Parenting & Families

Composer, director, and writer Elizabeth Swados. She's written a memoir about her family, "The Four of Us." Much of it has to do with her brilliant but schizophrenic brother, Lincoln, and how his illness affected the family. Her brother became a street person, and later died. (published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux).

Veteran standup comedian Henny Youngman. Youngman has a new memoir, called "Take My Life, Please." (It's published by Morrow).

Writer Jake Lamar. In his new memoir, "Bourgeois Blues," Lamar examines the issue of race in his life, and in American society. (published by Summit Books).

Economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett. Hewlett's new book, "When The Bough Breaks," argues that the United States is guilty of shocking neglect of its' children, both poor and affluent. Hewlitt also shows how that neglect is actually costing the nation billions of dollars. (It's published by Basic Books). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Chinese writer Jung Chang. She was born in China but left in 1978 to study. She now lives in England. Her book, "Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China," (published by Simon & Schuster). It's the story of Jung Chang, her mother, and her grandmother Chang's grandmother was born into feudal society, whose feet were bound at the age of two; she was a concubine at 15. Chang's mother grew up under Japanese occupation, was a part of the Communist-led student underground, and later a heroine of the revolution.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new Impulse reissue of saxophonist Stanley Turrentine's album, "Let It Go." On that album Turrentine is accompanied by his wife, organist Shirley Scott.

Historian Glenda Riley. Riley's new book, "Divorce: An American Tradition," looks at the long history of divorce. Among the book's revelations: the first divorce in America happened way back in 1639 (on grounds of bigamy) and that in 1880 as many as one in 16 marriages ended in divorce. (The book's published by Oxford university Press).

Tan's debut novel, "The Joy Luck Club," was a huge critical and commercial success, earning Tan a nomination for the National Book Award. She has a new novel, called "The Kitchen God's Wife," which draws explicitly from her mother's experiences as a Chinese immigrant and survivor of an abusive relationship.

Millman's latest book, "Warm Hearts & Cold Cash: The Intimate Dynamics of Families and Money," is about how people use money as a tool of power and a symbol for certain emotions in family relationships. Millman is professor and chair of sociology at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Bok is the author of several books on the ethics of lying and keeping secrets. Her newest is a memoir about her mother, the Nobel Prize-winning Alva Myrdal, who was called the most modern woman in the world.

Actress Daisy Eagan and her father, actor Richard Eagan. Daisy is starring as the young heroine, Mary Lenox, in the Broadway production of "The Secret Garden." Richard is working on a performance piece about stories from Coney Island. Guest host Frank Browning talks to them about pretending, acting, and how a Broadway career affects their family life.

Novelist Mary Gordon has a new collection of essays, "Good Boys and Dead Girls: And Other Essays." Catholicism has been a constant theme in her novels, which include: "Final Payment," and "The Company of Women." American fiction by men, Catholicism, and abortion are some of the issues she write about in her new book

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new French film, "Daddy Nostalgia," starring Dirk Bogard as a man at the end of his life reconnecting with his daughter.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Sarah Maitland's new novel, which masterfully weaves together real dragons, the end of childhood, cancer, and Christian symbolism in a narrative that somehow leads to salvation.

Parker has been singing and writing songs for 15 years. He is known for his angry, biting lyrics. He's just produced his 14th album, "Struck by Lightning," which reveals Parker's new, mature perspective on life.

Journalist Andrew H. Malcolm's new book, "Someday," is his first-person account of his decision to take his terminally ill mother off life support, a decision made ironic by the fact that Malcom often covers issues of medical ethics and the right to die for the New York Times.

Say's brother is Terry Anderson, the Associated Press reporter who's been held hostage in Lebanon since March 1985. During the past five years, Say has worked to free her brother, and to keep the American government, and the American people from forgetting her brother's plight. Her new memoir documents that ordeal.

Actress Blair Brown of the Lifetime cable sitcom, "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd." She plays a single, divorced woman living in New York. The show is in its last season; Molly, who is white, is forty and pregnant with the child of her late boyfriend, who is black.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the new family memoir by the prolific novelist. He says it features many of the same themes found in Roth's fiction, like an obsession with memory, and one usually absent: love.

Columnist Richard Louv is a columnist at the San Diego Union. He spent three years speaking with almost three thousand parents, children, and educators for his new book, "Childhood's Future," which looks at the problems facing families today, many of which stem from the lack of meaningful time together.