Terry Gross

Executive producer and writer, Tom Fontana of HBO's, "Oz," the realistic drama about life in an experimental unit of a maximum security prison. Fontana also created "Homicide: Life on the Street" and the 1980s drama set in a city hospital, "St. Elsewhere."

World War Two combat veteran Robert Kotlowitz has written about his experiences in "Before Their Time: A Memoir." 1997 Hard cover and just re-printed this year on Anchor Books. Kotlowitz was part of a platoon that was ordered to charge the German front, an order that killed all but 3 men. His previous books included: The Boardwalk, His Master's Voice, Sea Changes, and Somewhere Else. (THIS CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW.)

Robert Kotlowitz wrote the memoir "Before Their Time" about his experiences during World War 2. He describes his experiences as a college student drafted into the infantry in 1943. After basic training, Kotlowitz, who was Jewish, was sent with the 26th Division to the French countryside to fight the Germans when he was 19 years old.

An excerpt from an 1997 City Arts and Lectures interview with Rosemary Clooney. (Rebroadcast of 2/11/1997).

Former fighter pilots Ed Mechenbier and Ron Bliss. During the Vietnam War they were both shot down, and became POWs in Hanoi. They are interviewd in the new documentary "Return with Honor." The film was made by Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders, the team that made the Oscar winning film, "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision."

Choreographer and dancer Merce Cunnigham. He's been called "one of the great iconoclasts in 20th-century art." He revolutionized modern dance, pioneering abstract movement with his music director John Cage. This week the Lincoln Center in New York City is honoring him. (REBROADCAST FROM 12/17/1985).

John Boorman directed the film "The General," which is now out on video. The film is based on the life of the notorious Irish thief and gangster Martin Cahill. Cahill stole about 60 million dollars in a series of ingenioius robberies he masterminded in the 1980's. Boorman has directed many other films including Deliverance, Point Blank, Hope and Glory, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, and Beyond Rangoon. (Rebroadcast of 1/4/99)

Stand-up comic Margaret Cho. Her new one-woman show "I'm The One That I Want" is about her foray into the TV sitcom, when she was the first Asian-American to star in her own TV show. The series, "All-american Girl" was short lived, and a nightmare for Cho.

Novelist, screenwriter and biographer A.E. Hotchner. His memoir "Papa Hemingway" (Carroll & Graff) about his friend and colleague, Ernest Hemingway has just been republished. Hotchner met Hemingway when he was a 20-something journalist, on assignment to interview Hemingway for Cosmopolitan magazine. That first interview in 1948 developed into a 14 year friendship.

Singer and songwriter Loudon Wainwright the Third. He has a new CD, "Social Studies," a collection of topical songs, many which were first featured on NPR's Morning Edition. Loudon Wainwright III grew up in the town of Bedford in wealthy Westchester County north of New York City. He became a folk singer/songwriter in the late '60s, singing humorous and autobiographical songs.