Biography & Memoir

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Stuart A. Herrington. He spent 30 years as a military intelligence officer, serving in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. He was the Army's authority on counterintelligence and on the interrogation and debriefing of defectors and prisoners of war. He's written the new book "Traitors Among Us: Inside the Spy Catcher's World" (Presido).

Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord is the first Navajo woman surgeon. She is the author of the new book "The Scalpel and the Silver Bear." (Bantam) In her practice, she combines modern surgery with ancient Navajo healing practices. Born and raised on a reservation near Gallup, New Mexico she now serves as an assistant professor of surgery at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire.

William Karesh is a wildlife veterinarian in some of the world's most remote areas. He's written about his experiences in "Appointment at the Ends of the World: Memoirs of a Wildlife Veterinarian." (Warner Books) Karesh heads the International Field Veterinary Program for the Wildlife Conservation Society, located at the Bronx Zoo,in New York.

Linda Greenlaw has worked on commercial fishing boats for nearly 20 years. She has written about her experience leading a sword fishing boat to New Foundland in the new book "The Hungry Ocean." (Hyperion) Curiously, After completing the book, she says of writing "I'd rather be fishing." Boston magazine named Greenlaw as one of the most intriguing women of 1997. She lives on Isle au Haut, Maine.

Film director Paul Mazursky has written the new memoir "Show Me the Magic: My Adventures in Life and Hollywood." (Simon & Schuster) Mazursky films include "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," "An Unmarried Woman," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," and "Moscow on the Hudson." He wrote the screenplay for "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas."

Former Special Counsel to President Clinton, Lanny Davis. He served from December 1996 thru January 1998. During that time he saw the President thru various financial scandals and developed a style for dealing with bad news head on. Davis left the White House just as the Monica Lewinsky story was breaking. DAVIS has a new memoir, "Truth to Tell: Tell it Early, Tell it All, Tell it Yourself: Notes from My White House Education" (The Free Press).

Former president of South Africa, F.W. Deklerk. He dismantled apartheid, released Nelson Mandela from prison, and later shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela. Deklerk has a new autobiography, "F.W. DeKlerk: The Last Trek A New Beginning (St. Martin's Press).

Actor and now author Bill Murray. He's co-written the new book "Cinderella Story : My Life in Golf." with George Peper. Cinderella Story is really two books. The first is a string of anecdotes about Murray's club-wielding adventures with a number of celebrities including: Jack Nicklaus, John Denver, Clint Eastwood, and Hunter Thompson. The book is also an autobiography of a kid who started out caddying for 60 cents a half-hour with his brothers.

Singer Mel Torme died Saturday at age 73 of complications from a stroke. We'll hear an interview Terry Gross did with Mel in 1988. For more than 50 years, Torme was one of most accomplished and versatile pop and jazz singers. Known for years as "The Velvet Fog," Born Melvin Howard Torme to Russian-Jewish immigrants in Chicago on Sept. 13, 1925, Torme first made his reputation in the Big Band era as a songwriter, arranger, drummer and singer. He later sang in MGM musicals.

The Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura. He's got a new memoir called, "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up." (Villard).

Former chief United Nation's hostage negotiator Giandomenico Picco. He has written about his experiences in the new book "Man without a Gun: One diplomat's secret struggle to free the hostages, fight terrorism, and end a war." (Times Books) Picco helped negotiate the release of more than a dozen western hostages being held by Islamic militants in Lebanon. He currently serves as president of GDP Associates, an international consulting firm in New York city, and is founder of the Non-Governmental Peace Strategy Project based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Actress Camryn Manheim. She recently won an Emmy Award for her role as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's "The Practice." When she went up on stage to receive the award she joyously exclaimed "This is for all the fat girls!" She's written a memoir about her struggle to accept herself and her weight. It's called "Wake Up, I'm Fat!" (Broadway Books).

Former U.S. Senator from Maine, George Mitchell. After leaving the Senate he chaired the Northern Ireland peace talks. His new book is about that, "Making Peace: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Negotiations that Culminated in the Signing of the Northern Ireland Peace Accord, told by the American Senator who Served as Independent Chairman of the Talks" (Knopf).

Monica Lewinsky discusses her relationship with the President. Her new book is "Monica's Story" (St. Martins).

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Amateur: An Independent Life of Letters" (Pantheon) a memoir by Wendy Lesser, the founder and co-editor of "The Threepenny Review" a journal of literature and arts which will soon celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Former Executive Editor of The New York Times Max Frankel talks about his life in one of the world's most influential papers. His new book is "Max Frankel: The Times of My Life and My Life with The Times." (Random House) Frankel began writing for The Times as a stringer while at Columbia University in New York City. Over the next half of century, he rose to become Executive Editor a post he retired in 1994. He received the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1973.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Scars of Sweet Paradise" (Metropolitan Books), the new biography of Janis Joplin by historian Alice Echols.

Laura Landro has written the new book "Survivor: Taking Control of Your Fight Against Cancer." (Simon & Schuster) In 1991, Landro, then a Wall Street Journal reporter, was diagnosed with leukemia. She used her journalist training to seek out the best form of treatment. She is now senior editor of entertainment, media, and marketing coverage at the Wall Street Journal.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Crime of Sheila McGough" ("McGuff") by journalist Janet Malcolm, published by Knopf.