Terry Gross

Arranger and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan died Saturday, January 20th, from complications due to surgery. He was 68. We will rebroadcast a 1989 interview with him. Mulliagn was an innovator in modern jazz orchestration. Early in his career he was staff arranger for Gene Krupa's big band. In 1949 he collaborated with Gil Evans and Miles Davis in the Nonet. The nine-piece band shook up jazz arrangers and launched the era of so-called cool jazz. He achieved international acclaim when he started a "pianoless" quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker in the early 1950's.

Sculptor Duane Hanson died on Saturday in a Baca Raton hospital in Florida at the age of 70. The cause was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to the The Miami Herald. We'll hear an interview with Hanson conducted in 1990. Hanson was known internationally for his life-size super-realistic sculptures of people. His sculptures are so life-like that a museum worker in Florida once called the fire department for help when one of Hanson's sculptures failed to respond to his attempts to get her attention. Hanson was born in Alexandria, Minn in 1925. [Originally broadcast 6/18/90]

Canadian author Robertson Davies. He died last weekend at the age of 82, from a stroke. Terry talked with him earlier this year upon the publication of his novel, The Cunning Man (Viking) The Washington Post called it "one of [the] author's most entertaining and satisfying novels." Davies had three successive careers. He began as an actor, then was a journalist and newspaper publisher, and in 1981 retired as professor of the Massy college at the University of Toronto. Davies wrote more than thirty books. (REBROADCAST from 2/23/95)

Former Executive Editor of The New York Times James Reston. He died this week at the age of 86, from cancer. He spent fifty years with The New York Times. He began as a reporter in London in 1940, covering the war. He was also Washington bureau chief, executive editor, and columnist. He retired in 1989 at the age of 80. In 1991 he wrote a new memoir, called Deadline (Random House). (REBROADCAST from 10/30/91)

French filmmaker Louis Malle in February 1988. Malle died last Thursday [11/23] of complications from lymphoma. He was 63. Malle was best-known for such films as "Atlantic City," "My Dinner with Andre," "Au Revoir, Les Enfants," and "Pretty Baby," the 1978 movie about child prostitution that made Brooke Shields a star. He was married to TV actress Candace Bergen for 15 years. They have a ten-year-old daughter, Chloe. (Rebroadcast of 02/19/1988)

Composer and Lyricist Ralph Blane died Monday at the age of 81 at his home in Oklahoma. He is best known for his work with Hugh Martin. Together they wrote songs for Broadway and Hollywood. They are best known for songs in the MGM classic, "Meet Me in St. Louis." That starred Judy Garland and featured the songs "The Trolley Song," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "The Boy Next Door." (Originally aired 10/31/89)

An excerpt of a 9/12/1990 interview with trumpeter Don Cherry. He died recently. He played with Ornette Coleman's free jazz revolution which began in 1959.

An excerpt from a 1985 interview with baseball legend Mickey Mantle. He died yesterday of liver cancer.

Joel Selvin, the Rock Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, talks with Fresh Air Producer Amy Salit about the life of Grateful Dead band leader Jerry Garcia. Marin County officials in California say Garcia died early this morning of apparently natural causes. He was 53.

Country singer Charlie Rich. He died, earlier this week, of a blood clot in his lung. Known as the "Silver Fox," (because of his premature gray hair) Rich got his start working with the Sun record label in the late 50s, writing tunes for Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash. From there he began making records himself. In the 70s he reached his commercial peak with his country hits, "The Most Beautiful Girl," and "Behind Closed Doors." (REBROADCAST FROM 9/3/92).