Places & Travel

Film critic John Powers reviews Peter Greenaway's new film "The Pillow Book."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Knopf), a memoir by the late Jean-Dominique Bauby.

McCarriston is the author of several books including "Eva-Mary" which is a collection of poems about the domestic abuse that McCarriston, along with her mother and brother, suffered at the hands of her father. She reads and talks about her poem "Last Frontier," about her relocation to Alaska.

Earlier this year, 75 year old South Carolina resident Mary Moran had the unique opportunity to go to Sierra Leone with other members of her family. Moran's mother had taught her a song in an African language which had been in the family since an ancestor had been brought over from Africa two hundred years ago. In 1989, through the efforts of anthropologist Joseph Opala and ethnomusicologist Cynthia Schmidt, it had been discovered that this song, composed in the Mende language, was still sung by certain villagers in Sierra Leone.

Alibhai-Brown describes her family's experience as Asians in Uganda in her autobiography "No Place Like Home." (Virago Press) Alibhai-Brown's family, like many others, was forced out of East Africa by president and military leader Idi Amin, twenty-five years ago. Alibhai-Brown moved to England and earned an degree in English at Oxford. Her freelance work is now published in the "Guardian," the "Observer," and the "Independent."

Film critic John Powers reviews "The Van" and the French film "Irma Vep"

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Manhattan '45" by Jan Morris (Oxford University Press), "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer (Random House) and "Travelers' Tales Guides" (to Hong Kong, Paris, and San Francisco (O'Reilly and Associates.)

Royko died Tuesday at the age of 64. For more than 30 years, Royko has written a column on happenings in his native Chicago and throughout the world. Royko has earned the Pulitzer, the Mencken, and Pyle Awards. His column was carried in more than 800 papers. Royko also wrote "Boss," a best-selling portrait of Chicago mayor Richard Daley. (Originally aired 10/26/89)

Sterling is the editor of "Travelers' Tales Food: True Stories of Life on the Road." While in Asia serving in the Navy, Sterling developed an interest in the art of travel and food and claims he is willing to try any dish or drink at least once. He is also author of "The Eclectic Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area" and "Dining with Headhunters" and is the travel editor for "Fiery Foods" magazine.

Journalist Sean Kelly's 1993 book, "America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire" provides context for the unrest now in Zaire. Thirty years ago, Kelly covered Mobutu's rise to power. Kelly was with the Voice of America for twenty years. Now he teaches at American University in D.C.

Journalist Adam Hochschild's recent article in the New Yorker "Mr. Kurtz, I Presume" considers the colonial history of Zaire -- once known as the Congo -- looking for the prototype for Kurtz the fictional greedy ambitious white man of Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness."

Foreign editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, David Zucchino. In his new book "Myth of the Welfare Queen," he turns his attention to his own town, Philadelphia, where he follows the lives of two welfare mothers, Odessa Williams and Cheri Honkala. One reviewer writes, "David Zucchino has shattered unequivocally the stereotype of women receiving welfare."

Baker, one of America's great rhythm-and-blues singers of the 1950's, died earlier this week. She was 67. The Associated Press says the cause was heart complications. Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Her hits included "Tweedlee Dee," "Jim Dandy," and "I Cried a Tear." After living in the Philippines during the '70's and '80's, Baker made a comeback in the '90's when she appeared on Broadway in "Black and Blue." (REBROADCAST FROM 3/26/91).

Kelly worked as a construction worker for ten years, three of which he worked on the Third New York City Water Tunnel alongside other "sandhogs," Irish and West Indian urban miners who dig soft ground tunnels in the city. He also holds a master's degree from Harvard University. His first novel "Payback" tells the story of two Irish-American brothers living in 1980s New York among the Irish mob and the construction workers' unions.

Richburg is the Hong Kong bureau chief for the "Washington Post," the paper's former Africa bureau chief, and has won awards for his reporting, including being selected as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In his new book "Out of America," he reflects on his three years experience in Africa and questions the connections made between the identity of African-Americans and their African roots.

Journalist Stan Sesser is a former staff writer for the New Yorker and the senior fellow of the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley. He's been following the imminent takeover of the British-ruled Hong Kong by the Chinese government. He says while Hong Kong will most likely preserve its economic freedom, the July 1 takeover calls into question the future of its democratic government and civil-liberties laws.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Apollo Records. Many of their albums are being reissued by Delmark.

Ousland was the first man to complete a solo expedition to both the North and South Poles. In November of 1996 he began a solo crossing of the Antarctic continent. He reached his destination on January 17, 1997. The 64-day trek covered 1,764 miles and was made unsupported, meaning Ousland carried all the necessary supplies for the journey.

Journalist, novelist, and playwright Susan Berman. Her childhood is rooted in the infamous, fast-paced, Vegas lifestyle of a mafia family. Her latest book, "Lady Las Vegas" tells the story of her experience as the daughter of Davie Berman, mafia partner to Bugsy Siegel. She is also the author of four other books, including her acclaimed memoir "Easy Street."

Producer/writer/director Jeanne Jordan. She and her husband Steve Ascher's documentary "Troublesome Creek" is the story of her family's struggle to save their Iowa farm, which had been in the family for 125 years. The film won the Best Documentary and Audience Awards at Sundance in 1996. The film opens nationally in January