LISA BRANDT has been in radio a long time, although it's not true, as some have suggested, that she caught the sound of the big bang on her Radio Shack tape recorder. She started out playing 45s and carts (google them, kids!), progressed through CDs and survived into the digital era. Her first radio interview was with The Irish Rovers on a cold, wintry day in Prince George, British Columbia. She picked them up at their hotel when neither the radio station nor the band would spring for a taxi. Band member Jimmy Ferguson got stuck in the front seat of her Chevy Monza when he moved it forward to let the other band members out of the tiny back seats. Lisa had to lean down between Ferguson's legs and release the seat. Like most humiliating experiences, it became funny over time, and now it's one of her favorite stories. Later, she hosted various television projects, and she has written several regular newspaper columns on subjects as diverse as running a small business and the latest in home decor. Two of those columns were distributed nationally. Throughout her radio career as a music-show host (DJ), talk-show host, newscaster and producer, she has endured no-shows, miscommunications, begging, bribes, drunken guests, angry guests, unprepared guests and those who had no idea why they were there. She has also conducted countless successful and pleasurable interviews with Canadian prime ministers, politicians, actors, singers, authors and other fascinating people with great stories to tell. She has also made her share of mistakes. But those are for another book. Lisa lives in London, Ontario, with her husband and their two cats.