Books

Bioethicist George Annas and Director of the Law, Medicine & Ethics Program, Boston University Schools of Medicine, Public Health and Law. "Standard of Care," (Oxford University Press) is his new book which examines how the law has shaped medical practice. ANNAS believes the law has a bigger impact on medical ethics than does philosophy or medicine. For instance, he says because doctors are afraid of litigation, they often don't use sound medical judgement.

Educator Deborah Meier. She's a nationally known authority on education, and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" award. She developed and directed three alternative elementary schools in East Harlem and later a Secondary School. The schools accept students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Classes are small and personalized, and the emphasis is on academic learning and inquiry. MEIER wanted to create an atmosphere where students learn democratic values, where teachers can hold kids accountable, and parents can become involved.

Medical ethicist Daniel Callahan. His new book is "The Troubled Dream of Life: Living with Mortality." (Simon & Schuster). In it he looks at how our society views death: If death is a "part of life," why do we have such trouble accepting it? And how do our attitudes about death affect medical and social policy?

Dr. Dean Ornish. He, along with other researchers, has developed a "lifestyle" program for reversing heart disease. Working with a group of heart patients, Ornish, has reversed the disease, thru diet, moderate exercise, and stress reduction. He recommends the program for everyone, not just those at risk for heart disease. Ornish relies on data from seven years of study on this group of patients. Recently the "lifestyle" program qualified for reimbursement by a major insurance company. It's the first time such a program has qualified.

Rock and roll critic Dave Marsh talks about the song "Louie, Louie". He's written a book about it called, "Louie, Louie: The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'n' Roll Song: Including the Full Details of Its Torture and Persecution at the Hands of the Kingsmen, J. Edgar Hoover's F.B.I., and a Cast of Millions; and Introducing, for the First Time Anywhere, the Actual Dirty Lyrics." (Hyperion) The song was written by Richard Berry in 1957...as a tale of a lovesick Jamaican sailor.

Anthropologist Elliot Liebow. He is the author of the classic 1967 study "Tally's Corner," a look at African-American street corner life. The bestseller was Liebow's doctoral dissertation, and it's still used by many college students. His new work, the first he's published in over twenty years, is called "Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women."(Free Press/Macmillan). He investigates the patterns and routines of homeless women around Washington, D.C.

Dr. Kevin Cahill. He specializes in tropical medicine, and he looks at the role of health in promoting world peace. He is President and Director of the Center for International Health and Cooperation in New york. His work looking at health amid natural disasters and wars has taken him all over the world, from Nicaragua in the 70s to Somalia today. He is the author or editor of 22 books.

Betsy Lieberman, Executive Director of AIDS Housing of Washington which has built the country's first nursing home designed for people dying of AIDS. It's called the Bailey-Boushay House. The House also offers adult day-care services and activities for people with AIDS. The House has been in operation for a little over a year now. Since then more than 130 people have died there. A new book about the project has been published, "Breaking New Ground: Developing Innovative AIDS Care Residences." (published by AIDS Housing of Washington, Original Trade Paperback).

Architect Peter Calthorpe, whose new book "The Next American Metropolis" (Princeton Architectural Press) advocates designing suburban communities with environmental, social and economic limits in mind, and without a reliance on the automobile. His developments would be connected by light rail systems, not multi-lane freeways. Calthorpe proposes neighborhoods which encourage walking as a way to emphasize community building.

Professor Deborah Lipstadt examines a chilling new trend in historical revisionism: disavowing the deaths of six million Jews in Nazi concentration camps. Her new book, "Denying the Holocaust" (Free Press) traces the rise of this opposition: its practitioners' change in influence as isolated pamphleteers and cranks forty years ago to their point today, where a new poll found one fifth of the American public think it seems "possible" that the Holocaust never happened.