NEW YORK - From her 13thfloor office on Manhattan's West Side, Deborah Norville can see an assortment of vessels—on occasion, the Queen Mary 2—ply the Hudson River.

The river represents the old world and the skyscrapers that surround her, the new. She fits comfortably in both worlds, with an appreciation for history and tradition and compatibility with the high-tech function of her professional life today.

She's at home as a New Yorker but can't wait to return to her roots, making frequent forays to her hometown of Dalton.

She is a woman of ambition, which befits a person in her highprofile position as a familiar face on network television. She is also a woman of tradition, which means she is just as eager to visit with her high school friends back home. If she's anything, she is appreciative of her past, which might have a lot to do with her latest book, Thank you Power.

The summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia is the anchor (since 1995) for Inside Edition, the highly rated syndicated news and entertainment show distributed by King World Productions, Inc., a division of CBS. Thank You Power is her fourth book (including two children's books). Two more are on the way.

Next to come off the press is Knit with Deborah Norville. She has been knitting since she was a little girl (age 8). The enterprising Norville made all her bridesmaids' dresses. All of this is a sprightly reminder that the harder you work, the more you can accomplish. She is in the final proofing of the knitting book (managing a near-finished project with her left hand while bringing out, with her right hand, a sequel to Thank You Power).

Although I was in New York for another reason, I wanted to visit with Deborah because I like her. I like her drive and her ambition, and I am proud of her. She's big time but doesn't act like it. She's from Dalton, and that excites me. I am an aficionado of small-town people who, like cream, rise to the top.

She's pretty, but she didn't get to where she is with her cover-girl good looks. She reached the top the old fashioned way—she earned it.

Now that she is a headliner, she has the good sense to look back with appreciation at those who were instrumental in her career path. She, and this is not recent, says thank you to those in her rear view mirror. Family, friends, and teachers.

"Regardless of your age, religion, financial circumstances, or any other classification society might dream up, you have within you the tools to allow you to live the life of satisfaction, security, and optimism you long for. That power begins with two words: thank you," she writes in the introduction to her book.

The book is a reflection of her gratitude for a fulfilling and exciting life. Saying thank you is part of that fulfillment. Thank you to the custodian. The waitress. The ticket taker. The cashier at the grocery store. The bus boy. The little people.

What else would you expect from a small-town girl with good raising and good sense?