Terry Gross

Writer Thom Jones was a boxer in the Marines in the mid-1960s. He was supposed to ship out to Vietnam, but he suffered an epileptic seizure, which he believes was caused by too many punches to the head. So instead of shipping out, he was thrown out. The rest of his unit did go to Vietnam, where they were ambushed and killed. Jones turned to writing, but couldn't get anything published, so he became a high school janitor. He is finally experiencing literary success this year with the publication of his collection of short stories "The Pugilist At Rest" (Little, Brown).

Musician and record producer, Ron Levy. He was asked to played in B.B. King's band, when he was just out of high school. He went on to form "Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom, and recorded with the "luminaries" of the late seventies blue wave revival: Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan and others. He started producing for Rounder Records and ended up working with old blues legends on Rounder's Blues label. Levy has long championed the Hammond B-3 organ which has come back into vogue. And he has a new Wild Kingdom release, "B-3, Blues and Grooves." (Rounder).

Author Susanna Kaysen. At age eighteen, she was hospitalized in Boston's McLean Psychiatric Hospital. Her two years there, from 1967-1969 and experiences of the other young women of her ward are the subject of Kaysen's book, "Girl, Interrupted" (Turtle Bay Books).

Actress and Stanford Theater Professor, Anna Deavere Smith. She performs solo, multi-casted pieces, the scripts of which are transcripts of interviews with real participants of events. "Fires in the Mirrors" (aired on PBS) gave voice to the many facets of the Crown Heights riots.

President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City, Alexander Sanger. Terry will talk with him about his work there, and about carrying on the work that his grandmother, Margaret Sanger pioneered. One of the projects they are involved in is training doctors in abortion practices. This is in response to a drop in training programs in OB/GYN residency programs, where it's fallen 50 percent since 1985.

Peter Kinder, from Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini & Co., Inc., a firm that provides social research on U.S. Corporations to investment professionals. He's just co-written the new book, "Investing for Good: Making Money While Being Socially Responsible." (HarperBusiness).

Country music star and actor Willie Nelson. His best-known songs include "Crazy," "Funny How Time Slips Away," and "Good Hearted Woman." Nelson talks about his life before stardom: as a cotton-picker, Sunday school teacher and songwriter selling his music dirt cheap. (REBROADCAST from October 24, 1988).

We play a special track from the "Fresh Air in Concert" CD: Charles Brown performing "Fool's Paradise", recorded June 22, 1989.

The nation's inaugural poet, Maya Angelou. Her multi-volume autobiography and many books of poetry have proven her to be one of America greatest writers. (REBROADCAST from April 22, 1986).

Film director Sydney Pollacl. He has been making movies for almost thirty years including "The Way We Were", "Three Days of the Condor" and "Tootsie". Pollack's new film is "The Firm". (REBROADCAST from December 11, 1990).