Books

Former three-term Governor for New York State Mario Cuomo and one of the Democratic party's most respected spokesperson. Since losing office in the 1994 republican-landslide election, Cuomo has started his own nationally syndicated radio show. His new book, Reason to Believe (Simon & Schuster) is his critique of the Republican's Contract with America.

Co-creator, executive producer and head writer of "NYPD Blue," David Milch, and Detective Bill Clark who is a consultant to the show. Clark is a former New York City homicide detective. Many of the story lines for the show, come from the cases he worked on. The two have collaborated on a new book, True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue (William Morrow).

Co-creator, executive producer and head writer of "NYPD Blue," David Milch, and Detective Bill Clark who is a consultant to the show. Clark is a former New York City homicide detective. Many of the story lines for the show, come from the cases he worked on. The two have collaborated on a new book, True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue (William Morrow).

Film historian David J. Skal. He's an expert on the horror film genre. His books include Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen (W.W. Norton) and The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (Penguin, paperback). His newest book (written in collaboration with Elias Savada) is Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning, Hollywood's Master of the Macabre (Anchor Books).

Journalist Evan Thomas. He is Assistant Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief at Newsweek. His new book is The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA (Simon & Schuster). In the book he tells about the men who ran the CIA's covert operations during the worst of the cold war years. Thomas had access to the CIA's own records about their operations, and he interviewed many of the men involved. Thomas was the only person to have such access to the CIA's archives. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

Nicholas Pileggi discusses his book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. (Simon & Schuster Oct. 1995) It is based on the true story of Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and his account of how the mob controlled several casinos in Las Vegas in the 1970s and early 80s. Pileggi also wrote the screenplay for a movie based on "Casino." A film directed by Martin Scorsese starring Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci. Pileggi's best-selling book Wiseguy was used as the basis for the film "Goodfellas." Pileggi lives in New York City.

Newspaper publisher Cynthia Brown of American Police Beat. The newspaper's motto is to be "The Voice of the Nation's Police Officers." The tabloid-style paper is written for and by cops and caters to their concerns. (The paper's address is P.O. BOX 382702, Cambridge, MA 02238-2702; Tel: 617-491-8878; FAX: 617-354-6515)

Psychologist and Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Howard Gardner. He's written a new book, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, (Basic Books) in which he profiles a number of leaders, exploring the link between creativity and leadership. Gardner has written thirteen books, and is also a recipient of the MacArthur Prize Fellowship. He'll talk with Terry about his theory of multiple intelligence which was the subject of his 1983 book Frames of Mind.

Neurologist William Langston. His work plunged him into a medical mystery, and a hot political controversy about the ethics of medicine. In 1982 Langston was called in to examine a number of "frozen" patients, young men and women in the San Francisco Bay Area who suddenly could neither move or speak, though conscious. Langston recognized the signs of Parkinson's disease, and determined that these patients had all used the same batch of tainted heroin. Langston prescribed L-dopa, a treatment for Parkinson's which only provided short-term relief.

Professor of American Studies and History at the Univ. of Minnesota Elaine Tyler May. Her new book Barren in the Promised Land: Childless Americans and the Pursuit of Happiness (Basic) is said to be the first book to examine the history of childlessness in America in all its complexities, from infertility to forced sterilization to childfree by choice." MAY is the author three previous books including Great Expectations, and Homeward Bound. She has also written widely in the scholarly and popular press, including articles in The New York Times, and Los Angeles Times.