Author: Bill Thompson

J. Craig Venter

Bill Thompson

Can the guy who just barely graduated from high school become one of the world’s 100 most influential people?

Well, it doesn’t very often, to be sure. But that is the short version of the story of Dr. J. Craig Venter, who led the first draft sequence of the human genome some 20 years ago,

Venter founded the company Celera Genomics, which found itself in a very publicized race with the international Human Genome Project to produce that map.

And by summer 2000, Venter was a VIP guest at a White House announcement featuring President Clinton, British prime minister Tony Blair, and a host of other high-level dignitaries.

Venter was widely hailed around the world as a leading figure in the scientific community .

In 2007, Venter wrote his autobiography, a book called A Life Decoded. And that’s what I met him.

So here now, from 2007, Dr. J. Craig venter.

J. Craig Venter is 75 now. He lives in California.

Oh, and if he was curious as to why he was always such a poor student, Venter later discovered that he had a genetic marker for ADHD.

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Armistead Maupin

Bill Thompson
Photo: Alan Light

We’re kicking off the start of LGBTQ Pride Month with a conversation with one of the leading literary figures in the gay rights movement of the late 20th century.

Armistead Maupin started writing stories in 1974 that were published in a small newspaper in the San Francisco area. Those serialized stories were known as tales of the City.

Finally, in 1978, Maupin published the first Tales of The City book, the 1st of several in the series.

Drawing on his own experience as a gay man, Maupin’s books feature a broad community of diverse characters and backgrounds.

Importantly, Armistead Maupin was one of the first writers to directly address the AIDS crisis.

I first met him in 1987, but the conversation you’re about to hear is from 13 years later, when we talked about his novel The Night Listener.

So here now, from 2000, Armistead Maupin.

Armistead Maupin celebrated his 78th birthday last month. He lives in New Mexico.

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Denise Donnelly

Bill Thompson

Memorial Day is the day America honors the men and women who have sacrificed their lives in military service.

But not all of those lives were lost on the battlefield.

U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Michael Donnelly flew 44 combat missions during the Persian Gulf war, Operation Desert Storm, in the early 1990s.

But in 1996, Donnelly was medically discharged from the Air Force, after being diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

His subsequent fight with the U.S. government to get medical treatment proved to be the most difficult battle he had ever fought.

In 1998, Donnelly and his sister Denise co-wrote Falcon’s Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir.

So here now, from 1998, Denise Donnelly.

Michael Donnelly died in 2005. He was 46.

A 2008 study by the University of Cincinnati found that confirmed 48 cases of ALS in Persian Gulf war veterans.

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Bobby Unser

Bill Thompson

One of the world’s most iconic auto races, the Indianapolis 500, will be run this Sunday.

In the 111-year history of the Indy 500 only a handful of drivers have won the race three times or more

And only two drivers have won the race in three different decades.

One of them Bobby, Unser, who’s part of the storied Unser auto racing family. He won the Indy 500 in 1968, 1975, and 1981.

He and his brother Al are the only set of brothers ever to win the Indy 500.

I met Bobby Unser in the spring of 2003, when he wrote a motivational book called Winners Are Driven.

So here now, from 2003, Bobby Unser.

Bobby Unser died last May, just days before the 2021 Indianapolis 500. He was 87.

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Catherine Crier

Bill Thompson

Catherine Crier had a remarkable legal career. By age 30, she had become the youngest elected judge ever in the state of Texas.

But the number of years and Crier became a journalist and television personality, eventually hosting her own show on Court TV.

And along the way, she developed some strong opinions about the profession that she began her career in, the law.

Her 2002 book The Case Against Lawyers became a New York Times bestseller. And that’s when I first met her.

So here now, from 2002, Catherine Crier..

Catherine Crier is 68 now, and is a partner and a firm that develops TV, movie and documentary projects.

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Gil Amelio

Bill Thompson

Given Apple’s dominance in the high-tech world, it’s hard to imagine that it was once a company that had cash flow problems, poor quality products, a bloated workforce, and a total lack of strategy.

But that’s essentially the kind of company that Gill Amelio said he took over as CEO in early 1996.

By his own telling, Amelio cut costs, slashed staff, and tried to put the company back on a strategic course.

But less than a year and a half later, in summer of 1997, Apple was still struggling and Amelio was forced out.

The following spring he wrote a book about his 500 days at Apple, called On the Firing Line. And that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1998, Gil Amleio.

Gil Amelio is 79 now. He’s been a venture capitalist for the last 24 years.

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Louise Mandrell

Bill Thompson

She began singing professionally in the 1970s, as a solo artist and together with her older sister Barbara Mandrell and younger sibling Irlene Mandrell.

She’s proven to be an enduring and popular country musician.

I met her in the summer of 1993, when she was promoting a series of books she had written for children, commemorating a dozen or so major holidays.

So here now, from 1993, Louise Mandrell.

will be 68 in July

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Susanna Kaysen

Bill Thompson

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Tomorrow, May 19, is Mental Health Action Day.

So today on Now I’ve Heard Everything, a 1994 conversation with a woman whose own mental health crisis became a bestselling book, then a major potion picture.

In 1967, at the age of 18, Susanna Kaysen’s family had her hospitalized for treatment of depression. She was told she would be there for two weeks. She was actually there for 18 months, after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder..

Years later Kaysen drew on her experience to write her memoir Girl, Interrupted. I met her the following year.

So here now, from 1994, Susann Kaysen.

Girl, Interrupted was made into a movie in 1999 starring Winona Ryder as Susanna.

Susanna Kaysen is 73 now.

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Newt Gingrich

Bill Thompson

Newt Gingrich was first elected to Congress from George’s sixth district in 1978. By the end of the 1980s, he had risen to a position of leadership in the House GOP.

In 19 for Gingrich was a leader in the Republican wave that took over the house, and Gingrich became the first Republican house speaker in 40 years.

But by 1997 infighting in the party put Gingrich on the defensive.

Gingrich himself help fan the flames of discontent when, in late 1997, he almost single-handedly shut down the federal government. It was a squabble over a continuing resolution to keep the government funded. And Gingrich was upset because he had apparently been snubbed on a flight on Air Force One.

In 1998 Gingrich wrote a book he called Lessons Learned The Hard Way.

So here now from 1998, Newt Gingrich.

Newt g resigned from the house in January 1999. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Gingrich is 78 and remains active in Republican politics. His new book Defeating Big Government Socialism: Saving America’s Future will be published in July.

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Jenny Craig

Bill Thompson
Jenny and Sid Craig

You know the name Jenny Craig. It’s a popular weight loss, weight management and nutrition company with hundreds of locations all over the world.

It’s named, of course, for its founder Jenny Craig. At the age of 51 she and her husband Sid co-founded what is today known as Jenny Craig Inc. They started with locations in Australia, and established a U.S. presence in 1985.

I met Jenny Craig in 1992, when she was promoting one of her books about weight loss and lifestyle management.

So here now, from 1992, Jenny Craig.

Jenny Craig will be 90 in August. Jenny Craig Inc has over 700 worldwide locations.

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