Bill Thompson – Page 5 – Now I've Heard Everything

Actor John o’Hurley’s Ode to Fatherhood, As Told by His Dog

June 18, 2025Bill Thompson

30 years ago actor John O’Hurley took on a role that would help define him for the rest of his career.

O’Hurley’s portrayal of the idiosyncratic entrepreneur J. Peterman became one of the most memorable characters on TVs “Seinfeld.”

After the series ended, he took on a new role, game show host. He even competed on “Dancing With The Stars.”

And John O’Hurley writes books, including a 2007 volume called Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework First You Have To Do It

Despite a title that may make you think the book was just a gag, it’s actually a thoughtful, even poignant book inspired by the birth of his son, his first child. And it’s a book that may Inspire other fathers.

So here now, from 2007, John O’Hurley.

John O’Hurley is 70 now. He sits on the board of directors of the real J. Peterman Company.

Beyond “Dead Man Walking”: Helen Prejean’s Fight for Justice

June 18, 2025Bill Thompson

For more than 30 years 1 of the most vocal and effective campaigners against capital punishment in the U.S. has been a Roman Catholic nun from New Orleans.

But until 1993 few people in the general public had ever heard of Sister Helen Prejean. That changed when she wrote a book called Dead Man Walking, which was later made into a highly acclaimed movie.

Leveraging her newfound influence, Prejean pushed forward with her campaign against the death penalty. She helped establish the Moratorium Campaign, and she started a group to counsel families of murder victims.

One major part of her effort has been to prevent executions of innocent defendants, who frequently are swept up in a dizzying array of legal technicalities that overlook their humanity.

In 2004 Prejean wrote a second book, called The Death of Innocents, drawing on the stories of two men she counseled who were executed despite what she believed was their innocence.

She and I talked about that book in 2005, the first time we had met since 1993.

So here now, from 2005, sister Helen Prejean.

Sister Helen Prejean Is 86 now. Based in New Orleans she continues to travel the country campaigning against the death penalty.

What Sports Could Teach Washington: Thoughts From Former Virginia Senator George Allen

June 8, 2025Bill Thompson

George Allen grew up around football. His father, also named George Allen, was famously an assistant coach with the NFL’s Chicago Bears, and later head coach for the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins.

Spending a lot of time in that atmosphere shaped the young George Allen’s worldview, especially after he entered politics.

First as a State Delegate in Virginia, then as the state’s Governor, and later one term as US senator. There was even a little talk about Alan running for president.

Allen frequently used sports analogies when talking politics, or making a point.

So, unsurprisingly perhaps, his 2010 book was called what Washington Can Learn From The World of Sports. I met him one day that summer in his office in Alexandria, Virginia to talk about it.

So here now, from 2010, George Allen.

George Allen is 73 now. He lives in Virginia Beach.

The Memoir of The Puppeteer Who Brought Elmo To Life

June 8, 2025Bill Thompson

If you’ve had a small child in your life anytime in the last 30 years or so you know this voice. That’s Elmo, the furry red monster from Sesame Street and one of the most popular Muppet characters ever.

The puppeteer who made Elmo and his giggle famous is a Baltimore native named Kevin Clash.

Growing up in the ‘60s Clash was entranced by everything from Kukla Fran and Ollie to Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. At age 10 he started making his own puppets.

At 19 he was so skilled he joined the Captain Kangaroo show as a puppeteer.

And in 1984 he joined the cast of Sesame Street. Elmo came along a year later, and for the next 27 years Kevin Clash was 3-year-old Elmo.

In 2006 Clash wrote an autobiography, a book he called My Life As a Furry Red Monster. That’s when I had the chance to meet him.

So here now, from 2006, Kevin Clash.

Kevin Clash will be 65 this fall. In 2012 he publicly came out as gay

The Magic And Charm of Loretta Lynn: A Conversation With A Music Legend

June 1, 2025Bill Thompson

Most of the interviews I did over a 30-year span were aimed at extracting information of one kind or another from my interviewee. An interesting anecdote, perhaps, or some inside scoop about Hollywood or politics or dports.

But on rare occasions, I just threw my notes away and just had a fun conversation. And one of the most fun interviews I ever had was the ten minutes that I had on the phone one day in the fall of 2002 with the great Loretta Lynn.

She had just published her second autobiography, called Still Woman Enough. When I was offered a 10-minute slot with her, I couldn’t wait.

So here now, from 2002, Loretta Lynn.

