Short stories

At age 70, the late writer and former boxing "cut man" F.X. Toole published his first book, a collection of short stories about boxing called Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner, to critical praise. We rebroadcast a Sept. 26, 2000, interview with Toole.

The new film, I, Robot, starring Will Smith, is loosely based on Asimov's short stories. The author wrote about space walks before man landed on the moon but didn't particularly care for commercial plane travel. He died in 1992. (First broadcast Sept. 9, 1987.)

Murray has written a new collection of short stories, A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies. Many of his stories are informed by his experiences as a doctor with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service when he traveled to developing countries like Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Murray is also a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Last year at age 70, writer F.X. Toole published his first book, a collection of short stories about boxing called Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner (in paperback, Ecco press). For twenty years, he's been a cut man, stopping the bleeding so fighters can go on to the next round. Toole has been writing for 40 years, but it was the publication of his first story in a small literary magazine in 1999 that caught the attention of a book agent.

Singer-songwriter Steve Earle has released ten critically acclaimed albums; his latest CD is called Transcendental Blues. He's just published his first book, a collection of short stories called Doghouse Roses. Earle is also politically active. He currently serves as a board member of the Journey of Hope and is affiliated with both the Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the Abolitionist Action Committee.

Richard Ford, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the novel "Independence Day," has edited and collected a new selection of short stories by the great Russian playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov. It's called "The Essential Tales of Chekhov" (Ecco Press)

Short story writer Stephanie Vaughn. Her first collection of stories is "Sweet Talk." Most of these stories chronicle the childhood, youth, and adulthood of Gemma, the daughter of a career army man. The New York Times says Vaughn "emerges as a thoroughly original writer, blessed with a distinctive voice, by turns witty and lyrical, wisecracking and nostalgic." Vaughn's stories first appeared in "The New Yorker," and in the O. Henry and Pushcart Prize collections. ("Sweet Talk" is published by Random House.)

Gordon Lish, editor of The Quarterly, a journal of new American writing. He's a leading exponent of the minimalist style of writing.