Month: December 2024

Describing the ‘Funny Sauce’ of the Blended Family: Writer/film producer Delia Ephron

Bill Thompson
Photo by Wes Washington

A couple of generations back, a typical American family might consist of a mom, a dad, and 2.4 kids.

But as the divorce rate rose a new American family archetype emerged: the so-called “blended family.”

There was now a new dynamic that included stepparents, stepchildren, step-siblings, exes and new mates…

And absolutely no owner’s manual to describe how all those pieces are supposed to fit together.

That was the brave new world that writer Delia Ephron stepped into in 1982 when she became a stepmother.

Get your copy of Delia Ephron’s book

And it wasn’t long before Ephron, a talented writer who had already written several books, realized she needed to write a book about this.

In 1986 Delia Ephron wrote that book, which she called Funny Sauce. I met her that fall when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1986, Delia Ephron.

In the years that followed our interview, Delia Ephron wrote screenplays for movies like “You’ve Got Mail,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,”” and “Hanging Up.”

And she produced “Sleepless in Seattle,” written by her big sister Nora.

Delia Ephron is now 80. Her most recent book was published in 2022.

The True Story of the Mayflower: Historian Nathaniel Philbrick’s Account

Bill Thompson
Photo from Nathaniel Philbrick

The arrival of the “Mayflower” in the New World is one of the foundational history lessons we all learned in school.

We all know the story of the Pilgrims arriving, setting foot on Plymouth Rock. And then the first Thanksgiving, sitting down to a feast with the Native Americans

Except, most of that isn’t true.

What is true is that the Pilgrims did arrive on the “Mayflower” a week before Christmas in 1620. From there the things we were taught get a little fuzzy.

Get your copy of Nathaniel Philbrick’s book

In 2006 award-winning author and historian Nathaniel Philbrick published a groundbreaking book called Mayflower. And what you’re about to hear is going to bust some of those cherished myths wide open.

So here now, from 2006, Nathaniel Philbrick.

Nathaniel Philbrick is 68. He lives not far from where the Mayflower pilgrims arrived.

‘The Birds’ Made Her Famous. Rescuing Wildlife Is Now Tippi Hedren’s Life

Bill Thompson

Tippi Hedren’s career began with teenage modeling, as she appeared often in popular magazines.

Later she appeared in TV commercials, and one ofd them caught the eye of someone famous and powerful.

One day a Hollywood agent called with the magic words: “Alfred Hitchcock wants to put you under contract.”

Hedren then starred in Hitchcok’s “The Birds” in 1963 and “Marnie” in 1964.

While she was shooting two movies in Africa in 1969,she realized a new life mission: animal rescue.

Get your copy of Tippi Hedren’s book

By 1983 Hedren had established a nonprofit foundation, and had built a wildlife sanctuary of her own, which she named the Shambala Preserve.

In 1985 Hedren published a book about her sanctuary, and the animals she curfates. Her book was called The Cats of Shambala.

I met her while she was on a book tour, and I relished the opportunity to ask her about Hitchcock.

So here now, from 1985, Tippi Hedren.

Tippi Hedren will be 95 next month. She remains in charge of Shambala.

The Champ’s :Life Lesspms: George Foreman’s Guide to Life

Bill Thompson

Sooner or later life will knock you to the canvas. The key is knowing how to get back up and keep fighting .

So maybe it pays to listen to somebody who has been knocked down and has gotten back up many times in his life.

Former heavyweight boxing champ George Foreman knows a thing or two about being knocked down and getting back up.

Get your copy of George Foreman’s book

And in 2003 he wrote down many of the life lessons he’s learned, in a book he called George Foreman’s Guide to Life.

I met him when he was on a book tour.

So here now, from 2003, George Foreman.

George Foreman will be 76 next month. And he and his wife will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2025.

Are Alien Abductions Real? Expert David Jacobs Reveals Findings

Bill Thompson
Photo by Hinata47d

Did you hear the recent testimony given at a Congressional hearing about UFOs and alien beings?

And while the question of alien abductions did not come up, that subject has been around for decades.

Get your copy of David Jacobs’s book

In 1992, David Jacobs, a distinguished professor at Temple University published his findings after years of research and interviews with dozens of people who said they had been abducted by aliens.

