Robert Brustein, theater critic for The New Republic since 1959. Brustein founded the Yale Repertory Theater and the American Repertory Theater at Harvard. His new book of essays is titled Who Needs Theatre: Dramatic Opinions.
Book Critic John Leonard will review The Making of The African Queen, or How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and almost lost my mind, by actress Katherine Hepburn.
Rock historian Ed Ward will profile the career of Esquerita, a gay, black piano player whose flamboyant style (and hairdoo) was an inspiration to Little Richard.
Investigative reporter Jonathan Kwitny, author of Vicious Circles, which probed Mafia involvement with legitimate businesses. His new book, The Crimes of Patriots, chronicles the demise of the Nugan Hand Bank in Australia, a story that features many of the characters who figured prominently in the investigation into the sales of arms to Iran, and the diversion of those funds to the Contras.
Author Toni Morrison, acclaimed for her honest depiction of black life in her books, Song of Solomon, Sula, and Tar Baby. Her first novel in seven years has just been published. It's titled Beloved.
Adam Hochschild, founder of the leftist magazine "Mother Jones." He's written a memoir about his ambivalent relationship with his father, an industrialist who operated a string of gold and diamond mines in South Africa.
Frank Deford, senior writer for Sports Illustrated and a commentator on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Some of his best essays from Sports Illustrated have been collected in a book titled The World's Tallest Midget.
Writer Jane Smiley. Her newest work, a combination of novella and short story, probes the disappointments and loss of middle age. It is titled The Age of Grief.
Film producer Ismail Merchant, who, with film director James Ivory, is responsible for films like "The Bostonians," and "Room with a View." His upcoming film, "Maurice," is, like "Room with a View," an adaptation of an E.M. Forster novel.
Film Critic Stephen Schiff will review "A Prayer for the Dying," about an IRA operative who tries to leave the terrorist organization. It stars Alan Bates, Mickey Rourke and Bob Hoskins.
Author and traveller Bruce Chatwin. His new book, Songlines, is a semi-fictional account of the myths that structure the lives of Australia's aborigines. Chatwin's early works include the acclaimed travel book In Patagonia.
Syndicated cartoonist Matt Groening. His strip, titled "Life in Hell," appears in alternative papers around the country. His animated characters (rabbits) also appear on TV's "The Tracey Ullman Show."
Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, a star player for the Dallas Cowboys throughout the 70s. He fell victim to a cocaine addiction and was one of the first professional athletes to admit to his problem.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz will review two albums of Gershwin songs: "Kiri Sings Gershwin," by Kiri Te Kanawa, and "Gershwin Overtures," by John McGlinn.
