Comedian Dave Thomas. Thomas first hit it big as a member of the "SCTV" comedy series. He currently has a summer-replacement comedy variety show on CBS, called "The Dave Thomas Comedy Show."
Musician and songwriter John Hiatt. Hiatt spent years writing country tunes for other performers. In the past few years he's come into his own as a performer, with several critically-acclaimed albums. His latest is called "Stolen Moments," on A&M Records.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Manic Traditions," the new album by Les Miserables Brass Band. They're an eclectic group that plays brass music from around the world, as well as original works. (They're on the Northeastern label).
Journalist Elisabeth Bumiller (pronounced BUE-mill-er). Her new book, "May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons," examines the repressive life of many women in India today. It's published by Random House.
Writer Walter Mosley. His first book, "Devil In A Blue Dress," is a hard boiled detective story starring a black gumshoe up against white prejudice. It's published by Norton.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the operatic adaptation of Henry James' story, "The Turn of The Screw." It was composed by Benjamin Britten in 1954, and London records has just reissued a recording of Britten performing the work.
Actor Meshach (mee-shack) Taylor. He plays Anthony Bouvier on the T-V series "Designing Women," and he's appearing in the upcoming film, "Mannequin on the Move."
Author Art Davidson. A former planning director for the state of Alaska, Davidson has been a long-time opponent of the Alaska pipeline. He's just written an expose of the events that led to last summer's oil spill. The book's called "In The Wake of the Exxon Valdez: The Devastating Impact of the Alaska Oil Spill." It's published by Sierra Club books.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Madonna's new album, "I'm Breathless." It's music from, and inspired by, the new movie, "Dick Tracy." The album's on Warner.
Clarinetist Don Byron. Byron's black, but he plays klezmer, the music created from the mixture of American jazz and European jewish culture. Byron's an alumnus of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and he performs on a new anthology album called "Live At The Knitting Factory." It's on A&M records.
Veteran journalist Dusko Doder. Doder and co-author Louise Branson have just written a comprehensive biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, titled, "Gorbachev: Heretic In the Kremlin." It's published by Viking. Dusko Doder is the former Moscow Bureau chief for the Washington Post. Branson covered the Soviet Union for the Sunday Times of London.
Harold Bronson and Richard Foos, the co-founders of Rhino Records. Their label specializes in off-the-wall novelty records and anthologies of out-of-print recordings by the past greats of rock.
Book critic John Leonard "The Loony-Bin Trip," feminist Kate Millett's memoir of her dealing with manic depression. It's published by Simon and Schuster.
Freelance journalist Robert Draper. He's just written a profile of America's leading rock magazine, titled "Rolling Stone Magazine: The Uncensored History." It's published by Doubleday.