His book was called Secret Life, And it’s spelled out in often frightening detail what these abductees went through.

Jacobs spent years looking for answers and explanations, as we talked about when his book came out.

So here now, from 1992, David Jacobs.

David Jacobs is 82 now. He is now retired from his position at Temple University.

An Admiring Look at Ronald Reagan by His Top Speechwriter Peggy Noonan

Bill Thompson

Broadly speaking there are two schools of thought about the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

On the one hand some see Reagan as the personification of all that was wrong with the 1980s, an era characterized by that line from a movie: “Greed is good.”

But then there are those who revere our 40th president as not just a great president but as a rare and exceptional leader of great principle and virtue.

https://amzn.to/41iG3LfGet your copy of Peggy Noonan’s book

Into that latter category falls Peggy Noonan, Reagan’s top speechwriter, who crafted some of Ronald Reagan[‘s most memorable orations.

In 2001, a dozen years after he left office, Reagan was the subject of an admiring book by Peggy Noonan called When Character Was King. That’s when she and I had one of our many conversations.

So here now, from 2001, Peggy Noonan.

Peggy Noonan Is 74 now. She writes a column for the Wall Street Journal.

Margarethe Cammermeyer, And How She Fought Anti-Gay Discrimination in the Military

Bill Thompson
Photo by Zesar2005

President-elect Donald Trump has said that one of his first acts as president will be to remove transgender individuals from the U.S. military.

More than 30 years ago a well regarded military officer was kicked out of the service simply for being gay. And her subsequent legal fight catapulted her, and the issue of gay service members, to the forefront.

Margarethe Cammermeyer first joined the Army as a nurse in 1961. She met a man, got married, and was separated from the Army in 1968 because of a policy at the time banning pregnant women from serving.

She was later able to rejoin, and also divorced her husband. Then, during an otherwise routine security clearance interview in 1989 Cammermeyer disclosed her status as a lesbian.

Get your copy of Margarethe Cammermeyer’s book

In 1992 she was thrown out. But she filed a lawsuit in 1994 challenging her separation – and she won. She returned to the military until her retirement in 1997.

Cammermeyer’s case shone a bright new spotlight on the longstanding ban on gays in the military, and led to a sea change in LGTBQ rights.

I met her just a few months after her court viceroy, in the fall of 1994 when her autobiography Serving in Silence was published. That was the book, by the way, that was made into a television movie starring Glenn Close.

So here now, from 1994, Margarethe Cammermeyer.

Margarethe Cammermeyer is 82 now. She ‘s been married to her wife since 2012.

Former NFL Team Doctor Robert Huizenga — Bruises, Concussions, and Steroids

Bill Thompson

The National Football League is no place for guys who don’t want to get hurt No NFL veteran comes away unscathed

And that means there is always plenty of work for team physicians. From 1983 to 1990, Dr. Robert Huizenga was team internist for the Los Angeles Raiders.

Huizenga saw everything from bruises and pulled muscle to dislocated fingers, concussions and compound fractures.

And a lot of steroid abuse.

A few years after leaving the Raiders, Huizenga wrote about his experience in the NFL in a book he called You’re Okay, It’s Only a Bruise. I talked with him when he was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1994, Dr. Robert Huizenga.

Today Dr. Robert Huizenga continues to be active in professional sports, and is often seen on television.

Get your copy of Robert Huizenga’s book

Just Call Him Mike: “M*A*S*H” Star and Activist Mike Farrell

Bill Thompson

Some people become actors. Some become activists. And some, like Mike Farrell, become both.

As a young boy growing up in Hollywood, where his father worked as a carpenter at a movie studio, Farrell was drawn to entertainment early on.

But his home life also ignited a passionate empathy that became a hallmark of his life.

Get your copy of Mike Farrell’s book

After years of small or supporting acting roles here and there,m Farrell hit the jackpot when he joined the cast of the hit CBS show “MAS*H” in 1975.

Not only did he become one of the most popular cast members, it also afforded him a new public visibility for his activism.

In 2007 Farrell was persuaded to write a memoir, a book he titled Just Call Me Mike. That’s when I first met him.

So here now, from 2007, Mike Farrell.

Mike Farrell is 85 now. And still working.