Author: Bill Thompson

Dan Jansen

Bill Thompson
Photo: Ineke Vogel

As the 2022 Winter Olympics get underway today in China, we are reminded that these games can produce heroes and great triumphs, but also soul crushing defeats which can bring out either the best or the worst in a competitor.

Wisconsin native Dan Jansen was one of the world’s best speed skaters when he went to the Winter Olympics in 1988. He carried the expectations of millions of Americans on his shoulders. But as the games got underway, Jensen got devastating news from back home — his sister Jane was dying of leukemia.

He was informed of her death just before competing in the 500-meter event, the one he was expected to win. But he fell in that race, and fell again in the 1,000-meter race, and came home with no medals.

In 1992, he again came home empty-handed. Many people tacked the name the heartbreak kid on him.

But in 1994, at the Lillehammer Olympics, in his final race, the 1,000-meter, Jansen won his first and only medal, a gold medal.

I met him just a few months later, when he wrote a book called Full Circle.

So here now, from 1994, Dan Jansen.

Dan Jansen is 56 now. He’s an NBC commentator.

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Melba Patillo Beals

Bill Thompson
Photo: Ben Schumin

Imagine a small group of high school students needing armed United States military just to get into school.

In September 1957 9. African American students, the first to enroll at Central high School in Little Rock, Arkansas, were accompanied by armed national guard members

They became known as the Little Rock Nine.

Among them was 15-year-old Melba Patillo, later Melba Patillo Beals. Somehow, she and the rest of a little rock nine escaped any kind of serious physical harm.

I first met her in 1994, when she wrote a memoir of her experience called warriors. Don’t cry.

So here now, from 1994, Melba Patillo Beals.

Melba Patillo Beals is 80 now. She lives in the San Francisco Bay aea.

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Cindy Sheehan

Bill Thompson
Photo: Ben Schumin

After a U.S. Army soldier named Casey Sheehan was killed in action in Iraq in 2004 his mother, Cindy Sheehan became one of the loudest anti-war voices in America .

What made her different from others, though, was that Cindy Sheehan was not content to simply join protest rallies or write letters. She set up a makeshift camp outside President George w. Bush’s, Texas ranch.

Her protest drew international attention, but made her many enemies as well as allies.

In 2006, Cindy Sheehan wrote a memoir called Peace Mom. I met her during one of her visits to Washington DC.

So here now from 2006. Cindy Sheehan.

Cindy Sheehan is 64 now. She

hosts a weekly radio show and has a blog called “Cindy’s Soapbox.”

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Karen Armstrong

Bill Thompson

Who is God?

Photo: Vogler

Who is the all-knowing, all-powerful deity who, despite having different names, is at the heart of every major religion?

A former Roman Catholic nun who has become one of the world’s most renowned religious scholars, Karen Armstrong in 1994, wrote a book called A History of God.

This was the first of many conversations I had with her over the next few years.

So here now, from 1994, Karen Armstrong.

Karen Armstrong is 77 now. In 2014, she was made an honorary Doctor of Divinity by McGill University.

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The Amazing Kreskin

Bill Thompson

He’s not a psychic nor a fortune teller. The Amazing Kreskin is a mentalist, perhaps the best known mentalist in the world.

But is he for real ?

After years of hearing people conjecture about his skills, Kreskin in 1996 wrote a book called How To Be a Fake Kreskin.

Listen to this interview and then you decide: fake, or real?

So here now, from 1996, The Amazing Kreskin.

The Amazing Kreskin turned 87 earlier this month. He still performs and is seen on TV regularly. He lives in New Jersey.

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Helen Thomas

Bill Thompson

At most news organizations, the White House beat is a coveted plum assignment.

But it’s a difficult, stressful, and highly competitive job. Most correspondence last only a few years at best.

One exception was UPI correspondent Helen Thomas. She covered the White House for over 50 years, and covered 10 presidents from Kennedy to Obama.

I met her in 1999 when, at the age of 79, she wrote a memoir called Front Row At The White House

So here now from 1999, Helen Thomas.

Helen Thomas died in 2013 at age 92.

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Richard Leakey

Bill Thompson
Photo: Rob Bogaerts / Anefo

Where did modern humankind come from?

Scientists,, scholars, and experts have been trying to find the answer for generations.

One of the most prominent among them was Kenyan-born Richard Leakey.

His parents, Louis and Mary Leakey, we’re also renowned paleoanthropologists whose work centered on finding the origins of modern humans.

In 1977, Richard Leakey co-authored at groundbreaking book called Origins. But by 1992, he had Unearthed new material the prompted him to write a sequel, called Origins Reconsidered.

And that’s what I met him.

So here now, from 1992, Richard Leakey.

Richard Leakey died earlier this month. He was 77.

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bell hooks

Bill Thompson
Photo: Alex Lozupone

How and where do race, gender, class, art, and capitalism come together?

That question was at the heart of some 30 books written by author bell hooks.

That was actually the pen name that Gloria Jean Watkins adopted for herself.

But being a black female activist and feminist also often made her a target.

In her 1999 book Remembered Rapture hooks recalled some of her challenges as a writer and activist and that’s when I have the chance to meet her for the first of our several conversations.

So here now from 1999 bell hooks.

bell hooks died last month. She was 69.

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Dexter Scott King

Bill Thompson

Dexter Scott King was only 7 years old in 1968 when his father Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.

But his memories of his late father remain sharp and crisp.

And those deeply personal recollections sometimes contrast with the public views of Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2003 at the age of 42, Dexter Scott King wrote a book called Growing Up King, and that’s when I had a chance to meet him and talk with him.

So here now from 2003 Dexter Scott King

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Wolfgang Puck

Bill Thompson
Photo © Glenn Francis

When you think of America’s great present-day chefs and restaurateurs, there are only a handful of names that immediately come to mind.

And one of them is Wolfgang Puck.

While he may be best known for his acclaimed Spago restaurant, Puck has also written a number of cookbooks, he’s a TV and he’s the official caterer for the Academy Awards.

I met him a little over thirty years ago, in the fall of 1991, when he was on tour for his cookbook adventures in the Kitchen.

And get ready. You’re going to be very hungry in just a few minutes.

So here now, from 1991, Wolfgang Puck.

Wolfgang Puck is 72 now. He lives in Los Angeles.

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