Terry Gross

Documentary Producer Henry Hampton. In 1987 he produced the prize-winning documentary series on PBS, "Eyes on the Prize." The series documented the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1965. The New York Times' Walter Goodman called the series, "a moving documentary" in which "the nobility of America's civil-rights struggle comes through with the directness and strength of a spiritual." It's sequel, "Eyes on the Prize II," is now being broadcast and covers the movement from 1965 to the 1980s.

Actor Tom Hulce. He was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Mozart in the movie "Amadeus," and for a Golden Globe for his role as brain-damaged garbage man in "Dominick & Eugene." More recently, Hulce played the black-sheep of the family in "Parenthood." Next week, Hulce stars in "Murder in Mississippi," a made-for-TV movie about the freedom summer.

Journalist John Hockenberry. For the past two years he's been National Public Radio's foreign correspondent in the Middle East, where he covered events from his wheelchair. He's also served as host for "All Things Considered," "SoundPrint," and other shows. In 1987 he won a Peabody and in 1988, a Unity in Media award. In March, he'll be hosting "Heat," a new nightly interview, performance, and call-in show over NPR.

Journalist Michael Norman. Norman served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and his memoir, "These Good Men: Friendships Forged from War," he tells the stories of some of the men he served with. Norman, a former columnist for the New York Times, spent 5 years looking for his comrades, traveling from Oklahoma to London, finding out what had happened to them in the 20 years since the war and trying to understand how his own life had been changed.

Writer, producer, and director Arthur Laurents. Laurents wrote the stories for the plays "Gypsy" and "West Side Story" and the screenplays for the movies "The Way We Were" and "The Turning Point." Laurents is currently directing the Broadway revival of "Gypsy," starring Tyne Daly.

White South African writer Rian (rhymes with "neon") Malan. Malan is an Afrikaner, descendent of a family that settled in South Africa over three hundred years ago, and Malan's great-uncle was the chief architect of the Apartheid system. Malan only realized the horror of Apartheid after he became a crime reporter for a Johannesburg paper. What he learned led him to leave South Africa, and spend the next eight years in exile.

Character actor Kurtwood Smith. Smith has a penchant for playing the heavy...in "Robocop" he played a sadistic killer, in "Dead Poets Society" he played a repressive father, and in "True Believer," he played an over-zealous attorney. His next role is in the upcoming comedy, "Quick Change." He plays a mafia don.

Writer Le Anne Schreiber. A successful journalist at the New York Times, and their first woman sports editor, Schreiber left her career at the Times to go live in rural upstate New York. Then she found out her mother had cancer and was given only a few months to live. Schreiber kept a journal during the period of her mother's illness until she died. This journal served as the basis for Schreiber's memoir about her mother's death, "Midstream: The Story of a Mother's Death and a Daughter's Renewal."

Geographer Wilbur Zelinsky. Zelinsky is one of five editors who compiled "The Atlas of Pennsylvania," a massive, and beautiful, book of maps depicting hundreds of different facts about one state...everything from where the most dairy cows are, to what the favorite baseball teams are in different counties, to where you can still find Bald Eagles. Zelinsky is a professor of geology at Penn State University.

Art historian Steven Naifeh (NAY-fay) and writer Gregory White Smith. They've co-written a biography of painter Jackson Pollock. The pair spent eight years and conducted more than 2-thousand interviews to understand the life and work of one of the 20th century's most influential artists. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)