Places & Travel

Rock singer, guitarist and record producer Dave Edmunds. Although he was born in Wales, his music is influenced by the American roots of rock and roll. As a producer, he's worked with the Stray Cats, The Fabulous Thunderirds, and he produced the come-back albums of the Everly Brothers and Dion. In the 1970's, he got together in London with Nick Lowe and formed the band Rockpile. Edmunds has a new album coming out soon on Capitol called "Closer to the Flame." It's his first in five years.

Artist-teacher Tim Rollins and his student Carlos Rivera. In collaboration with his South Bronx high-school students Rollins has created "excellent...slightly miraculous art." ("New York" Magazine). Since 1981, the group known as K.O.S. (for Kids of Survival -- mostly black and Puerto Rican students), has had showings of its work in over 50 shows. Now there's a showing of their own, "Amerika," in New York.

Photographer Bert Andrews. Since the early '50s, Andrews has been photographing the African-American theatre. There's now a collection of Andrews' photos, called "In The Shadow of the Great White Way: Images From the Black Theatre."

Television critic David Bianculli reviews "The Neon Empire" a new mini-series on Showtime which stars Martin Landau, Gary Busey, and Ray Sharkey. It follows in the footsteps of NBC's belated "Crime Story."

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines the epitome of Americans trying to cop some highbrow British style, using the word "shall" when they mean "will."

Book critic John Leonard reviews "Isara" (ih-sare-ah) Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka's (wolly Soy-enk-ka) memoir about his father.

Jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. He introduced the vibes to the jazz world and remains one of it's undisputed masters. In the 1930's he played with the Benny Goodman's band -- being one of the first blacks to play with a white band. He's just written an autobiography, "Hamp." Al Capone and Louis Armstrong also play surprising roles in his life.

Brazilian singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso (kah-TAH-no vah-LOW-sah). He's revered as one of the primary architects of "tropicalismo," - a 1960's cultural and musical movement that reevaluated traditional Brazilian music and incorporated non-Brazilian musical styles. Leftist intellectuals denounced his music for it's use of foreign influences. In the late 1960's he was jailed and exiled from Brazil for his participation in the musical movement because the government feared the social force it might have.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Steel Magnolias," starring Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley McLain, and Darrell Hannah as a group of friends in a small Southern town.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "The Slopes of Lebanon." It's a collection of essays and articles by Israeli writer Amos Oz.

World music commentator Milo Miles explains how Peter Gabriel transformed folk music of the Middle East into the world pop sound that became the soundtrack for Scorsese's film "The Last Temptation of Christ."

Chinese chef Ken Hom. He's the author of the new cookbook, "Fragrant Harbor Taste: The New Chinese Cooking of Hong Kong." Hong Kong is in the midst of a culinary revolution, with Japanese, European, and American foods and styles of preparation all merging with traditional Chinese cuisine. Hom has taught cooking in Hong Kong for the past ten years. He's also written several previous cookbooks and hosted the public T-V series "Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery."

John Malpede and Kevin Williams of the Los Angeles Poverty Department, a performance group comprised primarily of homeless and formerly homeless people. The LAPD tries to show the reality of life on the streets. John Malpede is a former performance artist and founder of LAPD (in 1985). He now serves as the group's director and a legal advocate for the homeless. Kevin Wiliams is LAPD's assistant director and former resident of Skid Row.

Writer Marita Golden. Her new novel, "Long Distance Life," examines half a century in the life of a black middle-class family in the other Washington, D.C., the one not filled with shiny buildings and corridors of power. Previously, Golden published a widely acclaimed memoir, "Migrations of the Heart."

Columnist Mike Royko. For 26 years, Royko has written a daily column on happenings in his native Chicago and throughout the world, and he's just released his 6th collection of his writings. Along the way, Royko has earned the Pulitzer, the Mencken, and Pyle Award. His column is now carried in more than 500 papers. Royko also wrote "Boss," a best-selling portrait of Chicago mayor Richard Daley.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "The Remains of the Day," by Kazuo Ishiguro. He says it's a fascinating look at the English class system as seen through the eyes of a young Japanese author.

World music aficionado Milo Miles explores the world of the new tango, and reviews the latest album from the new tango's leading proponent, Argentinian accordionist Astor Piazzolla.

Travel writer and essayist Jan Morris. In her 1974 autobiography "Conundrum," Morris talked about her search for sexual identity and her sex change operation. The sequel, "Pleasures of a Tangled Life," is a collection of personal essays describing the experiences and sensations that have brought Morris pleasure over the years.

Novelist Armistead Maupin. After moving to San Francisco in the mid-70's, Maupin became a gay activist and celebrated novelist. He's just completed the final book in his series, "Tales of the City," which began as a column in a San Francisco newspaper. The series of novels chronicles life in the gay and straight communities of San Francisco.

Egyptian-born poet Gregory Djanikian (ja-NIK-ee-ann) reads a poem about his early memories of moving to America and starting school.