Shields died July 17, 2003, of breast cancer. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her best-selling novel The Stone Diaries. Her books are often about middle class people leading quiet lives. Her other novels include Larry's Party, which won Britain's Orange Prize, The Republic of Love and Swann: A Mystery. She also wrote a biography of Jane Austen as well as plays, poetry and story collections. In 1998 Shields was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time of the interview, she was in stage 4, a late stage of the disease. Her most recent novel, Unless, was written after her diagnosis.
Rock historian Ed Ward tells us about the Richmond Sessions music recorded in Richmond, Virginia in the 1920s, just as recording was getting off the ground.
His work is part of the new Time Magazine book, 21 Days to Baghdad: The Inside Story of How America Won the War Against Iraq. Morris is a contract photographer for Time, and has documented more than 18 foreign conflicts. He has documented drug-related violence in Colombia, guerilla fighting in Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf war. Morris has won many photojournalism awards during his career.
Berg is the author of the new book, Kate Remembered about actress Katharine Hepburn. Berg began a friendship with her 20 years ago, and during that time Hepburn disclosed confidences about her life with the understanding that were he to write a book about her he would wait until after her death to publish it. In 1999 he wrote that book but it was held in a vault. She died on June 29th at the age of 96. Berg is also the author of Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, Goldwyn: A Biography and Lindbergh, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize.
Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new documentary Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films by director Bred Wood. It's about the Highway Safety Foundation of Mansfield, Ohio, which made a series of graphic driver's education films in the 1960s to warn students about the dangers of driving recklessly, sleepily or drunk.
He covers the economy for The New York Times. He recently returned from Iraq, where he wrote about a number of things, including the country's economy.
Lead singer for the band the Jayhawks, Gary Louris. The Minneapolis band has seven albums to its credit — the latest is Rainy Day Music. The band is considered pioneers of the alternative-country movement, but have incorporated everything from pop to folk to rock and country.
Singer wrote the new book, Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry. Over the last decade, private companies have provided tactical support, advice, training, security and even intelligence to the military. In the recent war against Iraq, private military employees handled everything from feeding and housing U.S. troops to maintaining sophisticated weapons like the B-2 stealth bomber. The practice raises troubling ethical questions.
Murray has written a new collection of short stories, A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies. Many of his stories are informed by his experiences as a doctor with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service when he traveled to developing countries like Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Murray is also a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Rock critic Ken Tucker continues his look at the latest in pop rock. He reviews the CD Red Head by the Boston-based musician known as Bleu (his real name is William McAuley).
Soul singer Barry White, the sweet-talking, deep-voiced performer who rhapsodized about love, died on July 4. He was 58. The cause was kidney failure. His hits included "My First, My Last, My Everything," "Never Never Gonna Give Up," and "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More." Before he became a hit as a solo performer, White put together the female vocal trio Love Unlimited and founded the Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece ensemble, to accompany himself and the trio.
Ted Conover is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. He went to Guantanamo Bay to report on the detention of suspected jihadists and terrorists there. He has written about it in the June 29th edition of The New York Times Magazine, "In the Land of Guantanamo." Previously, Conover spent a year as a prison guard inside New York State's infamous Sing Sing prison to experience first hand the conditions within a prison. He wrote about it in his book, Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing.
He has written the new biography Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. Reviewer Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., writes of the book, "both an absorbing narrative biography and an acute assessment of the man and his impact on his time and on posterity." Isaacson is also the author of a biography of Kissinger, is president of the Aspen Institute, and was managing editor of Time magazine.
