Hungarian writer Gyorgy Konrad. When he was 11 he bribed local police so that he and his sister could leave town and escape being deported. In 1974 he and a fellow writer were arrested in Budapest and imprisoned shortly for writing a sociological manuscript which was considered "subversive." Asked to leave the country, he decided a writer "should not emigrate, should not turn away from the risks of his profession." Konrad has written several novels, "The Case Worker," "The City Builder.
Novelist James Lee Burke. He's been writing for 35 years but he's best known for his more recent detective novels about Dave Robicheaux (ROW-bah-show), a recovering alcoholic, who is also a troubled Vietnam vet, and a New Orleans police lieutenant. The books are: "The Neon Rain," "Heaven's Prisoners," "Black Cherry Blues," and "A Morning for Flamingos." His fifth Robicheaux novel is, "A Stained White Radiance." (published by Hyperion).
TV critic David Bianculli reviews two shows that highlight two veteran performers: James Taylor and Bob Newhart. One is on Disney and the other on Showtime. With Newhart, this is his first full-length standup act in 25 years. They'll be broadcast on Sunday.
Writer and Director Ron Shelton. His latest movie is a movie about basketball, "White Men Can't Jump," starring Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes, and Rosie Perez. SHELTON is a former professional baseball player. He also was writer and director of the films, "Blaze," and "Bull Durham." (Interview by Amy Salit)
Singer-songwriter Peter Case. He took a Greyhound to California in the 70s, played guitar on the streets of San Francisco, and later got involved in the L.A. band scene in the early 80s, where he started a band called The Plimsouls. Since then, he's had a solo career. His new album is called "Six Pack of Love" (it's on the Geffen label).
British elections are coming up this week: We'll look at the elections, and how the British media is covering them, with New York Times London correspondent William Schmidt.
Actor Larry Fishburne. He was Cowboy Curtis on "Pee-wee's Playhouse," and he played a young G.I. in "Apocalypse Now" when he was only 15. He was last in "Boyz in the Hood" as the main character's father. His latest role is in the soon-to-be-released film "Deep Cover," in which he plays an undercover cop. (Fine Line Pictures).
Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a recording of Stan Getz and Kenny Barron called "People Time" (on the Gitanes Jazz label), billed as Getz's last recording before his death.
Isaac Asimov [a.k.a. Paul French], the prolific science fiction writer, has passed away at the age of 72. Asimov wrote nearly 500 books, and was honored, among other times, in 1966 with a special Hugo Award for the best science fiction series ever for his "Foundation" trilogy. We present highlights from an earlier interview. (Rebroadcast. Originally aired 9/25/87.)
Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Candidate's Wife," a politcal novel written by Michael Dukakis' former campaign press secretary, Patricia O'Brien (published by Simon and Schuster).
Writer and radio talk show host Studs Terkel. His new book, "Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession," (The New Press) is the latest in his series of collected oral histories. He won a Pulitzer prize for his collection "The Good War," about World War 2. His other books include "Working," "Hard Times," and "Division Street: America."
William Taubman is a political science professor at Amherst College. He was recently in Moscow as one of the scholars invited to help open up the archives of the government under Communism. He was able to get a sense of the day to day workings of the Soviet empire.
Macabre cartoonist and illustrator Edward Gorey talks to Terry from his house in Cape Cod (he's not fond of leaving home). His longtime favorite children's books include "The Curious Nosebleed," (Dodd, Mead) "The Loathesome Couple," (Dodd, Mead) and "Amphigorey," (G.P. Putnam's Sons) which was recently made into a musical that's currently playing in Philadelphia. You might have also seen his illustrations on the opening credits of the PBS show "Mystery."
Writer Geoffrey Wolff. His new collection of essays, "A Day At The Beach" (Alfred A. Knopf), is about the worst vacation ever. It started with over-priced dinners and ended in open heart surgery. Wolff is best known for his book "The Duke of Deception," a memoir about being the son of a con man.
Economist Lester Thurow (say it like "Thoreau"), author of "The Coming Economic Battle Between America, Europe, and Japan." THUROW will discuss how Euorpe and Japan are playing by a new set of business rules and that it's time to update our own.
