Terry Gross

We remember DOLLY PARTON, singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. PARTON died yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80 years old. Dolly Parton made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 1959 when she was just 13. Since then, she wrote thousands of songs, including "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," which was later a hit for Whitney Houston. PARTON was one of the few performers who was successful enough to start her own theme park.

We remember the influential rock critic DAVE MARSH who died a week ago. He was 76. MARSH dropped out of Wayne State University in Detroit to help launch the rock magazine Creem before winding up at Rolling Stone. He became an early champion of Bruce Springsteen, and went on to write three biographies of Springsteen. The first book, Born to Run published in 1979 became a best seller. MARSH also wrote books about The Who, Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Sly and the Family Stone. In his book The Heart of Rock and Soul, he rated what he considered the thousand and one greatest singles ever made.

Best-known for his band The Frames and his part in the 2007 film Once, Hansard got his start as a street busker in Dublin. He died July 29 in a motorcycle crash. Originally broadcast in 2008.

Satrapi's groundbreaking graphic novel Persepolis introduced readers to life in Iran during the Islamic revolution and the Iran/Iraq war. She died June 4. Originally broadcast June 2, 2003.

Rollins, who died May 25, had for decades been hailed as the greatest living jazz musician. Kevin Whitehead offers an appreciation, and we listen back to Rollins' 1994 interview with Terry Gross.

Frank, who died May 19, was known for being the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay. He also co-authored the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Originally broadcast May 16, 2026.

Caputo, who died May 7, wrote the acclaimed 1977 memoir A Rumor of War, about leading a Marine platoon during the Vietnam war. He went on to a career in journalism. Originally broadcast in 2005.

We remember conductor, composer and musician MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS. He was a longtime music director of The San Francisco Symphony, known for his innovation, his ability to translate classical music for the general public, and for fostering contemporary music. He founded the New World Symphony for young players. He got his musical inheritance from his grandparents, who were stars of the Yiddish theatre. Tilson died last week at age 81. He had battled brain cancer since 2022. (THESE INTERVIEWS ARE REBROADCAST. THEY ORIGINALLY AIRED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 1995 and MARCH 28, 2012.)

Jazz historian KEVIN WHITEHEAD marks the centennial of jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston.

In addition to his kung fu and action films, Norris, who died March 19, starred in the TV show Walker, Texas Ranger. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1988 about learning karate while stationed in Korea.