In 1999, Stephen King, the prolific and popular horror writer experienced something that could have come out of one of his books: he was struck by a car while walking along a rural road in Maine and nearly killed. Six operations and a long recovery followed. Five weeks after the accident King started writing again, and published the novella, The Plant over the internet. His latest book is Dreamcatchers.
Journalist Jon Cohen has just written a book called Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine. (Norton) He is a leading AIDS reporter who covers science and medicine for Science Magazine. Hell talk about the work that is being done to develop the AIDS vaccine, trials, funding issues, and when the future of AIDS prevention.
South African journalist Charlene Smith writes about the spread of AIDS in Southern Africa. In 1999, she was raped, and feared the man who raped her could have given her HIV/AIDS. Smith had a hard time obtaining the drugs that could lessen the potential of her getting HIV. Smith then wrote about her experience and helped spread awareness about rape and HIV in South Africa. Statistics say every 26 seconds, a woman is raped in South Africa— the country with the fastest growing HIV rate.
Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Michael Baime, M.D. discuss God and the brain: tracking transcendence. Newberg conducted brain scans while people prayed and meditated to see if he could locate the brain function that caused the feeling of oneness and the presence of God. His book on the subject is called Why God Wont Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, by Newberg, Eugene DAqulli M.D. and Vince Rause (Ballantine).
New York Times reporters David Barstow and Don Van Natta, Jr. went to Florida following the closest presidential election in history. During a six month investigation, the two journalists found –under intense pressure from the Republicans, Florida officials accepted hundreds of overseas absentee ballots that failed to comply with state election laws.— (NYT 7/15/01) However, the outcome of the investigation is inconclusive. If all invalid overseas ballots had been thrown out, Bush would have still maintained a narrow margin over Gore.
Stock market expert B. Mark Smith. His book is called Toward Rational Exuberance: The Evolution of the Modern Stock Market. Smith is retired stock trader with nearly two decades of experience, first with CS/First Boston Corporation, where he became director, then as vice president of Goldman, Sachs & Co. He explains how the market has evolved from a primitive insiders game to a very public and important institution.
British actress Charlotte Rampling. Shes known for her great beauty. She was a model before beginning her film career in the sixties with hits such as Georgy Girl and The Damned. She may be best known for The Night Porter, a 1974 classic about a concentration camp survivor reunited with the Nazi guard who tortured her. Ramplings new film is the French Under The Sand, about a woman whose husband mysteriously disappears during a seaside vacation.
Journalist James Fallows is National Correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, a regular commentator on NPR, and a licensed pilot. In his new book Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel he looks into the technological innovations which will change airline travel. For instance, smaller jet planes will ferry passengers from local airports, bypassing the crowded international airports. Fallows is also the author of Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy.
Han Ong, a Filipino writer whose debut novel is Fixer Chao.Its about a Feng Shui con artist operating on New York's elite. Ong is the winner of a 1997 MacArthur award. He is also a playwright.
Writer Joyce Johnson talks about her relationship to Beat icon Jack Kerouac, and her book, Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters which is now out in paperback. In 1957, Johnson started a relationship with the then little-known writer Kerouac. Nine months later, Kerouacs Beat classic On the Road was published. Johnson will talk about her two-year, tumultuous love affair with Kerouac, and how the publication of On the Road changed Kerouac. Door Wide Open contains many letters sent to Johnson by Kerouac.
Laurie Pepper is the wife of the late alto saxophonist Art Pepper, who died in 1982 and was considered to be the greatest alto saxophonist of the post-Charlie Parker generation. Laurie Pepper has just produced a box-set compilation of Art Pepper's music, called Art Pepper: The Hollywood All-Star Sessions. Terry talked with Pepper on the occasion of the updated version of her husband's autobiography, Straight Life which he wrote with the help of Laurie.
They are authors of the new book, Leaving Readers Behind: The Age of Corporate Newspapering (University of Arkansas Press.) The book examines how newspaper reporting is being altered by the buying, selling, and consolidation of papers. In the book, they say the age of corporate newspapering is bringing about –a change that is diminishing the amount of real news available to the consumer.— Thomas Kunkel is dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland and president of American Journalism Review.
His book is Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the rise and fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty.(Perseus) It is a history of the paper from 1960 to 1980. During that time Otis Chandler, a fourth generation member of the family, took control of the paper. His reign had elements of fabulous success and major scandal. He was described as –larger than life transforming The Times from a dreadful newspaper into one of the two or three best in the country.— (NYT magazine 1/23/2000) Dennis McDougal is a former investigative journalist for the L.A. Times.
Brooks has made some of the funniest films in movie history, including The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles. His film The Producers has been turned into a Broadway musical and is now the hottest show on Broadway. The show has broken records; earlier this month, The Producers won 12 Tony Awards. Brooks won Tony Awards for Best Book (with Thomas Meehan) and Best Score. Now, Brooks is one of the few people who have won a Tony Award, an Academy Award, a Grammy Award and an Emmy Award.
Currently, his LA Lakers are battling the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals. They lead the series 2 games to 1. Jackson has already won 7 NBA championship rings; He led the Lakers to the championship last year, and he also won 6 with the Chicago Bulls. He has coached NBA greats Michael Jordan, Shaquille ONeal, and Kobe Bryant. Jackson also has a new book called More than a Game, written with Charley Rosen.
His new book on depression, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, (Scribner) came out of a 1998 New Yorker article. He draws on personal experience as well as interviews with patients, physicians, philosophers and drug designers.
