Biography & Memoir

Walter Turnbull is the founder and of the Boys Choir of Harlem. He has written about his work in "Lift Every Voice" by Hyperion. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Emmy award winning actor Kelsey Grammer. The former co-star of "Cheers" and the current star of "Frasier," has written his memoir, "So Far." (Dutton). Grammer, who got his start in classical theatre, is now known for his comic gifts in "Frasier" which is one of television's top ten shows.

Caroline Hebard is the co-founder of the U.S. Disaster Response Team. She and her German shepherd dogs have carried out search and rescue missions at the world's most tragic disaster sites: earthquakes in Japan, Mexico and Armenia, floods in Tennessee, hurricanes, and bridge collapses. The work is dangerous: trainers often follow their dogs into a collapsed building. Hebard lives in Bernardsville, New Jersey with her husband, children and dogs. Her new book (written with Hank Whittemore) is "So That Others May Live." (Bantam Books).

Critic Maureen Corrigan gives her holiday picks.

Former Executive Editor of The New York Times James Reston. He died this week at the age of 86, from cancer. He spent fifty years with The New York Times. He began as a reporter in London in 1940, covering the war. He was also Washington bureau chief, executive editor, and columnist. He retired in 1989 at the age of 80. In 1991 he wrote a new memoir, called Deadline (Random House). (REBROADCAST from 10/30/91)

Actress/painter Mary Woronov. She was part of Andy Warhol's "Factory" in the 1960s. She was discovered while still a college student and was in Warhol's film, "Chelsea Girls," about New York bohemian life. She has a new memoir about those years, Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory (Journey Editions).

Former head of the FBI's Serial Crime Unit, John Douglas. For 20 years he investigated serial murders for the FBI, and developed techniques to get criminals to talk, and to lure them into capture. He also pioneered criminal profiling. Many of his techniques have been adopted by police departments and prosecutors nationwide. Douglas interviewed such notorious killers as Charles Manson and Richard Speck. He has a new memoir, Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit (Lisa Drew book, written with Mark Olshaker).

Temple Grandin is one of the nation’s top designers of livestock facilities. She is also autistic. In her book, Thinking in Pictures: and other reports from my life with Autism she describes how her inner-autistic world has led her to develop animal empathy. She is currently an assistant professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Her new book is published by Doubleday 1995. Grandin was the subject of Oliver Sack’s 1993 New Yorker article An Anthropologist on Mars.

Writer Joe Kane talks about his new book Savages (Knopf 1995) It’s his first hand account on the confrontations between Amazonian warriors and multi-national oil companies, environmentalists and missionaries. Kane writes about the Huaorani tribe’s fight for its culture and environment. Kane’s earlier book Running the Amazon was a 1989 New York Times best-seller. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane).

Journalist George Lardner, Jr. is an investigative reporter for The Washington Post. In 1993 he had to investigate the murder of his own daughter, who was stalked and killed by an ex-boyfriend. Lardner won a Pulitzer Prize for his story which showed how the system had failed to protect his daughter, Kristin. His new book is The Stalking of Kristin: A Father Investigates the Murder of his Daughter. (Atlantic Monthly Press). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Writer and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel. He's the author of over 30 books. Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust, is known for his work which bears witness to that tragedy. Wiesel has just published the first volume of his memoirs, All Rivers Run to the Sea. In this book Wiesel writes about his childhood before the war, the horrors of Auschwitz, and his life after the war as a Paris based journalist, and as a New York writer, who struggled with the tragedies of the past, and the commitment to not letting the world forget what happened.

Writer Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior writer for "The Jerusalem Report." He's the author of Memoirs of A Jewish Extremist: An American Story, (Little, Brown) which tells the story of his involvement with Jewish right-wing movements in the United States, and with the extremist rabbi Meir Kahane. Halevi eventually broke away from the movement.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore. She starred in the Emmy award television show "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and the film "Ordinary People." She is now starring in a new CBS series "New York News," a drama about life at a fictional New York newspaper, and has recently written her autobiography, "After All," (Putnam's Sons).

Actress Mary Tyler Moore. She starred in the Emmy award television show "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and the film "Ordinary People." She is now starring in a new CBS series "New York News," a drama about life at a fictional New York newspaper, and has recently written her autobiography, "After All," (Putnam's Sons).

Former press secretary for Reagan and Bush, Marlin Fitzwater. He spent 17 years as a government flak before being appointed to his position in the Reagan White House. In his new memoir, Call the Briefing! Reagan and Bush, Sam and Helen: A Decade with Presidents and the Press (Times Books). Fitzwater writes about the relationship between the press secretary, the White House, and the press.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new memoir by Mary Cantwell, Manhattan, When I Was Young.

Television anchor and author Robert MacNeil. He steps down tonight as co-anchor of the PBS news show The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour. Terry talked with him this week. We'll hear that interview and one from 1989. His books include, Wordstruck, a memoir that explores the roots of MacNeil's fascination with language and the best-selling The Story of English. (Contains excerpt of MacNeil's March 14, 1989 interview).

International investor and philanthropist George Soros and one of the world's wealthiest men. He's been called the "world's greatest investor." As head of the Soros Foundation, (a philanthropic organization) he's given away millions internationally, funding such things as a water-treatment plant for Sarajevo, low-income housing units for South Africa's urban townships, and a University for Central Europe in Budapest.

Lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks, Ray Davies. He's just written his "unauthorized autobiography." The book is written in the third, nameless person, and takes place in a corporation-run future. It's called, Ray Davies: X-Ray. (The Overlook Press). Ray started The Kinks in 1964 with his brother. They are said to be the pioneers of the rowdy garage band genre of rock music. Their many hits included: "You Really Got Me," "Lola," "All Day and All of the Night," and "Tired of Waiting for You."

Former Secretary of State James Baker talks about his role during the Bush Administration. His new autobiography is The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War & Peace, 1989-1992.It was co-written with Thomas M. DeFrank and published by G.P. Putnam's Sons 1995. As the 61st Secretary of State, James Baker oversaw U.S. relations during many historic geo-political changes. Among those include The Persian Gulf War, Tiananmen Square, and The fall of the Berlin Wall.