Author: Bill Thompson

How Deborah Layton Escaped the 1978 Jonestown Massacre

Bill Thompson

II was news that stunned the entire world, this week in 1978.

Inspired by a charismatic leader named Jim Jones, more than 900 people, including over 300 children, had committed suicide at he People’s Temple compound in Jonestown Guyana.

Many had died after drinking a soft drink laced with cyanide.
It popularized the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid” to mean blindly following a dangerous leader or way of thinking.

One lucky young woman, Deborah Layton, was able to escape Jonestown, although her brother Larry was not so lucky.

It took her 20 years, but finally Layton wrote a book describing the Jonestown horror and her escape from it. That’s when i met her

So here now, from 1998, Deborah Layton.

Larry Layton was paroled in 2002 after serving more than 20 years in prison.

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Will Steger’s Pioneering Journey to the North Pole

Bill Thompson
Photo by Andy Witchger

In today’s shrinking world, there are very few things left that no one has ever done before. But in 1986, explorer Will Steger did something no one had done before – he led the first ever dog sled journey to the north pole without resupply

It was an amazing, and in some ways death-defying expedition

As he described in his 1987 book N to the pole, it’s difficult when your face is frozen, you’re only allowed two pounds of food a day, and you have just a short window of opportunity to reach your goal.

We sat down in my well heated studio one day in December 1987 to talk. So here now, from 1987, Will Steger.

Will Steger Is 79 now. He is a popular public speaker and advocate for preservation of the Arctic

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Suzanne Somers: From Laughter to Healing

Bill Thompson

WARNING: You’re about to listen to true stories of abuse, some of it sexual in nature. Some of the descriptions are graphic, and may be disturbing.

For many years actress Suzanne Somers kept us laughing. A talented comedic actress, she also knew how to leverage her blonde good looks for a laugh.

But until she wrote a memoir in the late 1980s, few people knew the truth about the abusive childhood she had endured. An alcoholic father made her life miserable, and she said in that memoir that laughter is what got her through.

A few years later, she followed up with another book, helping others confront and deal with their own painful childhood memories. That book was called Wednesdays Children.

I had interviewed Suzanne once before, but only by telephone. This was our first face to face meeting. So here now, from 1993, Suzanne Somers.

Suzanne Somers was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, but recovered. However the cancer returned earlier this year and Suzanne died last month one day before her 77th birthday.

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How a Navy Cross Hero Fought PTSD After Fallujah

Bill Thompson

Veteran’s Day reminds us that combat is not an isolated event in a service member’s life. It is often a psychological wound that is slow to heal.

Serving in Iraq in 2004, Marine Sgt. Jeremiah Workman earned the Navy Cross for gallantry under fire, after a ferocious firefight in Fallujah in which he killed 20 enemy combatants.

But Workmen returned home with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Protecting his mental health proved to be as big a challenge as protecting his men in Fallujah was

In 2009, the year he was medically discharged from the Marines, Workman wrote a memoir called Shadow Of The Sword. That’s when I met him.

So here now, from 2009, Jeremiah Workman.

Jeremiah Workman announced last spring that he will run for Governor of his native Ohio in 2026.

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The Secret Daughter of Elvis Presley

Bill Thompson

In the early 1980s a young woman named Desiree sat her mother down and asked her to finally tell her about her real father.

The story that Lucy de Barbin told her daughter was the story of how she met Elvis Presley, fell in love with him, and had an affair. Elvis, she explained, was Desiree’s father.

Then, somehow, a journalist caught wind of the story, and persuaded Lucy and Desiree to tell their story in a book. Which they did, in 1987, a book called Are You Lonesome Tonight?

I met them when they were on a national publicity tour for their book.

Now, whether you believe them or not – and there are plenty of people who don’t – theirs is a fascinating story.

So here now from 1987 Lucy de Barbin and Desiree Presley.

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Bobby Knight’s Story of Success and Controversy

Bill Thompson

The march toward March Madness begins today. The NCAA men’s basketball season is getting underway.

For many seasons, one of the nations most dominant basketball programs could be found at Indiana University, the team coached by the legendary Bobby knight.

Eleven times his teams won the big 10 championship. Three of his teams won the national championship, and one captured the NIT.

After he was fired by Indiana in 2000, Knight took over as head coach at Texas Tech in 2001, taking his team to the postseason in each of his first Four years there.

But night was also a volatile personality. And a 1986 bestselling book by writer John Feinstein helped cement Knight’s reputation as something of a hot head.

I met Bobby Knight in the spring of 2002, as his first year at Texas Tech was drawing to a close. We talked about his autobiography, a book called Knight: My Story.

So here now from 2002, Bobby Knight.

Bobby Knight died last week. He was 83.

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Author Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ Insights

Bill Thompson
Photo by Gage Skidmore

(Originally posted here in 2020)

When I was a kid, all my friends and I were into The Twilight Zone, the Rod Serling TV series.

But in the later 2000s, another “twilight” captured the world’s imagination: the “Twilight” series of novels by Stephenie Meyer.

Four, in all, chronicling the stories of teenager Bella, vampire Edward. and werewolf Jacob.

The third book in the series, “Eclipse,” was published in 2007. And that’s when I met the author — who, as you’ll hear, was still getting accustomed to the fact she had become more popular, book-sales-wise, than J.K. Rowling.

Here now, from 2007, Stephenie Meyer.

Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” books have been turned into popular movies. And her books continue to sell tens of millions of copies worldwide.

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Why ‘South Beach Diet’ Dr. A/rthur Agatston Is Concerned

Bill Thompson

If you’re trying to watch your weight, I don’t have to tell you that diet books come and go. Fad diets are a dime a dozen.

But about 20 years ago a new diet book appeared and has had incredible staying power. It was called the South Beach Diet, the creation of acclaimed cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston.

With its emphasis on limiting fat and carbs, and on adding more dietary fiber, the South Beach Diet has demonstrated its popularity.

Yet by 2011, Dr. Agatston was still worried about how well the American people were doing. That’s when he wrote a book called The South Beach Wake-Up Call, and that’s when I spoke with him.

So here now, from 2011. Dr. Arthur Agatston.

Dr. Arthur Agatston Is medical director of wellness and prevention at Baptist Health South Florida. He practices at South Beach Preventive Cardiology.

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Ghosts, Zombies, and Vampires — Why We Love ‘Em

Bill Thompson

Do you like being scared? That Is, do you enjoy horror movies, scary books, thriller TV shows?

What is it about the thrill of fear that we enjoy?

A few years ago, an English professor named Walter Kendrick decided to investigate. He wanted to know why, over the last couple of centuries, our taste in entertainment had taken a dark turn

The result was his 1991 book called The Thrill of Fear. And if you are a fan of ghosts, ghouls, zombies, and vampires, stick with us.

I spoke with him a couple of days before Halloween in 1991. So here now, from 1991, Walter Kendrick.

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Peggielene Bartels: The Woman Who Became A King

Bill Thompson

When you were a kid, did you ever have that fantasy that you were actually a prince or princess but nobody knew it?

In 2008, a telephone call to a woman who is a secretary living in suburban Washington. DC brought that fantasy to reality for her.

Her name is Peggielene Bartels, and in 2008 when her uncle passed away, she was notified that she had been chosen as the new king of the town of Otuam in her native Ghana.

Suddenly facing a dizzying array of new responsibilities, King Peggy, as she became known, embraced the new role and assumed leadership of her community.

In 2012 she told her story in a book called King Peggy and that’s when I had the chance to meet her. So here now from 2012. King Peggy.

King Peggy still works at the embassy of Ghana in Washington, and still lives in the suburbs. She is 70.

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