Inspired by progenitors of the genre, Robert B. Parker writes a series of hard-boiled detective novels featuring a private investigator named Spenser. The books have recently been adapted into a television show called Spenser for Hire. Parker's newest novel is called Taming the Sea-horse.
Lawyer Alan Dershowitz is known for representing figures like Nazis and pornographers in court. His new book, Reversal of Fortune, details the trial of aristocrat Claus von Bulow, who was accused of murdering his wife. Dershowitz secured von Bulow's acquittal.
Ellie Greenwich was one of the few working women songwriters in the 1960s. She wrote several hits for girl groups of that era. She talks about the high points of of her career, before the rise of rock bands that wrote their own songs.
Evangelical minister Jerry Falwell has cultivated a network of political, educational, and media ventures to promote his conservative beliefs in culture and politics. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how he came to be a Christian, and how he hopes to guide others to the faith.
Music critic Peter Guralnick explore the history of soul music by looking at both the impact of individual artists and the role record companies like Motown, Atlantic and Stax played in producing their albums.
Spencer joins Fresh Air to talk about how became a writer and what life is like now that he's established himself. His newest book, Waking the Dead, grapples with ideas of loss -- a theme prominent in his breakout novel, Endless Love.
Sir Alec Guiness may be best known for his roles in films like Star Wars and Bridge on the River Kwai, but he honed his craft in the theater, learning something new with every production.
Guitarist and singer Marty Grosz and saxophonist and clarinetist Dick Meldonian regale a live audience with their versions of 1920s jazz and pop tunes at the Fresh Air studio. Grosz is a one the few musicians who still play rhythm guitar, and is the son of German satiric artist George Grosz. Meldonian has played with many famous jazz musicians and singers, and has also released several of his own records. The concert was funded by the Philadelphia Foundation.
Painter and sculptor Red Grooms returns to Fresh Air to discuss how he made it as an artist in New York City, and how urban landscapes inform his work.
White House counsel John Ehrlichman was among many in the Nixon administration who served time for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. He has since become a writer, publishing a memoir and several novels.
Avner Eisenberg, known as "Avner the Eccentric," is a "new vaudevillian"; he uses juggling, magic, acrobatics, and clowning in his act. Eisenberg also performs as a theater actor. He also appeared in the film "Jewel of the Nile."
Singer Peggy King joins the studio to interpret the songs of Irving Berlin in honor of his recent 90th birthday. King is joined by pianist Corky Hale and bassist David Finck.
Musician John Phillips was a member of the group The Mamas & The Papas, a pop-folk band that was popular in the 1960s. Phillips has recently written his autobiography "Papa John."
Writer Gail Sheehy is best-known for her book "Passages: Predictable Crises of Adulthood." While in Thailand researching Cambodian children in refugee camps, Sheehy met a 12-year-old girl whom she later adopted. Her book "Spirit of Survival" alternates between Sheehy and her daughter Mohm's perspectives on the events.
Philadelphia native and novelist Martin Cruz Smith is best known for his 1981 film "Gorky Park." Prior to that work, Cruz Smith had written about 35 genre novels under various pseudonyms. His latest novel, "Stallion Gate," is set in Los Alamos, New Mexico during the development of the atom bomb. The novel's main character is a Native American who boxes and plays jazz and is the driver and bodyguard for J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Frequent Fresh Air guest Spalding Gray takes stories about his life and anxieties and transforms them into comedic monologues he delivers in a direct fashion. His monologues include "Sex and Death to the Age of Fourteen," "A Personal History of American Theater," and "Swimming to Cambodia." His current monologue is "The Terrors of Pleasure," and it chronicles his attempts to "grow up" and experience ownership by purchasing a house in the Catskills.
Zakes Mokae built his career on the success of early roles in plays by Athol Fugard, a white South African who was against apartheid. Mokae joins Fresh Air to discuss the importance of those plays within the context of his home country.
