Jennifer Granholm

Jennifer Granholm was elected Michigan’s first female governor in 2002, and re-elected, to a second term, four years later.

Her work to re-establish Michigan’s recession damaged, Rust Belt economy caught the attention of leaders of the democratic party on the national level.

Last December, then president-elect Joe Biden named her his energy secretary.

In 2011, a few months after leaving the governor’s office, Granholm and her husband Dan Mulhern wrote a book together.

So here now, from 2011, Jennifer Granholm.

Jennifer Granholm is 62. She is the 16th Secretary of Energyt

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Roy Firestone

When he was still in his teens in the 1960s, Roy Firestone got an up-close look at Major League Baseball, as a spring training bat boy for the Baltimore Orioles in Florida.

But instead of following that career path and becoming a bat boy the rest of his life, Roy Firestone cut into television. Starting in Miami, then moving to Los Angeles, Firestone established himself as a skilled Sports commentator and interviewer.

In 1980 he joined ESPN, posting their so-called “Up Close.”

I met him in 1993, what he wrote a book called up close and in your

So here now, from 1993, Roy Firestone.

Roy Firestone will be 68 in December. He is still seen on television on “Good Day L.A.”

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Nien Cheng

Nien Cheng was born into a well-to-do Chinese family in 1915. Her family was able to give her a college education, including post-graduate work at the London School of economics. That’s where she met her future husband.

But the time she spent in Great Britain may have been a time bomb of sorts.

In 1966, at the age of 51, Nien Cheng, by then a widow, was arrested and accused by the Chinese Communist government of being a Britiah spy.

For nearly seven years Nien Cheng was imprisoned and sometimes tortured.

After her eventual release, she came to the United States.

In the late 1980s, she wrote a gripping Memoir of her experiences, called Life and Death in Shanghai.

And that’s when I first met her.

So here now, from 1987, Nien Cheng.

Nien Cheng died in 2009. She was 94.

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Goldie Hawn

Photo: Erik Charlton

One of the most bankable female movie stars of the last 50 years is also one of the most influential figures in Hollywood.

And she got her big break when she was barely old enough to have a legal drink, 1 quickly becoming one of the most popular stars of the Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In show.

It seems like everything she has touched has turned to Gold – or, should we say, Goldie. By age 25 she already had an Academy Award, for her role in “Cactus Flower.”

Then came a long and reliable series of hit movies.

In 2005, Goldie Hawn took some time out from her acting to right a book about her life, although she’s careful not to call it an autobiography.

Unfortunately, the day I was to interview were in studio, traffic in our area was horrible. She and her media escort realize she was not going to make it to my studio in time, so we found it in.

So here now, from 2005, Goldie Hawn.

Goldie Hawn will be 76 in November.

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Garrison Keillor

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Today, August 20th, is National radio day. Every year on this day, we recognize the contribution that this hundred-year-old medium has provided four generations.

For four decades, one of the most popular radio personalities in America was Garrison Keillor, Creator and host of public radio’s Prairie Home Companion. That live musical variety show was a Saturday evening fixture in millions of homes.

The Minnesota-born Keillor brought his Midwest sensibilities, and sense of humor, to the ongoing stories of Lake Wobegon.

In 2003, Keillor wrote a novel. So here now, from 2003, Garrison Keillor..

Garrison Keillor celebrated his 79th birthday last week.

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Andrew Cuomo

New York governor, or more precisely, soon-to-be ex governor, Andrew Cuomo has certainly had a rough few weeks.

In the face of a scathing report accusing him of sexual misconduct, Cuomo last week announced his resignation. It was a breathtaking fall from his Emmy award-winning performance during the pandemic in 2020.

And now the political future looks very murky for a man once considered the future of the Democratic Party.

I met Andrew Cuomo in 2003, when he was promoting a book, an anthology of essays by Democrats and Republicans on politics in America.

And Cuomo’s comments from 18 years ago still sounds very current.

So here now, from 2003, Andrew Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo is 63. He’ll leave office nexxt week.

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Dr. Benjamin Spock

Perhaps no one has ever had a bigger impact on an entire generation of children than Dr. Benjamin Spock.

His book Baby and Child Care was published in 1946, just as the first baby boomers were being born. And his calm, reassuring tone quickly found an audience among new parents. Dr. Spock became the go-to guy for advice on child rearing.

Then, in the late 1960s, Dr. Spock became known for something else – his political activism. He even ran for president in 1972.

But Benjamin Spock had long resisted writing his autobiography. Finally, in the late 1980s, his second wife, Mary Morgan, persuaded him it was time. So, with her help, he finally wrote the book called Spock on Spock.

And that’s when I met him. So here now, from 1989, Dr Benjamin Spock.

Dr. Benjamin Spock died in 1998. He was 94 years old.

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Maxene Andrews

This weekend marks the 76th anniversary V-J Day, the day that the Japanese surrendered to the United States to end World War II.

And the interview you’re about to hear includes one of the most moving and poignant stories associated with that day. More on that in a minute…

For the entire duration of the war, America’s entertainers provided an invaluable service to their country, by putting on literally thousands of shows for servicemen and women in the US and abroad.

And one of the most popular entertainment Acts what’s The Andrews Sisters, a trio from Minnesota that included Laverne, Maxine, and Patti. To this day, they are known for a number of hit songs…

I met Maxine Andrews a 1993, when she wrote a book about The Andrews Sisters and their experience in the USO during World War II.

Along with her co-author, writer Bill Gilbert, Andrews described the long days and weeks and months of performing, which no one complained about.

And I promise you, the story Maxine Andrews tells about V-J day is a story you will always remember.

So here now, from 1993, Maxine Andrews.

Maexene Andrews died two years after this interview. She was 79.

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Alex Haley

It’s a rare privilege for an author to see, in their lifetime, the broad and deep social and cultural impact that one of their books has.

One of those who were so privileged was author Alex Haley. His meticulously researched 1976 book Roots, which traced his own family’s ancestry from Africa, became not just a best seller, but a cultural milepost.

It awakened a new pride of family and ancestry among millions of African-Americans, and it shone a harsh spotlight on the horrors of slavery, four black and white alike.

ABC TV recognized the power of Roots, and turned it into television’s first major miniseries. It was, and remains to this day, a landmark television achievement.

I met him almost 33 years ago, after he had just finished a novel based, in part, on the kind of characters he popularized in Roots.

So here now, from 1988, Alex Haley.

Today, August 11th 2021, would have been Alex Haley’s 100th birthday. He died in 1992 at the age of 70.

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Charlotte Church

A lot of people say that is the voice of an

It’s actually the voice of young Welsh soprano Charlotte Church. And when I say young, I mean Young. Charlotte got a record contract when she was just 11. By age 13 she was, literally, world-famous.

I met her when she was a grizzled old veteran of 15, in 2001. She had written a book called voice of an angel, with the subtitle, my life so far.

So here now, from 2001, Charlotte Church.

Charlotte Church is 35 now, married, and has three children.

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