Sherpa Jamling Tensing Norgay. Author of the new book Touching My Father's Soul, Norgay was Climbing Leader for the 1996 Everest IMAX Filming Expedition and summitted the Mountain that year. He's also the son of Tenzing Norgay, one of the first men in history to summit Mt. Everest. In his book, Jamling Norgay recounts his 1996 Mt. Everest ascent: the climb and its familial meaning. He now heads Tenzing Norgay Adventures which is based in India.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead begins a new six-part series we call Avant-Garde Made Easy, highlighting some of the important modern jazz mavericks of the so-called Avant Garde. Today we consider the music of trumpeter Lester Bowie.
Writer Benson Bobrick. He's the author of the recently published "Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired." The book chronicles the difficulties scholars had in translating the Bible into English - efforts that culminated in the King James version. Bobrick is the author of several books and lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Joey Ramone the lead singer of the punk band The Ramones. He died on Sunday at the age of 49. He had lymphoma. From their start in 1974, the Ramones combined fast, deafening guitar with precise drumming to create a hurricane of sound. Their songs had titles like Beat on the Brat, Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment and Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.
The Bay of Pigs invasion in which Cuban exiles trained by the CIA unsuccessfully tried to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. A talk with Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archives. He edited the new book Bay of Pigs Declassified (The New Press). Among the documents released is the agencys post-mortem on the disastrous invasion, written after a six-month investigation. It was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Cold War. Recently Kornbluh organized an international conference in Havana on the Bay of Pigs.
Alfredo Duran who was 24 years old when he was part of the Brigade 2506, the group that invaded Cuba. And Robert Reynolds who was chief of the CIAs Miami station during the Bay of Pigs.
Classical pianist and conductor Murray Perahia. Hes been exploring the music of J.S. Bach in his recordings. His latest is Bachs Keyboard Concertos vol. 1 which he recorded and conducted with the St. Martin in the Fields ensemble. He also recorded the Goldberg Variations and Bachs complete English Suites. (All are on Sony Classical). In 1994 Perahia suffered a thumb injury that left him unable to play regularly for a year. He took up his first conducting post as Principal Guest conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. They just completed a 10-city tour.
African novelist and chemist Emmanuel Dongala. He was born in the Congo Republic, was educated in the U.S., and left the Congo with the outbreak of civil war in 1997. Two of his novels have just been translated to English: “Little Boys Come From the Stars” and “The Fires of Origins” (both by Lawrence Hill Books). With the help of writers Philip Roth and William Styron, Dongala now has a visiting professorship in chemistry at Simon’s Rock of Bard College in Massachusetts. Dongala is also president of the Congolese PEN Centre.
Journalists Lou Michel (“Meh-SHELL”) and Dan Herbeck are staff writers for the Buffalo News. The two have collaborated on the new book “American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing” (ReganBooks). MICHEL lived twenty minutes away from the McVeigh’s father, and over time he developed a relationship with the elder McVeigh which in turn helped him gain access to his son. Michel and Herbeck conducted nearly 80 hours of interviews with Timothy McVeigh.
Veteran broadcaster and executive producer of 60 Minutes, DON HEWITT. Hes been with CBS News since 1948 and was producer-director of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite before creating 60 Minutes in 1968. Hes written a new memoir, –Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes in Television
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead begins a new six-part series we call Avant-Garde Made Easy, highlighting some of the important modern jazz mavericks of the so-called Avant Garde. We begin the series with pianist, composer, and band leader Sun Ra.
Journalist Anne Nivet (“NEE-VAH”) is Moscow correspondent for the French paper Liberation. Two years ago, after the Russians denied her press access to Chechnya, she disguised herself as a Chechen peasant woman and snuck across the boarder. For six months she followed the war, traveling with the underground rebels and staying with families. Her reports were published in Liberation. Her new memoir is “Chienne De Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War In Chechnya”
Bob Newhart's been a part of the American comedy landscape since 1961 when his debut comedy album "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" became a surprise hit. Since then he's starred in three TV shows, including the Peabody award winning original "The Bob Newhart Show." And appeared in numerous films. There's a new Rhino anthology of his classic routines, "Something Like This. . .The Bob Newhart Anthology." Recently Newhart was honored at the Aspen Comedy Festival. This Fall Newhart is scheduled to co-star in a pilot for a new TV show.
