A Childhood Tragedy Gives Insights into Language Learning
Russ Rymer is a journalist who has written for The New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He has just written his first book, "Genie," about the discovery in 1970 of a thirteen year old girl who had lived her entire life locked in a room of her parent's house. Genie had no language or social skills. Her discovery coincided with a raging debate among scientists about the origin of language. Michael Dorris writes about the book, "At once a scientific detective story and an examination of professional ethics. . . disturbing, enlightening, and impossible to forget."
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Other segments from the episode on April 9, 1993
Activist David Dillinger on His Life as a "Moral Dissenter"
Dillinger is a longtime peace worker, editor and author. He was jailed for civil disobedience a generation before Daniel and Philip Berrigan. He was part of the "Chicago Seven," the group of seven antiwar demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic National Convention which erupted into violence between demonstrators and police. Dellinger has written six books. His latest is an account of his spiritual journey, "Fram Yale to Jail."
Calvin Trillin Broods on the Strange Death of a Close Friend
Book critic John Leonard reviews "Remembering Denny," the new book by Calvin Trillin. It's about the passing of Trillin's friend who was a middling social scientist and troubled homosexual.
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