Terry Gross

Essex Hemphill was a poet who's written about being black and gay and edited anthologies of black gay poets. He died this year. During our interview, last year, he read from his work "Vital Signs" which was written in 1993 after he discovered how low his T-cell count had fallen. Hemphill also wrote two poetry books Earth Life and Conditions and a collection called Ceremonies. He was also the editor of Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men. (Rebroadcast of 12/1/1994)

Michael Denneny is currently an editor at Crown Publishers. He worked with many gay authors in his 17 years at St. Martins Press, where he had his own imprint, Stonewall Editions. (Rebroadcast of 12/1/1994)

Broadway singer John Raitt. He's the father of singer Bonnie Raitt. The two have collaborated on a new album of show tunes, "The Broadway Legend," (Angel). Raitt made his Broadway debut as Billy Bigelow in the original production of "Carousel." He also was in the original Broadway cast and film of "The Pajama Game." He's performed in many other musicals including "Oklahoma," and "South Pacific."

Internationally-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman. He celebrates his 50th birthday this year. He has several new releases, and a PBS special: "The Beethoven Triple Concert" two live concert recordings with pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, and cellist Yo Yo Ma. And "In the Fiddler's House," featuring Perlman playing Klezmer music with four Klezmer bands. There's also a PBS Great Performance special on Klezmer music featuring Perlman. (It aired nationally November 27 at 10PM. Check local listings). Both CD's are on the EMI Classics label.

From the hip-hop group, PM Dawn, Prince Be. The duo consists of Prince Be (Attrell Cordes) and his brother J.C. the Eternal (Jarrett Cordes). One reviewer writes of them, "the duo effortlessly blends disparate elements -- balladeering and rapping, samples and live orchestration -- into gorgeous, wide-screen tableaux of sound. They also write terrific songs, from galloping melodies. . . to exquisite forlorn ballads." Their new album is "Jesus Wept" (Gee Street, Island Records).

Bill Shore is founder and executive officer of the non-profit hunger organization, Share Our Strength (SOS). The organization is a new form of non-profit, the "nonprofit run for profit." It gets no money from the government. It generates wealth through entrepreneurial ventures and has raised $30 million which it then gives to programs dealing with hunger. Shore has written a new book, Revolution of the Heart: A New Strategy for Creating Wealth and Meaningful Change (Riverhead Books). S.O.S. is located at 1511 K Street NW, Suite 940, Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 393-2925.

Stephen Manes writes the "Personal Computers" column for The New York Times. He's been writing about computers for over a decade, and was a columnist and contributing editor for PC Magazine and PC/Computing. He is the co-author of the book about Bill Gates, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America (1993, Doubleday).

Bill Gates is chief executive and co-founder of Microsoft, the world's largest software company. Microsoft has made Gates rich and famous, and has earned him a reputation as a computer visionary. Gates recently wrote the book The Road Ahead (Viking). Gates explores the new, growing technology and how it will effect people's lives, including the realms of education, politics, and business. Gates says that he does not "necessarily have all the answers, but the book is my way of getting us all to start thinking about the opportunities and challenges ahead."

Temple Grandin is one of the nation’s top designers of livestock facilities. She is also autistic. In her book, Thinking in Pictures: and other reports from my life with Autism she describes how her inner-autistic world has led her to develop animal empathy. She is currently an assistant professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Her new book is published by Doubleday 1995. Grandin was the subject of Oliver Sack’s 1993 New Yorker article An Anthropologist on Mars.

Actor and singer Harry Belafonte. He stars in the new movie White Man’s Burden with John Travolta. Belafonte was born in Harlem and raised in the hills of Jamaica where he absorbed the song and music of the island life around him. Belafonte's first love was theater, but he wasn't convinced that popular singing would take him as far emotionally as Shakespeare did. By embracing the calypso music of his childhood he introduced it to America. This week, he performs his first public concert in New York City in over thirty years. (Originally aired 9/8/93)