Terry Gross

An in the studio concert and interview with singer/songwriter, guitarist Richard Thompson. He was a founding member of the band Fairport Convention in the late 1960's. He's since gone solo and is known for his dark songs which blend elements of British folk ballads, the blues, and rock n' roll. His latest album is "Mirror Blue," (Capitol). A retrospective collection of his work was released last year, "Watching the Dark: The History of Richard Thompson," (on Rykodisc.) (Rebroadcast of 2/7/1994)

Writer Shirlee Taylor Haizlip. Her book "The Sweeter the Juice: a Family Memoir in Black and White," (Simon & Schuster), chronicles her exploration of six generations of her multiracial family tree. Haizlip is a light-skinned African-American. Her father was a prominent black Baptist minister in Connecticut. Her mother was the descendant of an Irish immigrant and a mulatto slave.

Novelist, journalist and columnist Pete Hamill. He's written seven novels, including "Flesh and Blood" and "Loving Women." Most recently he was editor-in-chief at the New York Post. His latest book is a memoir of the years he spent drinking: "A Drinking Life: A Memoir." (Little, Brown & Co.) Hamill quit drinking twenty years ago. One reviewer in Publishers Weekly writes of HAMILL's new memoir, "This is not a jeremiad condemning drink, but a thoughtful, funny, street-smart reflection on its consequences." (REBROADCAST from 1/19/94)

Former Major Leaguer Keith Hernandez. Called by some baseball purists the finest First Baseman in the game, Hernandez played with the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians. He is the winner of eleven consecutive Golden Glove Awards for fielding, and played in two World Championships. Hernandez's new book is "Pure Baseball: Pitch by Pitch for the Advanced Fan" (Harper): analysis of two 1993 match-ups, with play by play commentary, based on his seventeen years in the game. (Rebroadcast Originally aired 2/24/94)

Poet Philip Levine. He's considered one of this country's pre-eminent poets, but before he turned to poetry he worked for years at factory jobs. The images of those early days continue to influence his writings. Levine's collection of poems "What Work Is." won 1992's National Book Award. His new memoir is "Bread of Time" (Knopf). (Rebroadcast from 7/22/91).

We pay tribute to Professor and filmmaker Marlon Riggs, who died Tuesday. His film about gay black sexuality, "Tongues Untied," unleashed a storm of controversy for its graphic content; it was used by Senator Jesse Helms (Republican, North Carolina), to argue against government grants to the arts. Another RIGGS film was "Color Adjustment," a critique of prime time TV's myths and messages on American race relations. RIGGS was on the faculty of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. (Rebroadcast of 7/11/1991)

Author Kurt Vonnegut. Perhaps his most famous book, the anti-war novel"Slaughterhouse Five," has been rereleased in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition (Delacourte Press). Based on Vonnegut's own experiences during the Dresden firebombing during the Second World War, the novel was a cultural icon at the height of popular protest against the war in Vietnam. (REBROADCAST FROM MAY, 1986.)

Writer Grace Paley. Born in the Bronx in 1922, she's written three highly acclaimed volumes of short stories. Paley was actively involved in the feminist and anti-war movements, and regards herself as a "somewhat combative pacifist and a cooperative anarchist." Her "Collected Stories" have just been released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. (Rebroadcast from 3/26/92).

Pro-gun activist Neal Knox. Knox is a powerful weapon for those who abhor any regulation of firearms. Champion target shooter and former gun journalist, he is considered the most influential voice in the National Rifle Association. He has been called the NRA's "spiritual master." He is a hardliner who believes that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the individual an absolute right to keep and bear guns.

Mexican author Carlos Fuentes. Mexico is in flux. On New Years Day, a violent peasant uprising broke out in Chiapas, and thru negotiations, the Zapitistas (as they call themselves) reached a tentative agreement with the government. Then frontrunner presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated as he campaigned in Tijuana. The Mexican government says at least seven people conspired in the killing. Fuentes will discuss recent events in Mexico and the history that shaped them.