'BETWEEN YOU AND ME' Mike Wallace -- of CBS -- to hawk book on NBC

In explaining his decision, the veteran newsman said he went where the eyes are.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Mike Wallace, a 46-year CBS veteran, will do the first TV interview about his new book ... on NBC.
A taped, two-part Wallace sit-down with Katie Couric is scheduled for "Dateline NBC" Sunday, with the third segment to run on "Today" the next day.
"Nobody was interested at CBS. It was quite apparent," says Wallace, 87, whose second book, "Between You and Me" (Hyperion), goes on sale today. "CBS knew the book was coming. It's really strange. Nobody reached out."
Not true, CBS says. Wallace is booked for "The Early Show" on Nov. 1, a network rep says. (Still, NBC has first dibs.)
Hyperion pitched Wallace to all the networks, says a rep for the publisher, but the NBC deal was sealed "ages ago" by a personal letter to Wallace from "Today" co-anchor Couric, also a contributing anchor for "Dateline."
"I know Katie, but not that well," Wallace says. "I thought to myself, 'This would be kind of interesting.'"
Interesting, and smart. At CBS, Wallace has only two shots, and both are problematic: "The Early Show" and "60 Minutes."
Prime time out
With Wallace a "60" correspondent since the show's 1968 launch, it would have appeared self-serving if executive producer Jeff Fager assigned a segment on his own guy. It's never been done on "60" before, and plenty of Wallace's colleagues have written books.
So prime time was out.
On the morning front, "Early Show" has its own zip code in the Nielsen basement. "Today" has been No. 1 for 10 years. Do the math.
"I have the responsibility of selling a lot of books," says Wallace. "You go where the eyes are." (At least you go there first.)
About the book
"Between You and Me" features highlights from Wallace's 60-year career. It's a far different animal from his 1984 memoir, "Close Encounters." Gary Paul Gates was his coauthor on both projects.
"Close Encounters" "is about who I was and how I got there -- the good, the bad and the ugly," says Wallace. "This one is not about me. It's about the people I've talked to over a period of 50 to 60 years."
Wallace begins a 10-city book tour Saturday in New Canaan, Conn. Next stop, on Nov. 1, is at the Betty & amp; Milton Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill, N.J.
Several other appearances are slated for similar venues, despite accusations of anti-Israel bias against the newsman.
"People know I am Jewish and proud of my heritage," he says. "I have done things for Israel, and am devoted to the existence of the state of Israel.
"But there are some people of my own faith who have labeled me a self-hating Jew because I try to be even-handed about the Palestinians. ... It comes with the territory. I don't dignify those things enough to be hurt by them."