Loretta Lynn died in 2022. She was 90.

Brandan Robertson’s Message of Inclusion: Being Queer And Christian

May 28, 2025Bill Thompson

Brandan Robertson is a young progressive Christian pastor who has built a national reputation as an articulate leader for LGBTQ inclusion.

And for Rev. Robertson it is a personal effort, because he is gay.

In a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack as they haven’t been for decades, Robertson’s nessage of inclusivity is finding a receptive audience on social media. On Tik Tok alone he has over a quarter million followers.

But his outreach is not limited to those in the community. Robertson also speaks to allies, those perhaps with a family member who’s queer, or those who feel uneasy about their own church’s teachings.

Get your copy of Brandan Robertson’s book

And he has just written a book, being published this week, called Queer And Christian. In it, Rev. Robertson seeks not just to reinterpret scripture, but to offer Solace and support to those in the LGTBQ community.

So here now, about to embark on an author tour, Rev. Brandan Robertson.

Brandan Robertson is turning 33 this summer. He serves as pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in Queens, New York.

When Self-Preservation Becomes Self-Sacrifice: America’s Medal of Honor Recipients

May 26, 2025Bill Thompson

The Congressional Medal of Honor is America’s highest and most distinguished military award. It recognizes extraordinary courage, valor, and sacrifice. Since the metal was first awarded in the 1860s, only about 3,500 service members have received that honor, many of them posthumously.

In 2003 the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation published a commemorative book profiling metal honorees.

At the time, the president of the Foundation was retired Air Force Lt. General Nicholas Kehoe, and it was him that I interviewed about the book.

We actually spoke the day before Veterans Day in 2003, as the US was newly embroiled in war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So here now, from 2003 Nicholas Kehoe.

Deer Ann Landers: A Life As Seen By Her Daughter Margo Howard

May 25, 2025Bill Thompson

People get a lot of advice from their moms. But very few people have moms who dispense advice the way Margot Howard’s mom did.

Margo is the only child of famed syndicated newspaper advice columnist Ann Landers.

For 47 years Ann Landers cranked out a daily column that millions of people read religiously. For some people that was the first thing or maybe only thing they read in the paper.

And the thing is, Ann Landers always wrote back to the people who wrote to her, even if their letters didn’t appear in the newspaper.

And over the years she wrote a number of letters to her daughter Margo, who saved most of them.

And in 2003 Margo Howard published a book about her famous mom, and those letters. The book was called A Life in Letters. And that’s when I had a conversation with the delightful Margo Howard.

So here now, from 2003, MaGet your copy of Margo Howard’s book
rgo Howard.

Ann Landers died in 2002 at age 83. Margo Howard is now 85. She retired from her career as a columnist in 2013.

The Compelling, And Offbeat, History of Air Force One

May 22, 2025Bill Thompson

Air Force One has been in the news a lot lately A lot more than usual, because of the unusual gift of an airplane from Qatar to president Trump.

The history of an official presidential aircraft goes back 80 years. There have, of course, been several aircraft known as Air Force 1, and not all of them were jets.

Longtime White House correspondent Kenneth Walsh was one of the rare individuals who got to fly on Air Force One.

And his fascination with the aircraft, as well as the men who have called it their office in the sky, grew into a 2003 book called simply Air Force One.

Get ready to hear the stories of what the plane is, what it isn’t, what people think it is, and what it definitely is not.

So here now, from 2003 Kenneth Walsh.

How Sir Peter Ustinov Imagined The Ultimate Odd Couple

May 19, 2025Bill Thompson

British-born Peter Ustinov was a multi-talented, multi-award-winning actor. Classic movie fans know him well – “Spartacus,” “Topkapi,” both of which earned him an Oscar, but also “Quo Vadis,” “The Sundowners,” and “Hot Millions.”

But acting was only part of his Portfolio. Ustinov was also a director, a popular raconteur, and a novelist.

Indeed, the two times that I interviewed him were both conversations about his fiction.

One of those interviews was in 1991. That was the year Peter Ustinov wrote satire imagining God and the devil going on a kind of fact-finding mission in the modern-day world – as humans.

The book was called The Old Man And Mr Smith.

Now, Peter Ustinov described himself as a secular humanist, and his portrayals of God and the devil should be taken in that context.

In any case, I think you’ll find this interview a delight to listen to.

So here now, from 1991, Peter Ustinov.

Peter Ustinov died in 2004 at age 82.