Terry Gross

Singer Mel Torme died Saturday at age 73 of complications from a stroke. We'll hear an interview Terry Gross did with Mel in 1988. For more than 50 years, Torme was one of most accomplished and versatile pop and jazz singers. Known for years as "The Velvet Fog," Born Melvin Howard Torme to Russian-Jewish immigrants in Chicago on Sept. 13, 1925, Torme first made his reputation in the Big Band era as a songwriter, arranger, drummer and singer. He later sang in MGM musicals.

We remember jazz singer Joe Williams who died yesterday at the age of 80. Williams begin singing professionally at age 17, influenced by Erskine Tate, Jimmy Noone and Coleman Hawkins. In 1954, he became Count Basie's number one singer and was perhaps the principal reason the band was the dominate big band of the 50s and 60s. His hits include "Every Day (I Have the Blues)" and "All Right, Ok, You Win." He started performing as a soloist in 1961. (REBROADCAST from 6/20/89)

Writer Andre Dubus died this week. Dubus' short stories earned him numerous awards, including a MacArthur award, a Rea Award, and a Bernard Malamud Award from the writers group, PEN. An accident in 1986 left Dubus wheelchair bound, he later said his condition helped him get rid of his fears, it also made its way into his writing. Dubus short stories gained wide attention in the years following the accident. (REBROADCAST from 6/25/91)

We remember film critic Gene Siskel who was half of the Siskel and Ebert movie-review team. Two weeks ago he left their TV show to recuperate from brain tumor surgery he received last year. He died on Saturday. The duo began their TV collaboration in 1975 on Chicago Public Television .The program later became a national PBS show and then moved on to a successful commercial television run. Gene Siskel was film columnist for the Chicago Tribune. (ORIGINAL BROADCAST 3/21/96)

Vee, who died Monday, had 38 hit singles including, "Take Good Care of My Baby." During a 1999 Fresh Air interview, Vee explained how the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly got him started in music.

We remember bluesman, songwriter and pianist Charles Brown. He died yesterday from congestive heart failure. (REBROADCAST from 6/22/89)

We remember Jamie Hammerstein, Broadway producer, director and son of composer Oscar Hammerstein. He died last week at the age of 67 from a heart attack. (REBROADCAST from 3/14/95)

We remember writer and urbanologist WILLIAM WHYTE. He died yesterday at the age of 81. The former editor of Fortune Magazine began a second career studing the life of urban cities. Whyte was best known for his 1956 book "Organization Man," a groundbreaking work that examined the mechanized rituals and routines of the corporate culture. His other books included, "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces" (1980), and "City" (1989). (REBROADCAST from 2/22/89)

Hampton is best known for his PBS series "Eyes on the Prize" about the civil rights movement. He said his intention was to tell the story in a way in which blacks were not the "victims." HIs other highly acclaimed documentaries were "America's War on Poverty" and "The Great Depression." HAMPTON had struggled since 1990 with lung cancer. He was 58. (REBROADCAST from 2/1/90)

Holzman died over the weekend. He's a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and was coach of the New York Knicks when they won the world championship in 1970. (REBROADCAST from 12/8/87)