Best of Fresh Air

The musician started his career as a pianist, later focusing on vocals at the age of 27. He has developed an unusual technique and impressive three-and-a-half octave range.

Art Spiegelman is the author of Maus, a book documenting his father's experience during the Holocaust.

Malcom Rebennack writes and performs music under the name Dr. John. He began as a studio musician before developing his theatrical stage show, which drew from New Orleans traditions.

Sydney Biddle Barrows' call girl service was shut down in 1984. She now has a memoir about her life as a madam. Barrows joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about how she recruited and managed the young women who worked for her.

Novelist Father Andrew Greeley has just published an autobiography called Confessions of a Parish Priest. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his seminary training, his early experiences leading a congregation in Chicago, and his perspectives on the Catholic Church's views on sexuality.

Broadcast journalist Robert McNeil worked in Canada, England, and the United States. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his experiences as a journalist in conflict zones, as well as his start in television broadcasting.

Scandals involving Robert Bauman's alcoholism and soliciting of an underage male prostitute heralded the end of this career as a Maryland congressman. He writes about the experience and how he came to peace with his identity in his new book, The Gentleman from Maryland.

Gail Lumet Buckley is the daughter of groundbreaking African American actress Lena Horne. Buckley's new book, The Hornes, traces her family's history from the Civil War to contemporary New York, untangling the unique experiences of the black bourgeoisie in the US.

While working as a preacher at a mortuary, Solomon Burke was recruited by Atlantic Records to make a country and western album. The record was a hit, but many listeners didn't know Burke is black. He joins Fresh Air to share stories of how he later made a name in soul music.

Writer and Marine veteran William Broyles visited Vietnam years after the war to help come to terms with his experiences there. He made a point of being honest about his combat role when meeting with different Vietnamese people who survived the war.