Fathers and sons

Jamie Wyeth's grandfather, N.C. Wyeth was an illustrator; his father is the renowned realist painter Andrew Wyeth. The youngest Wyeth tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the various ways he honed his craft -- without a formal art school education.

Adam Hochschild, founder of the leftist magazine "Mother Jones." He's written a memoir about his ambivalent relationship with his father, an industrialist who operated a string of gold and diamond mines in South Africa.

Writer Pat Conroy, author of the autobiographical novels The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini and The Lords of Discipline. They all tell the story of growing up in the South in a large family headed by an abusive Marine father. (Rebroadcast. Original broadcast 1.27.87)

Fred de Cordova worked in radio, Broadway, and film. Now he's a producer on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He books guests and manages the flow of the program. Cordova's new autobiography is called Johnny Came Lately.

Doc Watson has announced he'll retire from touring -- though he'll continue playing music for the rest of his life. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his roots in North Carolina and his evolution as a guitar player. Watson often performed with his son Merle, who died in a tragic tractor accident.

Investigative reporter Howard Kohn has covered stories like the Patty Hearst kidnapping and the death of Karen Silkwood. When his father's health started to fail, Kohn decided to move back to the family farm in Michigan. His new memoir, The Last Farmer, documents that experience, and considers the relationship between parents and their adult children.

The jazz piano wunderkind performs some classic swing tunes on piano.

John Cheever's son Benjamin collected the author's letters in a new book. He joins Fresh Air to talk about John Cheever's sexuality, relationship with their family, and the impact of his death.

Ray has written twelve books of poetry. His lastest, Sam's Book, centers on memories of his son Sam, who was killed in a drinking accident.

Russo's latest book, The Risk Pool, is set in an upstate New York town, similar to where the author grew up. He says he didn't realize until later in his career how much inspiration he could draw from his formative years.