American Bandstand in a few ways: while both Cole and Dick Clark had an interest in young people and their music, Cole did not hesitate to join in on his show's dance floor. He was also more confident about booking lesser-known performers and comedians for his show. Writing, producing and directing career Leaving The Clay Cole Show in 1967, Clay became a television writer - producer, involved in the production of over 3500 broadcast television shows. He is twice winner of the Emmy Award (NATAS) as "producer of outstanding television programming" in 1981 and 1982 for the Joel Siegel Academy Awards special. He produced The Discovery of Marilyn Monroe, Play Bridge with Omar Sharif and 365 This Day In Hollywood segments. Along with David Susskind and Raysa Bonow, he created and produced the first primetime entertainment magazine People for CBS in 1979. Cole also hosted A. M. New York. He returned briefly in 1974 as the star of the first HBO-produced music special Clay Cole's 20 Years of Rock and Roll, a two-hour event taped at Rockland Community College, and as co-host of the WABC-TV weekday program, AM New York. His final professional assignment was as writer/producer/director of the television special, the 2002, going on in the 80's to have his own production company, Clay Cole Productions. He produced the music video for Otis Day and the Knights, besides other industrial projects like the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy, featuring Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Kylie Minogue and other international pop divas. Retirement and death Cole retired and had been living on Oak Island since 2007, off the Cape Fear River on the North Carolina coastline. His pop culture memoir, Sh-Boom! The Explosion of Rock 'n' Roll (1953-1968), has been published by Morgan James. It has been nominated for the 2010 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Cole made a personal appearance at the annual Long Island Radio & TV Day in April 2010, and also at the New Jersey Rock Con later that year. Clay appeared at the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention in Newark, New Jersey in October 2010. In addition, Cole was a member of the nominating committee of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. Cole died of a heart attack at his home on December 18, 2010, at the age of 72. References External links The