Terry Gross

Writer Jan L. Waldron was 17 when she gave her baby daughter, Simone, up for adoption. Waldron's own mother was adopted, and in turn left her children when Waldron was eleven. In Giving Away Simone: A Memoir, Waldron tells of the parting and then meeting again with her eleven-year-old daughter, now renamed Rebecca. Rebecca is the fifth generation of women in the family to be abandoned by their mothers; in reuniting with her, Waldron is determined to break that cycle of leaving.

In 1989, Lau became a best-selling author with her first book: Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, a memoir of her years on the streets as a suicidal drug addicted teenage prostitute. She also wrote two books of her poetry: You Are Not Who You Claim and Oedipal Dreams. Her latest is a collection of short stories titled Fresh Girls and Other Stories. The 23 year old writer lives in Vancouver, Canada.

South African journalist Allister Sparks has written about secret negotiations that started in 1986 between South African leaders and then-jailed political prisoner Nelson Mandela. The meetings ultimately led to the dismantling of Apartheid. Sparks' new book is Tomorrow is Another Country. He served as South African Correspondent for The Observer and for The Washington Post from 1981-1992. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Sinise is up for an Oscar for his supporting role in "Forrest Gump." He also starred in a film version of "Of Mice and Men." Terry spoke to him in 1992 about his early stage work in Chicago. (Rebroadcast)

Jackson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jules Winnfield in "Pulp Fiction." He also also stars in the new film "Losing Isaiah," and will be in two upcoming films "Kiss of Death" and "Die Hard With a Vengeance." We replay our 1991 interview with him, after Jackson appeared in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever." (Rebroadcast)

Actor Chazz Palminteri was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Woody Allen's film "Bullets over Broadway." He got his start with a theatrical piece which he later made into the movie "A Bronx Tale." We revisit our 1994 interview with him. (Rebroadcast)

Journalist and rock historian Daniel Wolff has written a new biography, You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke. Wolff was aided in his research by many people who were close to Cooke, including S.R. Crain, a co-founder of the Soul Stirrers and later Cooke's manager. Crain also joins the conversation.

Dr. Jody Heymann is a physician, and author of the new book Equal Partners: A Physicians Call for a New Spirit of Medicine. She chronicles her own story of turning from physician to patient overnight after suffering a seizure and consequent brain surgeries. The extremes of care she received revolutionized her perception of a physician's role in patient treatment.

Tamahori made the New Zealand film "Once Were Warriors." It takes a front-line look at an urban Maori family plagued by poverty, violence and alcoholism. The movie recently became the top grossing film in New Zealand history. Star Rena Owen joins the conversation later in this segment.

Judith Musick is the director of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a pregnancy prevention and teenage-parent programs in Illinois, and author of the new book, "Young, Poor and Pregnant: The Psychology of Teenage Motherhood." Musick believes that impoverished adolescent girls become young mothers as an attempt to create a future and an identity.