Crime

Novelist Albert French. He found inspiration for his first novel, "Billy" (Viking), in the true story of an 11-yr-old getting the electric chair in the 1930's. "Billy," is the story of the "legal lynching" of a ten year old boy in the deep south who inadvertently kills a white girl. French writes in "Delta" dialect, epitomizing racial hatred in America. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Ed Ryder and Reverend James McCloskey The story of one man's fight for freedom. Three days after Ryder arrived at Holmesburg prison to do time for theft, he was accused of murdering a prisoner in his cell block. For twenty years, Ryder fought to prove his innocence... the city of Philadelphia rallying behind him. Reverend James McCloskey, who helps prisoners he believes are unjustly convicted get pardons, spearheaded the efforts for Ryder's release. Now Ryder is a free man.

Martin Espada, a poet, tenant's right attorney, and now Assistant Professor of English at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Brooklyn born -in 1957- of Puerto Rican heritage, he calls his work, "poems of advocacy, based on the lives ...consigned to silence." Espada was lauded by PEN/Revson Award for Poetry for giving "dignity to the insulted and injured of the earth." Poet Carolyn Forche describes Espada as "that subversive someone we know." His new book of poems is "City of Coughing and Dead Radiators" (Norton).

Director Brian De Palma. Now 53, he's the son of a orthopedic surgeon in Philadelphia, and sometimes watched his father's surgeries. Perhaps this explains the frequent depiction of blood and violence in many of his films, which include "Carrie", "Dressed to Kill", "The Fury", and "Scarface". His thrillers were often compared with those of Hitchcock.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Morning After," by Katie Roiphe. (Little, Brown).

For over 15 years, Linda Fairstein has directed the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit of the Manhattan D.A.'s office. The unit was the first of it's kind, and has become a model for others in cities across the country. When Fairstein began working there, rape cases were rarely tried in court, rape victims were stigmatized, and there was little understanding about rape in society. Over the years, Fairstein and her colleagues have made great strides in combating such crimes, and improving conviction rates.

Ellroy sets his novels in 1950's LA, where he grew up. His series of novels, "LA Quartet," was a bestseller. His latest novel is called "Hollywood Nocturnes." When Ellroy was ten, his mother was murdered near their LA home. He wrote an article about returning to LA to go through the police files on his mother for this month's issue of GQ, where he is a contributing editor. He'll talk today about how his mother's murder led to his crime writing.

Retired cop, and former head of the Queen's District Attorney's squad, Remo Franceschini spent 35 years keeping track of and busting organized crime in New York City. Franceschini figured out the family structure of the mafia, keeping a "Wall of Fame" family tree of photos and names of mobsters. Early on he predicted the rise of John Gotti, who became known as the "Teflon Don." Franceschini personally wire-tapped Gotti's headquarters, which led to indictments.

Helen Prejean's book, "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States" (Random House) details her experience working with death row inmates in Louisiana. Prejean has come to believe that the death penalty is not only ineffective as a deterrent, but that the government can't be trusted to decide who should live and who should die. Prejean is a Roman Catholic nun.

Writer Edward Bunker. Bunker wrote the crime fiction classic "No Beast So Fierce," which first came out in 1973, about a former criminal trying to go straight. The book has been out of print since 1986, and has just been reissued. It was the basis of the film Straight Time, which starred Dustin Hoffman. Bunker spent almost 20 years in jail himself, and used his experiences as the basis of his book. He's also written 2 other novels, many essays, and screenplays for Straight Time and The Runaway Train.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews "Wild Palms," the new series coming up on ABC. It's a futuristic drama produced by Oliver Stone.

Baca co-wrote the screenplay for the new movie "Bound By Honor," about three young Chicano men from East Los Angeles and the different paths they take as they grow into adulthood. Baca is a Chicano who grew up in an orphanage in New Mexico and ended up in prison at the age of 20. He taught himself to read and write there. His collections of poetry include Black Mesa Poems and Immigrants in Our Own Land.

Dillinger is a longtime peace worker, editor and author. He was jailed for civil disobedience a generation before Daniel and Philip Berrigan. He was part of the "Chicago Seven," the group of seven antiwar demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic National Convention which erupted into violence between demonstrators and police. Dellinger has written six books. His latest is an account of his spiritual journey, "Fram Yale to Jail."

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the second TV movie about the Texas mother who wanted to secure her daughter's place on the cheer leading squad by conspiring to kill a rival student and her mother. This one is on HBO, called "The Positively True Adentures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader Murdering Mom."

Probation officer for Los Angeles County Jim Galipeau works with gangs in Los Angeles, and is currently trying to raise money for a program with older gang members. He has been a probation officer for 27 yearsm is a Vietnam vet, and a teenage street fighter and drug addict. Terry talked with Galipeau in March, and invited him back for another conversation.

Kim Rich has written a new memoir, "Johnny's Girl," about growing up in Anchorage, Alaska during the oil boom years. Her father was a notorious underworld figure in the city who operated illegal gambling houses and massage parlors all over the city. He was eventually murdered.

Thomas Blanton, of the National Security Archive, a group that declassifies government documents, using the Freedom of Information Act. Recently, they accessed documents indicating that the Reagan administration was aware of human rights abuses in El Salvador in the 1980s. During that time, the administration was required to report to Congress about conditions in El Salvador, with the understanding that if the Salvadorian military did not improve it's human rights record, the U.S. would no longer send aid.

Journalist Robert Cullen was Newsweek's Moscow bureau chief in the Soviet Union. He has a new book The Killer Department." It's about one detective's eight year hunt for the man known as "the most savage serial killer in Russian history." Cullen is also the author of, "Twilight of Empire: Inside the Crumbling Soviet Bloc," about the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Officer Jim Galipeau works with gangs in Los Angeles, and is currently trying to raise money for a program for older gang members. He'll talk with Terry about the truce between gangs that began last spring, just before the riots; the differences between Hispanic and Black gangs, and inner city and suburban gangs; the impact of the riots, and the possibility of riots in the future. Galipeau has been a probation officer for 27 years. He's a Vietnam vet, and when he was a teenager, he was a street fighter and drug addict.

Writer and filmmaker Stephen Trombley's latest project is a book and documentary, "The Execution Protocol: Inside America's Capital Punishment Industry." The book has little to do with the morality of taking a life; rather, It's about the practical considerations involved with performing executions.