We remember Timothy White, the editor in chief of Billboard Magazine. He died Thursday at the age of 50. He was in his office at the time. This interview first aired January 12, 1995.
Columnist Robert Wolke writes Food 101 for The Washington Post, a syndicated column that won the James Beard Foundation Award for best newspaper column. He's the author of the new book What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained. Wolke is also professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh.
Musician and actor Steve Van Zandt is a guitarist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. He's also recorded solo and has produced a number of records and written songs for other musicians. He plays hitman Silvio Dante in the hit HBO series The Sopranos. He's also now a radio DJ. His syndicated show, Hard Rock Cafe Presents Little Steven's Underground Garage plays Sunday nights on a number of classic rock stations across the United States.
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna. His new book is Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror. Gunaratna spent five years conducting interviews with al Qaeda members, doing field research and monitoring the group's infiltration in communities in North America and Europe. He is the author of six books on armed conflict and a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He's lectured worldwide on terrorism and served as consultant to many governments.
Writer James Gavin has produced Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker. It's a biography of the jazz trumpeter and vocalist. Baker came from Oklahoma in the 1950s to become the "prince of cool jazz" on the West Coast. His death in Amsterdam in 1988 seems to have been drug-related. Gavin provides some answers to the riddle of his death. Gavin is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and other publications.
Cherry Jones is currently appearing in Lysistrata at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia. Jones is a founding member of the American Repertory Theatre and has appeared in 23 A.R.T. productions. Shes won Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards. Jones has starred or appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Her film appearances include The Perfect Storm, Cradle Will Rock and the upcoming Signs, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Boxer Laila Ali. Shes the only one of heavyweight champ Mohammed Alis nine children to choose a life in the ring. Her recent bout with Jacqui Frazier was the most highly publicized female boxing event ever. Shes written an autobiography called REACH! Finding Strength, Spirit and Personal Power.
She died on June 14 2002, at age 65, from breast cancer. She was one of the most widely published African-American writers. In her poems and political essays, she addressed issues of racism, oppression and dispossession. She was born in Harlem and grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. She taught English at the University of California at Berkeley.
Pakistani dancer Sheema Kermani. Her performances are rare in Pakistan, and tightly controlled by the government. She practices Indian classical dance, a sensual form of movement that goes against Islamic fundamentalist attitudes toward women and their bodies. Kermani graduated from Croydon College of Art in London and started dancing in Karachi with the Ghanshyan's Dance Troupe. She then went to India to train under several masters of Indian classical dance. She has performed all over the world. She's choreographed two major works.
Arab-American stand-up comics Ahmed Ahmed and Maz Jobrani. They've changed their routines since Sept. 11, cracking jokes about attending flight school and the like. Both have had small parts as terrorists in action films. Jobrani was in a Chuck Norris film and Ahmed was Terrorist #4 in Executive Decision. They live in Los Angeles.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Cornershop's new Handcream for a Generation. Cornershop is a British group led by Indian singer-songwriter and producer Tjinder Singh.
He is touring the country promoting his new film, The Bourne Identity, a thriller about a man with amnesia flushed out of the Mediterranean sea, riddled with bullet holes. Damon has been in many hit films, including The Talented Mr Ripley, Saving Private Ryan and Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with close friend Ben Affleck.
Science writer Douglas Starr. His book, Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce, inspired the upcoming PBS series Red Gold: The Epic Story of Blood. The four-part production premieres June 23, 2002. Starr is co-director of the Knight Center for Science and Medical Journalism at Boston University. Starr has contributed to many publications including Time, Sports Illustrated, The Los Angeles Times and Smithsonian Magazine.
She produced and acts in the new film The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. Foster has won two Oscars for performances in The Silence of the Lambs and The Accused. She was also nominated for her work in Taxi Driver and Nell. She's also served as producer or director on numerous films.
