Marjorie Lord discusses her book, “A Dance and a Hug.” She begins by sharing that the book is a memoir of her life. She explains how her career began and the difficulty of dealing with rejection as an actress. She discusses her transition from...
Rita Dove discusses her book, “Through the Ivory Gate.” She describes the protagonist, Virginia King, and her exploration of her creativity. Dove goes on to discuss the plot and reads an excerpt about a doll. She also talks about the...
African American men - Fiction;
Basketball players - Fiction;
Male friendship - Fiction;
Rape - Fiction;
Oakland (Calif.) - Fiction
Nichelle D. Tramble discusses her novel, “The Last King.” She begins by explaining that her book is a sequel to “The Dying Ground.” She talks about her main character Maceo who returns home to help a childhood friend. She describes the...
Jonathan Kirsch discusses his book, “King David.” He begins by explaining that the book is the story of King David from the Bible. He goes on to discuss the extensive research that he conducted in order to write this book. In this interview,...
Chicago (Ill.) - Fiction; Race relations - Fiction; African Americans - Fiction; Civil rights workers - Fiction; Impostors and imposture - Fiction; King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929 - 1968 - Fiction
Charles Johnson discusses his book, “Dreamer.” He begins by explaining the premise of the novel, which is what would have happened if Martin Luther King, Jr. had a double when he brought the Freedom Campaign to Chicago in 1966. In the novel the...
Civil rights - United States - History; Human rights - United States - History
Stewart Burns discusses the book that he co-wrote with his father, James MacGregor Burns, “A People’s Charter.” He begins by explaining several instances in history when people’s rights have not been upheld like the Red Scare during the...
Egypt - History - To 332 B.C. - Fiction; Ramses III, King of Egypt - Fiction
Brad Geagley discusses his book, “Year of the Hyenas.” He begins by discussing how the book is a murder mystery set in ancient Egypt when the kingdom was at the height of its glory and power. Geagley explains that as a backdrop for his...
Fathers and daughters - Fiction; Women biographers - Fiction; Remarried people - Fiction; New York (N.Y.) - Fiction; Georgia - Fiction
Eileen Goudge discusses her novel, “Blessing in Disguise.” She begins by talking about how her book is a story of two women who met when they were children and one girl’s father murders the other. She talks about how her husband is the...
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790;
United States - Foreign relations - France;
France - Foreign relations - United States;
United States - Foreign relations - 1775-1783
Stacy Schiff discusses her book, “A Great Improvisation.” She begins by explaining the reasons Benjamin Franklin went to France to get support for the new American colonies. She talks about Franklin’s troubled relationship with his son, and...
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820 - Family; Charlotte, Queen, Consort of Frederick I, King of Wurttemberg, 1766-1828; Augusta Sophia, Princess, daughter of George III, King of Great Britain, 1768-1840; Elizabeth, Princess of England,...
Flora Fraser discusses her book, “Princesses.” She begins by describing the kingship of King George III of England and his six daughters. She shows all 6 girls’ portraits from the book and gives background information on each of their...
Government investigators - Egypt - Fiction; Egyptians - Iraq - Fiction; Iraq - History - To 634 - Fiction; Babylon (Extinct city) - Fiction
Brad Geagley discusses his novel, “Day of the False King.” He begins by talking about the history of ancient Egypt and Ramses IV’s health conditions and concerns. He gives background information about how Babylonian people preserved their...
Persia Woolley discusses her novel, “Queen of the Summer Stars.” She begins by explaining that this book is the second installment of her trilogy about Queen Guenevere. She talks about how she tried to write the book as historical fiction,...
Henry VIII, King of England, 1491-1547 - Marriage; Marriages of royalty and nobility - Great Britain - History - 16th century; Queens - Great Britain - Biography; Great Britain - History - Henry VIII, 1509-1547 - Biography
David Starkey discusses his biography, “Six Wives.” He begins by explaining the history of Great Britain’s king Henry VIII, and talks about how his book is being turned into a television film. Starkey begins by talking about Henry VIII’s...
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; Police - California - Los Angeles - Fiction
Joseph Wambaugh discusses his book, “Hollywood Station.” He begins by explaining that the book takes place in the present day Los Angles Police Department. The book’s plot follows the officers of Hollywood station as they deal with the...
Jean Lipman-Blumen discusses her book, “Connective Leadership.” She begins by detailing three stages of leadership. The first stage was in pre-recorded history when leaders protected their followers by keeping them behind geographical...
Israel - Kings and rulers - Fiction; Bible. O.T. - History of Biblical events - Fiction; David, King of Israel - Fiction
Joseph Heller discusses his book, “God Knows.” Heller begins by explaining that the novel is the story of King David told by David from his deathbed. Heller uses humor to relate the events of David’s life as the warrior king of Israel,...
Jewish sermons, American;
History, Modern - 20th century - Sermons
Jacob Pressman discusses his book, “Dear Friends.” He begins by explaining that he is a rabbi and this book is a compilation of his sermons from the 1930s to today. He describes how he picked his favorite sermons from the 4,000 that he has...
Jordan - Politics and government - 1952-1999; Arab-Israeli conflict; Queens - Jordan - Biography; Hussein, King of Jordan, 1935-1999; Noor, Queen, consort of Hussein, King of Jordan, 1951-
Queen Noor discusses her book, “Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life.” She explains that the book shares her personal perspective on the past three decades of her life and world history. She discusses the challenges she faced as wife...
Heather King discusses her book, “Parched.” She begins by explaining that the book is the story of her life and how she struggled with alcoholism from an early age. She starts with her childhood and how she craved solitude and how she always...
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968; African Americans - Civil rights; Civil rights movements - United States - History - 20th century; United States - History - 1953-1961
Taylor Branch discusses his book, “Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63.” Branch and Martinson begin by talking about King’s name change from Michael to Martin Luther after his father’s visit to Europe. Branch then goes...
