Terry Gross

The influential photographer died of cancer Sunday. He was 63. In remembrance, we listen to a 1989 interview with him about his Pictures from Home, a decade-long project in which he observed the effects of his father's job loss on his family — a poignant topic once more.

This interview was originally broadcast July 12, 1989.

During his decade as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas Hoving is credited with transforming the museum from a somber monolith into a friendly and exciting place. Hoving died Thursday of cancer at his Manhattan home, according to his family. He was 78.

This interview was originally broadcast Jan. 15, 1993.

The photographer, who died Oct. 27 at age 89, dedicated his decades-long career to capturing images of African Americans. Roy DeCarava's subjects ranged from daily life in his hometown of Harlem to the Civil Rights movement.

Unitarian minister Forrest Church believed that the knowledge that we must die makes us question what life means. Church, who died Sept. 24, 2009 after a long battle with cancer of the esophagus, was the author of Love and Death: My Journey through the Valley of the Shadow.

The New York Times columnist and political spitfire, who died Sept. 27 of pancreatic cancer, left behind an indelible legacy in speechwriting and political reporting. We remember Safire with a conversation from the Fresh Air archives.

In remembrance of M*A*S*H creator Larry Gelbart, we listen back to a 1996 interview with the comedy writer. Gelbart died Sept. 11, 2009 at the age of 81.

Ellie Greenwich, who co-wrote some of the most popular songs of the early 1960s for the girl groups produced by Phil Spector, died Aug. 26 from a heart attack. In this interview, rebroadcast from 1986, Greenwich discusses the highlights of her career.

The man who gave us the electric guitar was more than just an insatiably curious tinkerer: He was a virtuoso guitarist and at one time a bona fide pop star, and he helped shape the sound of rock 'n' roll. Fresh Air remembers him with an archived interview from 1992.

Screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who wrote the screenplay for On the Waterfront, died Aug. 5 at age 95. Fresh Air remembers him with an interview he gave in 1990 — plus excerpts of chats with Elia Kazan and Eva Marie Saint.

"One of the great iconoclasts in 20th-century art," Merce Cunningham revolutionized modern dance, pioneering abstract movement with his partner John Cage. Cunningham died July 26 at the age of 90.