Not many people can sincerely use that old saying "I've seen it all." Here's one guy who can. For a little over a quarter of a century, Gary Dell'Abate—better known as Baba Booey—has been producer of The Howard Stern Show. And while the roastings he's received on air have certainly put him through the wringer, it's his personal life that's really tested the man. In his new hilarious, sincere, and wrenching memoir, They Call Me Baba Booey, he opens up about the dysfunction that rocked his younger years. Here, he talks with GQ about the one moment that makes him cry, just how much that epically bad Mets pitch screwed him up, and what the hell is happening to the show once its contract is up.

You share a lot of intimate details in your new book—about the death of your brother, about your mother's depression and mental illness. It's heavy. Why tell your story now?
I don't think I was mentally ready or self-aware enough to write half this stuff before. That is a craft that you learn as you get older. I didn't realize when I was 30 that I came from a dysfunctional family, or certainly didn't realize it enough.

What was the toughest moment to share?
The hardest thing to talk about—not that I'm sorry I wrote it, though—was about my brother, who died of AIDS. Every time I read that chapter I cry. I cried when I read it for the audio book and people have told me that when they read it, they cried. In a way I really wanted to write that chapter because I've talked about it on the show many times, but I've never really gone into details. It's so moving, but I can't tell that story on the radio. I'm not going to take half an hour of a comedy show to talk about something like that.

Have Howard, Robin, and the rest of the gang gone easier on you knowing all the fucked-up details of your life?
I don't think it's changed anything. It's just not in our nature. When you walk into that room, you know what you signed up for. If you complain about it, then you're a wimp. And nothing goes under their radar. Nothing.

You seem to take everything they say in stride, but are there any things that still get under your skin after 27 years of doing the show?
Yeah, you know all last week they were making fun of the lists in my book—my "Must-Have Jukebox Songs," and all those—and I'm like 'All right, it's funny, it's funny,' and I look at my watch and realize they've been doing it for an hour. I'm like 'Enough already, God.' You can't really defend yourself when it's a gang mentality. I can't sit there and go 'Well…' If I try to explain why I wrote the lists, it's just more fodder. I reach for the button to talk and I take back my hand because I know if I do say something, it's just going to give them more to talk about.

Speaking of you getting your chops busted, let's talk a little about that infamous Mets opening pitch. Would you do it again if you were offered the chance?
You know, six months ago when I was writing the book, the answer was: absolutely not. Now, the door is open but I'm not really looking to do it. If the right situation came up, and I felt comfortable with it... I don't know. I brought it up it my wife the other day, actually, and I go 'Maybe I should do it again,' and she looked at me like 'Are you out of your fucking mind?' She said, 'I don't want to deal with that again. You were a mess.' I wasn't just a mess after, either. I was a mess for the whole month leading up to it,too.

Have there been any moments on the show that you think have gone too far?
Ah, I don't know man. I don't ever remember us having a conversation where we were like, "We can't do this." One of the edgier bits that we ever did, though, was called "It's Just Wrong" where fathers and daughters came in and had to answer questions. Every time a daughter got a question wrong, the father had a to take a piece of her clothing off. And they went all the way. It was pretty creepy—in a funny way.

What was it like casting for that bit?
Casting? All we had to say is "We're playing a game. You want to win $10,000? All you have to be is a father who is willing to undress his daughter while answering questions." And then people just entered themselves.

Is it weird filming a segment like that and then going home and being "Dad"?
I have a great ability to go home and put the day's events behind me. I'll go back and coach the football or baseball team. I can spend the whole morning with a porn star and the whole afternoon with a bunch of kids, and I can totally separate the two.

What would you be doing if you weren't in radio?
Well, I'd like to produce a TV show. If I wasn't working in the entertainment industry though I'd probably be running a record store or something, and then I'd be broke because nobody buys records anymore.

I assume you've thought about these things given that your show's contract is currently under negotiations with Sirius XM then.
Yeah, I know what I want to do, and I've talked to people.