Author: Bill Thompson

Helen Gurley Brown

Bill Thompson
Photo by Kingkongphoto

What is it about growing older? That seems to really freak some people out?

Yes, you can talk the good talk about growing old gracefully at all that. But some people just don’t want to grow old.

Or, at least, feel like they are growing old.

Such was the case with the long time editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, Helen Gurley Brown.

After all, she had built her reputation from the 1960s on the idea of being youthful and sexy and vibrant.

But, facing up to chronological reality, in 1993, Brown wrote a book called The late show. And that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, 71-year-old Helen Gurley Brown.

Helen Gurley Brown died in 2012. She was 90.

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David Morehouse

Bill Thompson

His story may sound like something from a scary science fiction movie.

Or from an episode of South Park.

But in 1996, a former Army intelligence officer named David Morehouse wrote a book about his experience as what he called a “psychic warrior.”

In that book, Morehouse explained how he was recruited for a super top secret defense program called Operation Stargate.

It was based on the principle of so-called “remote viewing,” in which extraordinary powers of the mind were used as an intelligence-gathering tool.

I met David Morehouse when he was on a book tour promoting “Psychic Warrior.” So here now, from 1996, David Morehouse.

David Morehouse later made a career of training others to use their powers of remote viewing. He is now 69 and losing California.

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Phyllis Schlafly

Bill Thompson

She was a middle-aged housewife from Alton, Illinois. But in the 1970s, Phyllis Schlafly launched an anti-feminist crusade that would make her a household name — lauded by many, revered by some, but hated and smeared by many others.

Schlafly positioned herself as the defender of traditional motherhood, becoming virulently anti-feminist, and the leading opponent of the then still-pending Equal Rights Amendment.

As the founder of the group Eagle Forum, Schlafly also had huge influence on the direction of the conservative movement in America.

She even had a syndicated column, and in 2003 she published a collection of those columns, a book she called Feminist Fantasies.

So this is one of the several times that I interviewed her over the years. So here now, from 2003, Phyllis Schlafly.

Phyllis schlafly died in 2016. She was 92.

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Naomi Wolf
Gloria Steinem

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Richard Adler

Bill Thompson

In the mid-1950s no one on Broadway was hotter than the team of Adler and Ross.

Composer Richard Adler and lyricist Jerry Ross produced back to back Broadway hits The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, featuring songs that would remain popular for decades.

Their songs helped make other artists popular, too, like Tony Bennett and Rosemary Clooney.

But in 1955, the same year Damn Yankees was becoming a hit, Jerry Ross died at age 29 from complications of chronic lung disease.

The loss was both a professional and personal tragedy for Richard Adler.

He continued his work, teaming with other collaborators from time to time, and adapting to changing times.

In 1990, Adler wrote his autobiography, which he called You Gotta Have Heart. And that’s when I met him. So here now, from 1990, Richard Adler.

Richard Adler died in 2012. He was 90.

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Roz Chast

Bill Thompson
Photo by Larry D. Moore

What do you get when you bring together one of America’s favorite comic actors and one of its favorite and most prolific cartoonists?

You get a whimsical and unique book for children,

created by comedian Steve Martin and New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.

It’s called The Alphabet from A to Y With Bonus Letter Z

I talked with Roz Chas about it when the book was published in the fall of 2007.

So here now, from 2007, Roz Chast.

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Alan Shepard

Bill Thompson

Alan Shepard was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, you know, the guys with “the right stuff.”

Just a few years later, Shepard became the oldest man ever to walk on the surface of the moon.

Shepard was a key player in NASA’s Apollo space program, which put us on the moon in 1969.

And in 1994, Shepard, along with fellow astronaut Deke Slaytonnand two veteran journalists, co-authored a book about that mission to the moon Their book was called Moon Shot.

Sadly, Slayton died before the book was released. But I had the chance to meet and interview the great Alan Shepard .

So here now, from 1994, Alan Shepard.

Alan Shepard died in 1998. He was 74.

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Paul Dickson

Bill Thompson

Tomorrow night is major league baseball’s All-Star game.

Did you ever consider how many words and phrases in our everyday language have their origins in baseball?

We all know what it means, for example, to be giving a big presentation and be a big success at it- they say you hit a home run.

Or if it fell flat, you struck out.

Those are just two of the thousands of baseball terms and slang that writer Paul Dickson found when he put together his definitive book called The Dickson Baseball Dictionary.

It’s been out for over 30 years, but it’s still the definitive book on the subject.

Paul and I go way back, and when we talked in 1989 about The Dickson Baseball Dctionary it was one of our several interviews over the years.

So here now, from 1989, Paul Dickson.

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Martha Stewart

Bill Thompson
Photo by Gage Skidmore

Well many of us went to barbecues, reunions, or other big holiday events for the 4th of July.

And if you hosted such an event, you probably realized how much planning and effort goes into it.
Maybe you could have used a little professional advice…

There may literally be no one in America who is better known for her expertise in entertaining than Martha Stewart.

For more than 40 years, Stuart has been dispensing advice on cooking and decorating and entertaining guests. Best-selling books, a magazine, and a television show have helped push her to the forefront.

I’ve interviewed her several times, including this conversation we had in 1994 when she published a book called Martha Stewart’s Menus For Entertaining.

So here now, from 1994, Martha Stewart.

Martha Stewart will be 82 next month . She lives in New York.

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Andrew Grove

Bill Thompson
Photo by World Economic Forum

It was a young immigrant from Europe who came to the United States nearly 70 years ago who helped create and promote technology that would literally transform the world.

His name was Andrew Grove. A Hungarian by birth, he fled the Hungarian revolution in 1956 to come to the US.

In 1968, he joined the newly formed company called Intel, and eventually became its third CEO. His leadership propelled Intel to the forefront of the fledgling industry.

And in 1997 Andy Grove was Time Magazine’s Man of the Year for his influence in advancing the power and potential of the microchip.

In 2001, Grove wrote his autobiography, a book he called Swimming Across. And that’s when I have the chance to talk with him for a few minutes .

So here now, from 2001, Andy Grove.

Andrew Grove died in 2016 at age 79.

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John Sculley
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Simon Winchester

Bill Thompson
Photo by Wes Washington

On Independence Day, the Fourth of July, most of the attention is paid to the men who founded the United States of America, and rightfully so.

The actual process of uniting the states didn’t end with the Declaration of Independence. Indeed, it was just beginning.

Actually creating a single nation out of multiple independent states required an infrastructure in addition to a political statement. And that has taken more than two centuries.

In his 2013 book The Men Who United the States, journalists Simon Winchester took a deeper dive into the stories of innovations as diverse as the telegraph, the interstate highway system, and the internet.

And perhaps the irony Is that Winchester was born in the very nation from whom we declared our independence.

So here now, from 2013, Simon Winchester.

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