Parenting

Berube is a professor of English at the University of Illinois and is the author of the new book, "Life As We Know It: A Father, a Family, and an Exceptional Child." It's about the birth of his son in 1991, Jamie, who has Down syndrome, and how that has affected his family's life. Berube writes in the introduction, "individual humans like James are compelling us daily to determine what kind of 'individuality' we will value, on what terms, and why."

Former caseworker in New York City's Emergency Children's Services, Marc Parent. It was Parent's job to investigate cases of abused children during the evening and nighttime hours. He's written a new memoir about his experiences, called "Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk." Kirkus Reviews writes, "At once heart-wrenching and heart-lifting is this record of four years spent riding to the rescue of abused and neglected children."

The psychosexual therapist, along with Ben Yagoda, wrote a new book about the well-being of the American family, "The Value of Family: A Blueprint for the 21st Century." Much of her perspective is informed by her experience fleeing the Holocaust as a child.

Nigel Spicer, President of Microsystems Software, Inc. They developed a parental-control software called Cyber Patrol.

First Lady Hilary Rodham Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, a longtime children's advocate, talks about her new book, "It Takes a Village; And Other Lessons Children Teach us." [Simon & Shuster]. And she addresses the Whitewater and White House travel office issues, and the challenges of being the First Lady.

Novelist Kaye Gibbons. She's the author of several acclaimed novels: Ellen Foster and Charms for the Easy Life. One reviewer says "Gibbon's brilliance lies in examining with unsentimental tenderness a family poised on the brink of disaster." Gibbons has a new novel, Sights Unseen (Putnam) about a girl's life with her manic-depressive mother. Gibbons herself has the illness, and she'll talk with Terry about that.

Gerald Early is Director of African American Studies at Washington University, and author of several books. His newest book is a memoir about raising his two daughters, "Daughters: On Family and Fatherhood," (Addison-Wesley). One reviewer wrote, "a powerful reminder of the complexity and mystery, and abiding love that exists in families. . . this narrative. . is also suffused with the glory and pain and generational patience of black culture in America."

Former Drug Czar William Bennett. He is currently co-director of the conservative organization "Empower America." In 1981, he was appointed by Ronald Reagan to be Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1985, he became President Reagan's Secretary of Education, and from March of 1989 to November of 1990, he served as President Bush's director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Bennett has written extensively on social and domestic issues and is the author of five books.

Today's first half is about children who are orphaned after losing their parents to AIDS. Studies estimate that by the year 2000, up to 125,000 U.S. children will be left parentless because of the fatal illness. AIDS workers are now beginning to realize their next step is to help these secondary victims by providing homes, food and counseling. We interview two people on the subject; a single mother with AIDS, and the head of a project designed to address the needs of orphaned kids:

Marian Wright Edelman is the founder of the Children's Defense Fund, a Washington advocacy group that works to prevent teen pregnancy, and provide for children's health, education and employment. The Los Angeles Times has called her "the most powerful advocate in America for children." She was the first black woman admitted to the bar in Mississippi.