Terry Gross

Writer Gloria Wade-Gayles. Growing up in Memphis in the 1940's Wade-Gayles experienced Jim Crow discrimination first hand. In her new book of autobiographical essays, "Pushed Back To Strength: A Black Woman's Journey Home" (Beacon), she reflects on her childhood, the civil-rights movements, abortion in the African-American community, and the death of her mother. Wade-Gayles is a professor of English and women's studies at Spelman College. She also wrote "No Crystal Stair: Visions of Race and Sex in Black Women's Fiction" (Pilgrim Press).

Violence prevention expert Deborah Prothrow-Stith. She's encouraged America to look at violence as a public health emergency. Stith says that instead of stitching up bullet wounds and returning people to the streets, we should teach violence prevention. Stith, assistant dean at Harvard School of Public Health, received the World Health Day Award in 1993. Stith co-wrote a book on violence called "Deadly Consequences" (Harper Collins) and a health textbook, "Health Skills for Wellness".

Pop artist David Hockney. He's worked in many mediums-- from painting and drawing to working with fax and copy machines. Hockney made waves in the art world with his take on photography--compiling hundreds of polaroid snap-shots in a photocollage. In 1979 Hockney started to lose his hearing. Now, near deaf, his art reflects his insights on his loss of hearing. Hockney's new book, "That's The Way I See It" (Chronicle Books), is his second volume of reflections.

Gospel singer Marion Williams. Her trademark, a long-lasting high A-flat "whooo," has been adopted by most gospel singers and soul singers like Little Richard and Aretha Franklin. A self- proclaimed "Holy Roller", Williams received the Kennedy Center Honors Award last night in Washington for her lifetime achievement in the arts. When she's not performing, Williams sings traditional gospel at the African-Methodist-Episcopal church in Philadelphia--the first black church formed in America. Her new album is "Can't Keep It To Myself" (Sanachie).

Writer Elaine Marcus Starkman. Starkman's new book, "Learning to Sit in Silence: A Journal of Caretaking" (Papeir-Mache), is a fictionalized journal of caring for her elderly mother-in-law. Starkman explores the love, guilt, and anger that accompanies aging and death for so many. Starkman has also written "The Best Time" and "Love Scene." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Novelist Albert French. He found inspiration for his first novel, "Billy" (Viking), in the true story of an 11-yr-old getting the electric chair in the 1930's. "Billy," is the story of the "legal lynching" of a ten year old boy in the deep south who inadvertently kills a white girl. French writes in "Delta" dialect, epitomizing racial hatred in America. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Bosnian Journalist Zlatko Dizdarevic, an editor of the only daily newspaper in Sarajevo which has continued to publish during the war, and the author of "Sarajevo Under Siege: A War Journal," (Fromm International). He read last night at the PEN American Center's benefit, "An Evening For Sarajevo".

Doctor Marcus Conant. In the early 1980's Dr. Conant was among the first doctors in San Francisco to treat AIDS cases. Now Dr. Conant heads the largest private AIDS medical practice in San Francisco. After his 1985 study on how condoms block transmission of the AIDS virus, condoms became a household word. Dr. Conant is the director of AIDS Clinical Research Center and the co-director of the Kaposi's Sarcoma Clinic at the University of California at San Francisco.

Banjo player Tony Trischka. He's been called the "premier banjo madman of our time." Trischka incorporates jazz and rock and roll into his style, with bluegrass at the heart of his music. TTrischka's new album, "World Turning" (Rounder Records), is a "loose history of the banjo" with everything from an African banjo tune to banjo Dixieland style. He has a number of albums out on the Rounder label.

Former homeless man and writer Lars Eighner. He's written an account of his time on the streets with his dog, "Travels with Lizbeth: Three Years on the Road and on the Streets," (St, Martin's Press).