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Kate Simon on Her Life and Career.

Author Kate Simon. Simon is best known for her travel books (Kate Simon's Paris, New York: Places and Pleasures) and for her two vivid memoirs of coming of age in the New York City of the 1920s and 30s. The first, Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a Childhood, portrays the immigrant neighborhoods just after World War I. In the second, A Wider World: Portraits in an Adolescence, Simon recalls her tumultuous adolescence as she discovered the world beyond the neighborhoods of her youth. Her latest work, A Renaissance Tapestry, The Gonzaga of Mantua, draws on her travel writing, and her particular interest in the family dynasties that ruled Renaissance Italy.

26:43
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Other segments from the episode on February 1, 1988

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, February 1, 1988: Interview with Kate Simon; Review of Paul Bley's album "Turns"; Interview with Zelda Rubenstein; Review of the television show "Smothers Brothers Comedy…
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06:48

Paul Bley's Improvisational Jazz.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a reissue of a 1964 session featuring pianist Paul Bley. In the early years of his career, Bley worked closely with pianist Charles Mingus and saxophonist Ornette Colemen. Since the 60s, he's led his own small groups.

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09:41

Actress Zelda Rubenstein.

Actress Zelda Rubenstein. After being cast as one of the little people in the film "Under the Rainbow," she played the clairvoyant in "Poltergeist." She now stars in the new horror film "Anguish."

Interview
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03:46

Smothers Brothers Reunion.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews the 20th anniversary reunion of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." While the show features some clips from the original programs, it is composed mostly of updated skits featuring comics from including Steve Martin, Leigh French and Pat Paulson. The musicians include Glenn Campbell, John Hartford, Jennifer Warnes and Mason Williams.

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09:25

Mary Morris on Traveling as a Woman.

Travel writer Mary Morris. Her new book, Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone, recounts her travels, alone, through Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, and what it means for a woman to travel alone. Her earlier works include Vanishing Animals & Other Stories and The Bus of Dreams.

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