Biography & Memoir

Morning Edition host Bob Edwards. He's written a new book about his weekly conversations with the former sportscaster Red Barber. Edwards talked with Barber each Friday for 12 years. Barber died a year ago. Terry talks with Edwards about Red Barber and Morning Edition. Edwards' book is "Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship" (Simon & Schuster).

Middle East expert and British hostage in Beirut, Terry Waite. While in Lebanon in 1987, as an Anglican Church envoy to negotiate the release of hostages there, Waite himself was captured. He was held for 1,763 days (nearly five years); four years of that time was spent in solitary confinement. He had made numerous trips to the Middle East to negotiate hostage releases in Tehran and Beirut, and was no stranger to the danger of factional conflicts: in 1969 Waite and his wife narrowly escaped the Idi Amin coup in Uganda.

Poet James Merrill. The son of the founder of the Merrill Lynch brokerage house, Merrill took to Europe at age 24, a newly published poet "meaning to stay as long as possible". That was in 1950. His new memoir "A Different Person" (Knopf) details his two and a half years there, and features encounters with psychoanalysts, new and old lovers, and Alice Toklas. Merrill is the author of eleven books of poems, the winner of two National Book Awards, the Bolligen Prize for Poetry, and the Pulitzer Prize.

John Leonard reviews "New York Days" (Little, Brown, & Co.) by Willie Morris.

Terry Anderson and his wife Madeleine Bassil. Anderson was held hostage for seven years in Lebanon. Madeleine was pregnant when he was Anderson's new book, "Den of Lions: Memoirs of Seven Years" (Crown Publishers), Terry and Madeleine describe the challenges they were forced to face until his release in December of 1991. (This interview continues into the second half of the show.)

Correspondent for The New York Times, Malcolm Browne. He has a memoir about his life as a reporter, "Muddy Boots and Red Socks: A Reporter's Life." (Times Books). He spent two decades as a foreign correspondent for wire services, newspapers, and magazines. He followed troops in Vietnam, and took the famous photographs of Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire in the streets of Saigon. He won a Pulitzer for his coverage of Viet Nam.

Howell Raines is editorial page editor of "The New York Times." He's written a new "fishing" memoir, that's part sporting autobiography, and part guide-book for the middle years of life. "Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis," (William Morrow & Company). Raines also won the Pulitzer Prize for "Grady's Gift," a New York Times Magazine article about his friendship with a black woman in segregated Birmingham.

Actor James Earl Jones. His is one of the distinctive voices of our time, yet few people know he fights a stutter; Jones' stage work off-Broadway in Jean Genet's "The Blacks" and Athol Fugard's "The Blood Knot" lead to a Broadway success in "The Great White Way", for which Jones won a Tony. His work in August Wilson's "Fences" won him another. It took one day to record the voice track for Darth Vader in "Star Wars": a performance which lead to many other commercial voice-over projects.

Elementary school principal Madeline Cartwright took over the run-down Blaine Elementary School in a run-down, drug-infested neighborhood in North Philadelphia and turned it into a school that works. One of her first acts when she took over the school was to get down on her hands and knees and scrub the foul-smelling children's bathroom.

Two poets, married to one another, coming to grips with illness and mortality: Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon. Hall's new memoir of life on his New Hampshire farm and his "absorbedness" with writing are the subject of his new book "Life Work" (Beacon Press). Halfway through its completion, Hall was diagnosed with liver cancer; the following surgery and recovery provided rich material for his work and Kenyon's: a new book of poems entitled "Constance" (Graywolf Press).

Maureen Corrigan reviews Donald Hall's new book, Life Work and the Mechanical Brides exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York which runs through January 2nd.

Writer Anne Lamott on being a good mother AND a phone addict.

Writer A.E. Hotchner. His memoir, about growing up in a flophouse during the depression, "King of the Hill," is being made into a movie, directed by Stephen Soderbergh (who directed "Sex, Lives, and Videotape). Hotchner is best known for his controversial 1966 biography of his personal friend Ernest Hemingway, "Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir." Presented in the unusual form of dialogue, Hotchner faced criticism from the literary community and an attempt by Hemingway's widow to ban the sale of the book. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Sportswriter and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Jim Murray He's just written his autobiography (Macmillan) about his five decades in journalism: as a young reporter for Time magazine following the 1952 presidential campaign and the rise of Richard Nixon's political career; working as one of the original writers for Sports Illustrated; and beginning in 1961, as sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times. His syndicated column once reached 200 newspapers a day and he has won the Sportswriter of the Year award a record 14 times. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Children's book illustrator Ted Lewin. Lewin paid his way through art school in the 50's as a professional wrestler. His new memoir, "I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler," (Orchard Books) includes Lewin's paintings of wrestlers. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Hog farmer and writer Mary Elizabeth Fricke (Frick-EE). Her new book is, "Dino, Godzilla and the Pigs: My Life On Our Missouri Hog Farm." (Soho Press). The Fricke's farm was flooded, just as this book was coming out. Marty will talk with Fricke about how they and the farm are doing. Fricke's book describes the intricacies of farm work, like cutting the teeth and tails of piglets, and driving a monster tractor with sixteen gears. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

From sight to blindness to sight again. Robert Hine is Professor of History at the University of California. He lost his sight 15 years ago, and just recently regained the use of one eye. He's written a new book about what it's like to lose one's sight and then to see again: "Second Sight." (University of California Press).

Retired cop, and former head of the Queen's District Attorney's squad, Remo Franceschini spent 35 years keeping track of and busting organized crime in New York City. Franceschini figured out the family structure of the mafia, keeping a "Wall of Fame" family tree of photos and names of mobsters. Early on he predicted the rise of John Gotti, who became known as the "Teflon Don." Franceschini personally wire-tapped Gotti's headquarters, which led to indictments.

Professional New York house cleaner and NPR commentator, David Sedaris. Sedaris occasionally reads from his diaries on NPR; he started this year around Christmas time, when he recounted tales of being a Macy's elf named Crumpet during the holiday season. Other pieces have covered life with window hangers, the world of soap operas, and smoking on a bench in Central Park with a non-smoker. He's recently signed with Little, Brown for a book of short stories and a novel.

Maureen Corrigan reviews a new memoir, "Love & Rutabaga", by Claire Hsu Accomando (St. Martins).