Hearon To Appear On The Tonight Show

Nicholas Hearon, eight-year-old son of Dr. Donald and Carolyn (Becker) Hearon of Tacoma, WA, and grandson of Don and Lorraine Beckerof O'Neill, will be appearing as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Friday, May 26.

On March 18, the Tacoma News Tribune published a half page article about the eight-year-old third grader who has been doing slide show presentations at local area schools about dental hygiene. Like a little professor, the articulate youngster speaks with authority as he describes plaque, dental decay, periodontal disease, bone loss, the importance of good nutrition and the proper way to brush and floss. Some of the slides make even his older audiences cringe when he directs his pointer to an image of blackened, gauged teeth, chipped away by decay and years of nonbrushing and neglect. "They're going to have to be pulled," says Nicholas, "can you imagine having every permanent tooth you have pulled out?

Attention to dental detail is a family tradition. Nick's dad is a dentist as is his granddad.

A few days after the article was published, the Hearons received a call from a Tonight Show producer expressing an interest in having Nicholas appear with Jay Leno as a guest on the show. After a phone interview with Nicholas the appearance was confirmed for Friday, May 26. They were also contacted by the Ellen Degeneres Show, but had already promised an exclusive appearance to the NBC Tonight Show.

Nicholas and his family will be flown to California as guests of NBC Universal with all expenses paid. His O'Neill grandparents, Lorraine and Don Becker, will also be in the Tonight Show audience.