Search the Fresh Air Archive

Close Search

Kate Simon on Her Life and Career.

Author Kate Simon. Simon is best known for her travel books (Kate Simon's Paris, New York: Places and Pleasures) and for her two vivid memoirs of coming of age in the New York City of the 1920s and 30s. The first, Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a Childhood, portrays the immigrant neighborhoods just after World War I. In the second, A Wider World: Portraits in an Adolescence, Simon recalls her tumultuous adolescence as she discovered the world beyond the neighborhoods of her youth. Her latest work, A Renaissance Tapestry, The Gonzaga of Mantua, draws on her travel writing, and her particular interest in the family dynasties that ruled Renaissance Italy.

26:43
Queue

Guest

Host

Related Topics

Other segments from the episode on February 1, 1988

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, February 1, 1988: Interview with Kate Simon; Review of Paul Bley's album "Turns"; Interview with Zelda Rubenstein; Review of the television show "Smothers Brothers Comedy…
Queue
06:48

Paul Bley's Improvisational Jazz.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a reissue of a 1964 session featuring pianist Paul Bley. In the early years of his career, Bley worked closely with pianist Charles Mingus and saxophonist Ornette Colemen. Since the 60s, he's led his own small groups.

Review
Queue
09:41

Actress Zelda Rubenstein.

Actress Zelda Rubenstein. After being cast as one of the little people in the film "Under the Rainbow," she played the clairvoyant in "Poltergeist." She now stars in the new horror film "Anguish."

Interview
Queue
03:46

Smothers Brothers Reunion.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews the 20th anniversary reunion of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." While the show features some clips from the original programs, it is composed mostly of updated skits featuring comics from including Steve Martin, Leigh French and Pat Paulson. The musicians include Glenn Campbell, John Hartford, Jennifer Warnes and Mason Williams.

Review

Transcript

Transcript currently not available.

Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

You May Also like

Queue
09:25

Mary Morris on Traveling as a Woman.

Travel writer Mary Morris. Her new book, Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone, recounts her travels, alone, through Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, and what it means for a woman to travel alone. Her earlier works include Vanishing Animals & Other Stories and The Bus of Dreams.

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Learn How
Advertisement

Recently on Fresh Air Available to Play on NPR

52:30

Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

Queue

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

43:04

This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

Queue

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

See All Recent Segments

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue