Terry Gross

Actor Sir Ian McKellan. Tomorrow Ian McKellen takes his one-man show, "Ian McKellen: A Knight Out" to Broadway's Lyceum Theatre. Since coming out in 1988, Britain's highly acclaimed Shakespearean actor has become an international voice for the gay and lesbian community. His role in Peter Schafer's "Amadeus" earned him a Tony Award in 1981. He has appeared in the recent popular films, "Last Action Hero" and "Six Degrees of Separation," and has plans for a film version of "Richard III."

Bandleader and pianist Eddie Palmieri. Through his first band, La Perfecta, labeled "the band with the crazy roaring elephants," Palmieri was credited with originating Latin jazz's trombone sound in New York during the sixties. With the release of "Palmas," (Elektra), many critics feel that this respected 58-year old innovator will finally get the exposure and respect that his sound has long merited. Palmieri's lobbying over the past year culminated in the announcement of a new Grammy Award category for Afro-Carribbean Jazz.

Actor Dennis Hopper. He made his film debut in "Rebel Without a Cause," and has appeared in "Blue Velvet," "Rivers Edge," and "Hoosiers." Hopper directed, co-wrote, and starred in the 60's classic, "Easy Rider," for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.

Journalist Martha Honey. She worked as a freelance journalist in Costa Rica from 1983 to 1991. Her clients included Times (London), The Nation, ABC television, and National Public Radio. In 1984, she and her husband, Tony Avirgan were covering a press conference called by contra leader Eden Pastora Gomez, when a bomb exploded killing three journalists, and injuring dozens of other people, including Pastora, who was the intended target. (Tony Avirgan was also one of the people injured.) Honey and Avirgan and other journalists set out to find the person(s) responsible.

Gerald Early is Director of African American Studies at Washington University, and author of several books. His newest book is a memoir about raising his two daughters, "Daughters: On Family and Fatherhood," (Addison-Wesley). One reviewer wrote, "a powerful reminder of the complexity and mystery, and abiding love that exists in families. . . this narrative. . is also suffused with the glory and pain and generational patience of black culture in America."

Roger Connor is founder and Executive Director of the American Alliance for Rights and Responsibilities (AARR), a legal organization aimed at making individuals more responsible for their communities. Connor and the AARR have been active in helping communities enact anti-panhandling laws. His group recently drafted a law making it illegal for panhandlers to step in someone's path, or to panhandle in subway stations or at ATM machines.

Doug Honig works for the ACLU in Washington State. They recently challenged a Seattle ruling which makes it a crime to panhandle aggressively, and to sit on sidewalks in the downtown district.

Maria Foscarinis is founder and executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Foscarinis has been active in legal issues affecting the homeless since 1983. In 1985, she established the office of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington. She calls anti-panhandling laws inhumane and possibly unconstitutional, and works to prevent cities from passing laws which attempt to sweep people off the streets. She has litigated several federal laws which enforce the individual rights of homeless people.

Sister Mary Scullion. She's worked with the homeless and the mentally ill for 16 years, as an advocate and a co-founder of: Women of Hope, a permanent residence and support services center for homeless mentally ill women; the Outreach Coordination Center, which coordinated the services of private and public agencies working with chronically homeless persons; and Project H.O.M.E. which provides residential and rehabilitative services to the chronically homeless. Sister Mary was honored for her efforts with the 1992 Philadelphia Award.

Journalist Nicholas Dawidoff recently wrote a New York Times Magazine piece (24 Apr 94) about it, "The Business of Begging: To Give or Not to Give." Dawidoff went into New York's subways where panhandlers had gotten increasingly aggressive. In January the New York Transit officials announced a crackdown and began arresting the most persistent of the lot.