Heeeeere's Michael's bride

At 19, he picked up right where the late Orville Redenbacher left off, helping make Valparaiso known to millions of television viewers.

Famous for his E! cable network talk show hosted from his parents' living room, television personality-turned-politician Michael Essany will become a married man next month.

Essany, 24, who is running on the Democratic ticket for Valparaiso City Council this November against Republicans Jan Dick and Art Elwood, is casting his own vote for matrimony.

Essany, who graduated from Valparaiso University in 2005 with a degree in political science, is marrying 2006 VU grad Christa Hanrath, 23, who is working as an elementary teacher in her hometown of Libertyville, Ill., and preparing for the June wedding and her move this month back to Valparaiso.

Essany said the wedding and reception will be in Valparaiso, but he isn't disclosing the date and location for the nuptials.

"I'm getting kidded about marriage license and my driver's license," Essany said Wednesday.

"But I want everyone to know that I got my driver's license last year, so that running gag can finally die a peaceful death."

What Essany IS lacking is a wedding photographer.

"Christa and I recently lost our wedding photographer, so I'm looking for a recommendation of someone on short notice," Essany said.

"Maybe even if any reader has a digital camera and the desire to film my wedding, they can find some quick work next month."

Essany shot to international fame in 2002 by having stars like Kevin Bacon, comedians Tom Green and Carrot Top and singer Jewel, among others, stop by his parents' house to appear on "The Michael Essany Show" on E! network. He also made two appearances as Jay Leno's guest on "The Tonight Show" and even directed and starred in an independent movie with Regis Philbin and Rosie O'Donnell.

His latest venture is the launch of his new autobiography "Building A Door: The Michael Essany Story" (LifePress, 2007 ), which will be released next month and discusses the pivotal turning points during his young career, both successes and mistakes, and all the details of the deal he inked with E! Entertainment Television and Leeza Gibbons' production company to create his reality series.

"The same publishing house I signed with in Indianapolis is the one that also published the autobiography of Rupert Boneham of TV's CBS 'Survivor' fame," Essany said.

"As for the name of my book, I took it from a quote I pulled from a letter I received years ago when I wrote to Milton Berle. He wrote: 'When opportunity isn't knocking, build your own door.' "

As for how challenging it was to write his new book, Essany said he spent much of the spring completing the final details.

"Winston Churchill wrote three different autobiographies during his lifetime, so I figure at age 24, I was ready to share what I've learned so far along the way from the famous and everyday people I've been so lucky to know," he said.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

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