘My God, dad, those are beautiful shoes. Just like the ones you just bought.”

What else is Winkler up to?

Even after the critical and commercial success of “Barry” — after winning a Best Supporting Actor Emmy in 2018, 42 years after first being nominated for an Emmy for playing Arthur Fonzarelli — Winkler hasn’t much changed his approach to work.

He’s still doing a little bit of everything, still entertaining a lot of options.

Winkler, who turns 78 the day before “Being Henry” releases, will soon start a new book tour — something he’s accustomed to. He is already the co-author of more than 40 children’s books with Lin Oliver, the most popular series following Hank Zipzer, a grade-school boy who is dyslexic. His most recent children’s book, “Detective Duck,” about an ecologically motivated duck, was released Oct. 14.

As for performing? Pitch him.

“You know, I’m open to everything,” he said. “Because I just don’t know. People will ask, what do you want to play? I don’t know. But when I read it, I go, ‘I can do this. I know this.’ And that’s how my whole life has been.”

He was recently approached by PBS to do an interview-type show. “I’d watch that,” I dutifully (and honestly) tell him. “Thank you,” he says.

And now that the writer’s strike is over, Winkler said he may join a new comedy starring Casey Wilson, who Winkler calls “Just a lovely, lovely person.” He would play her father. I can’t imagine a more ideal TV pairing.

“How that turns out, I don’t know,” he said. “I just thought, she’s so talented, let’s see what happens.”

In his free time, Winkler loves to go fly-fishing (there’s copious evidence of this on his Twitter – sorry, X account — @hwinkler4real).

So I had to ask: Is Winkler a catch-and-release guy, or do the fish become dinner?

He is “absolutely” catch-and-release, he said.

“I will not even eat trout in a restaurant,” Winkler said. “I find them to be so beautiful. They are my passion. You put them back and they grow up and you catch them again the next year. I am grateful that I know how to do it and I’m able to do it.”

I tell him that I suddenly have this image in my head of him talking to the fish before he releases it.

“I do! I say ‘Thank you.’”