Books & Literature

Linguist and author Naomi S. Baron. Her book, "Growing up with Language" (Addison-Wesley publishers, 1992) examines the process by which children learn to use language. Baron is Professor of Linguistics and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at the American University in Washington DC. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Restaurant-owner and chef, Mai Pham. Born in Vietnam and raised in Thailand, Pham came to the United States in 1975 and became the first Vietnamese journalist in this country. Her first cookbook, "The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking" (Prima) is a collection of recipes coupled with memories and reflections of life and food in South East Asian culture. Subtitled, "Favorite Recipes from the Lemon Grass Restaurant and Cafes", the book includes 150 of Pham's recipes that have drawn accolades for her three Sacramento restaurants

Novelist Terry McMillan. The film adaptation of her 1992 novel, "Waiting to Exhale" was last year's box office hit.The book sold nearly 4 million copies. McMillan has recently completed her fourth novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (Viking) which is available in bookstores this week. It tells the story of a 42-year old career woman on vacation in Jamaica who falls in love with a 20-year old unemployed resort worker. According to McMillan, "it's as close to autobiography as I've written in a long time".

Journalist Richard Kluger. He's written a new history of the tobacco industry in America: "Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris." (Knopf). Kluger was literary editor of the New York Herald Tribune. He also wrote for The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

Center for the Houston Rockets, Hakeem Olajuwon He was born in Nigeria, and came to the United States on a basketball scholarship to attend the University of Houston. He helped the team reach the NCAA Final Four. He's written his memoir, "Living the Dream: My Life and Basketball," (Little, Brown).

Ira Kay is the Practice Director of Watson Wyatt's Executive Compensation Practice. He's also the author of "Value at the Top: Solutions to the Executive Compensation Crisis" (Harper Collins).

Poet Donald Hall. A year ago, his wife, poet Jane Kenyon died of leukemia. There's a new collection of her work, "Otherwise: New & Selected Poems" (Graywolf Press). Hall will read from the book, including the last poems she wrote, and discuss their life together. Hall also has a forthcoming book of poetry, "The Old Life," (Houghton Mifflin) to be published in June.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Last Orders" (Knopf) the new novel by Graham Swift.

Poet, performer, and punk rocker Patti Smith. Early in her career she lived with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and -- she says -- the two helped each other form and develop their individual talents. (Her 1975 debut album cover was photograph was taken by Mappelthorpe.) Terry talks with Smith on the occasion of the publication of, "Mappelthorpe Altars," (Random House) the color companion volume to the collection of his black-and-white prints, "Mapplethorpe" published in 1992.

U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass. He's written several books of poetry including "Praise" and "Human Wishes." He also edited "The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson & Issa."

The grand-daughter of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Noa Ben Artzi-Pelossof. During the his funeral Noa gave a moving tribute to the grandfather she knew as opposed to the political leader the world knew. She's written a new memoir, "In the Name of Sorrow and Hope," (Knopf).

Publisher of The Nation, Victor Navasky. He was one of a group of writers who in 1967 conceived of a literary hoax. The book "Report From Iron Mountain," was penned by Leonard Lewin and was a satire, supposedly written by a commission of eminent scholars about the problems that would arise in the United States if "permanent peace" should arrive. The book has been compared to Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and "Dr. Strangelove" for its social and political commentary. It wasn't until 1972 that Lewin admitted the hoax.

Former Jesuit seminarian and literary critic Jack Miles. He's just won the Pulitzer prize for his book, "God: A Biography." (Vintage). In the book he examines God as a character -- the protagonist -- of the Old Testament. Miles is also a columnist and member of the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times.

Chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center and its Militia Task Force, Morris Dees. His group has been monitoring the activity of militia and extremist groups. In fact, six months before the Oklahoma City Bombing Dees warned the U.S. Attorney General that the militia movement posed a serious threat. His new book is "Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat," (HarperCollins).

Chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center and its Militia Task Force, Morris Dees. His group has been monitoring the activity of militia and extremist groups. In fact, six months before the Oklahoma City Bombing Dees warned the U.S. Attorney General that the militia movement posed a serious threat. His new book is "Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat," (HarperCollins).

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Sin and Censorship: The Catholic Church and the Motion Picture Industry," by Frank Walsh (Yale Univ. Press).

Psychiatrist James Gilligan. He's spent twenty-five years treating violent men, as former medical director of the Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane, and director of mental health for the Massachusetts prison system.

Psychiatrist James Gilligan. He's spent twenty-five years treating violent men, as former medical director of the Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane, and director of mental health for the Massachusetts prison system.

Film editor and sound designer Walter Murch. He won an Academy Award for sound design for "Apocalypse Now." Some of the films he's edited and/or mixed are "The Conversation," "American Graffiti," "Apocalypse Now," "The Godfather (II, and III)"and "Crumb." He's written a new book about his work, "In the Blink of An Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing," (Silman-James Press, L.A.)

Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie are co-founders of Mosaic Records, a label committed to reissuing classic jazz recordings, many of them originally recorded by Blue Note. The two have also collaborated on the new book, "The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff," (Rizzoli International Publications). It includes 200 photographs taken by Francis Wolff from 1941-1965, who also co-founded the Blue Note label. Many of Wolff's photographs were used as Blue Note album covers.