Singer, songwriter, musician and arranger Barry Manilow made the pop charts over and over again during the 1970s and early 80s with love ballads such as "Mandy," "Looks Like We Made It," "I Write the Songs" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)." Before becoming a singer he was Bette Midler's accompanist and arranger. He's currently on tour and has a new album of material Here at the Mayflower, (his first pop album since the 1980s) and a new anthology of his hits.
Writer and retired New York city firefighter Dennis Smith arrived at the site of the World Trade Center towers on the day of the attacks to volunteer with the rescue effort. His new book Report from Ground Zero (Viking) is composed of first-person testimony of rescuers who were there when the towers were attacked and fell, and who helped in the efforts afterwards. Smith spent 18 years with the fire department. He is the author of nine books, including the bestseller Report from Engine Co. 82 about his years in the city's most dangerous and active firehouse.
Srdja Popovic is one of the founders of the nonviolent student group which helped bring down Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic. The group known as Otpor (the Serbian word for "resistance") had a clenched fist as its symbol, but used humor and theater to ridicule Milosevic and other government officials. The new PBS documentary Bringing Down a Dictator tells their story. Popovic is now a member of Parliament.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new CD Wish You Were Here: Love Songs for New York, a new anthology of songs recorded in reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He just won a Golden Globe for his score for the film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the score has also been nominated for an Academy Award. Shore has over 60 film scores to his credit, including The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, The Silence of the Lambs, Ed Wood and Philadelphia. Shore was also one of the original creators of Saturday Night Live, serving as musical director from 1975 to 1980. His chamber music is featured on the CD Reel Life — The Private Music of Film Composers Vol. 1.
Writer Jake Arnott's new novel is He Kills Coppers, a dark thriller set in London in 1966. Arnott's first novel, The Long Firm, is being made into a five-part series for the BBC.
Percussionist Jonathan Haas is a solo timpani player who has garnered international praise. He plays all styles of music, from classical to jazz and rock. Haas is the principal timpanist for the New York Chamber Symphony, the Aspen Chamber Orchestra and the EOS Ensemble. He regularly performs with numerous other orchestras worldwide. Haas also teaches percussion at the Aspen Music School and has been the director of the Peabody Conservatory Percussion Studio for 17 years. He's also the head of Sunset Records, Kettles and Company, and Gemini Music Productions.
Chris Waddell has won metals in both the winter and summer Paralympic Games, competing as both an alpine mono-skier and a wheelchair racer. Waddell is currently competing in the Paralympics in Salt Lake City. He has already won a silver medal this week.
Actor Guy Pearce is currently starring in the films The Time Machine and The Count of Monte Cristo. His other movies include Memento, L.A. Confidential, Rules of Engagement, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. His first big acting break came in the 1980s, when he starred in an Australian syndicated TV series called Neighbours.
Father Donald Cozzens is the author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood: A Reflection on the Priest's Crisis of Soul. He is president-rector and professor of pastoral theology at Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Cleveland. He is also the editor of The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest. Father Cozzens will talk about the church's current sexual abuse scandals, and other crises facing the priesthood.
In honor of the six-month anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, Meyerowitz talks about his World Trade Center Archive Project, a traveling State Department-sponsored exhibition of Ground Zero photographs. Meyerowitz originally spoke about his World Trade Center photos when he was a guest on Fresh Air on October 23, 2001.
John McWhorter's newest book is called The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language. He has written on Ebonics, language and African Americans, and the origins of the Creole Language. His other books include Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America and Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of 'Pure' Standard English. McWhorter is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
Writer Gary Paulsen is a prolific writer of children's books. He began writing over 30 years ago, when he was coming to terms with his alcoholism. For many years he and his wife lived in poverty in rural Minnesota. This changed when Paulsen won the Newbery Award for children's fiction in 1985 with Dogsong, about running the Iditarod. Paulsen's children's books often deal with adventurous youths who triumph over adversity in the wilderness. This interview first aired Oct. 6, 1992.
