By Tom Dalton
SALEM — Jay Leno will step down this spring as host of "The Tonight Show," but not before he steps on the stage at Salem State College to kick off the 2009 speaker series.
The Andover native will appear April 6, just weeks before he exits the late-night show after 17 years.
The Salem State series will conclude Sept. 22 with newsman Bob Woodruff and his wife, Lee. Bob Woodruff suffered massive head injuries from a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005, a month after being named co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight."
Leno is coming to Salem State, the college said, as a favor to old friend Lennie Sogoloff, who ran the legendary Lennies-On-The-Turnpike, a jazz club on Route 1 in Peabody. Sogoloff gave an unknown comedian a big break in 1972.
All of the profits from Leno's appearance will go to a college scholarship in memory of Sogoloff's late wife, Barbara. The comedian is not charging a fee, the college said.
"Jay Leno is being extremely generous," said Karen Cady, a Salem State spokeswoman. "This is his way of thanking Lennie Sogoloff. He is really doing this for Lennie."
Leno is coming east for the appearance and will fly back to California that night, Salem State said.
Sogoloff was honored by Salem State two years ago when he donated memorabilia from the jazz club to the college archives. Leno phoned in during the tribute and regaled the audience with stories about Sogoloff.
One of Leno's big breaks came in 1972 when he showed up at the club on open-mike night. Before going on, he had to convince the owner he was funny.
"When he said, 'I'm a comic,' I said, 'Then make me laugh,'" Sogoloff said in an interview several years ago. "He went into a short routine about an old Elvis Presley movie, and he cracked me up. I asked him if he could perform like that for 20 minutes. He said, 'I can do 25.'"
Lennies-On-The-Turnpike was in business from 1951 to 1972, featuring the Count Basie Band, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and other jazz greats.
The Woodruffs will conclude the series this fall.
Two years ago, Woodruff and his wife published "In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing," the story of Woodruff's recovery from traumatic brain injuries.
Last year, Woodruff won a Peabody Award for a report on the struggles of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to recover from war wounds and the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism.
Subscription tickets ($45 to $120) for the series are on sale now. Individual tickets for Leno and Woodruff go on sale March 2. For tickets, contact the Salem State Series box office at 978-542-7555.
