Author: Bill Thompson

Sydney Biddle Barrows

Bill Thompson

As public scandals go, this one might seem pretty benign, by today’s low bar. But in 1984, it was a big story when it was revealed that the authoirities had broken up a high-priced Manhattan escort service that was being run by a woman named Sydney Biddle Barrows.

Now, when a New York Post reporter uncovered the fact that the 32-year-old Barrows is from the Biddle family of Philadelphia, and is a direct descendant of some of the original Mayflower settlers, he dubbed her the “Mayflower Madam” — and the name stuck.

Within two years of her company being put out of business, Barrows wrote a bestselling autobiography, called, of course, “The Mayflower Madam.”

That’s when I first met her.

So here now, from 1986, Mayflower Madam Sydney Biddle Barrows:

Sydney Biddle Barrows is 68 now. She’s a management consultant and writer.

Barry Goldwater

Bill Thompson

Last week Democrats nominated Joe Biden for president. This week, Republicans will renominate Donald Trump, for a second term.

Let’s go back 56 years, to July1964, when the GOP nominated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater.

And, much like this year’s Democrats, many 1964 Republicans had serious doubts about Goldwater, who many saw as much too extreme. And Goldwater himself didn’t help much, with his acceptance speech.

Goldwater was trounced in the election that fall, by income LyndonBut Goldwater remained in the senate for many years, Helping shape the conservative policies of the GOP.

When I met him in 1988, the country was in the midst of the George H.W. Bush vs Michael Dukakis race. And as you’re about to hear, Goldwater had some very specific ideas about that contest.

So, here now, from 1988, Barry Goldwater.

Barry Goldwater died in 1998. He was 89.

Tipper Gore

Bill Thompson
Photo: Nancy Rhoda

Years before her husband Al was elected vice president of the United States, Tipper Gore established a reputation of her own, as a social issues advocate. And her issue, in the late 80s, was protecting America’s children from sex and violence in the media.

She was co-founder of the Parents Music Resource Center, which led the effort to require warning labels if on media contained profanity, sexual references, or violence.

I met her in 1987. She had just published a book called Raising PG Kids In An X-Rated Society.

So here now, from 1987, Tipper Gore:

Tipper Gore celebrated her 72nd birthday day-before-yesterday.

She and Al Gore raised four children.

They separated in 2010.

Wolfman Jack

Bill Thompson

Tomorrow, August 20th, is National Radio Day.

Yoday, we’re going to revisit my interview 25 years ago with one of the greatest radio personalities of all time.

And I’m going to let you hear the question I asked him that day, and the answer he gave me, that has haunted me to this day.

I’m talking about the great Wolfman Jack, one of the greatest figures in the history of the music business in America, as well as radio.

So here now, froim 1995, Wolfman Jack:

Now, about that question I asked him, and the answer he gave — Here it is:

Just hours later, after he finished his live show in Washington, Wolfman Jack drove back to his home in North Carolina, got out of his car, and collapsed and died. He was 57.

It turns out mine was the last interview we ever gave. And I asked him why he wasn’t dead yet. That haunts me.

George McGovern

Bill Thompson

The 2020 Democratic National Convention is getting underway this week. It’ll look a lot different from any past convention, though, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Let’s go back 48 years, to 1972, when the Democratic party nominated South Dakota Senator George McGovern as their standard-bearer.

Running on a liberal, anti-war platform, McGovern lost badly to Republican incumbent Richard Nixon — who, less than two years later, resigned in disgrace over the Watergate scandal.

When I interviewed George McGovern 2004, in he had just published a book advocating for those same traditional liberal values.

So here now, from the summer of 2004, George McGovern.

After his 1972 loss to Richard Nixon, George McGovern remained in the U.S. Senate until his defeat in 1980.

McGovern died in 2012 at age 90.

Maureen O’Hara

Bill Thompson
Maureen O’Hara (center) with Bill and Hillary Thompson

Irish-born redhead Maureen O’Hara knew from an early age she wanted to act. After years of training, she was finally “discovered,” if you will, as ayoung woman by Charles Laughton, considered one of thye world’s finest actors.

Her first movie came in 1938, and it launched an award-winning career that spanned decades.

I met her in 2004. She had just written a memoir that included her recollections of working with some of the greatest names in movie history: director John Ford. Her longtime friend and co-star John Wayne. Even John Candy.

And, as you’re about to hear, she was eyewitness to the start of one of Hollywood’s romances.

So here now, from 2004, Maureen O’Hara.

Maureen O’Hara died in 2015. Next Monday, August 17th, would have been her 100th birthday.

Vladimir Pozner

Bill Thompson
Phgto: Augustas Didžgalvis

For decades the USSR — the Soviet UInion — was a major world power, but it was held together largely through force and intimidation.

Things began to unravel in the late 1980s — the momentum built after President Ronald Reagan delivered these words at the Berlin Wall:

The wall did come down two years later, and two years after that, the Soviet Union came to an end.

Watching it all, from a front-row seat, was high-profilpe Soviet journalist and broadcaster Vladimir Pozner, who was also a freqeuent guest on American television, largely because in his youth, he spent a lot of time in tghe U.S. abd vecame fluent in English.

I interviewed Vladimir Pozner several times, including in 1992, less than a year after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He had written a book called, appropriately, Eyewitness.

So here now, from 1992, former Soviet journalist Vladimir Pozner.

Vladimir Pozner is 86 now. He’s a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Tracey Ullman

Bill Thompson

She burst onto the American television scene in the late 1980s, when she hosted her own show on the fledgling Fox network.

Phoro: John http://www.celebrity-photos.comMathew Smith

And Tracey Ullman has been a favorite in this country ever since.

Her Fox show ended in 1990, and she next appeared on American television in 1996, on the HBO series Tracey Takes On.

I met her in early 1998, when she published a book that was companion to the HBO series.

So here now, from 1998, Tracey Ullman.

Tracey Ullman is 60 now. According to Wikipedia, she is the richest British actress and female comedian and the third richest British comedian overall.

Debbi Fields

Bill Thompson

Mrs. Fields Cookies can be found in hundreds of cities across America, and around the world. It’s one of the largest names in the snack food industry.

It all started back in 1977, when Debbi Fields and her husband started a small business selling homemade-style cookies.

It grew into a major enterprise, which Debbi Fields sold in 1993.

When I met her in 1996, she had just published a book of dessert recipes — traditional classics ti which she had added the Mrs. Fields touch.

So here now, from 1996, Debbi Fields:

Debbi Fields is 63 now. She is spokesperson for the Mrs. Fields brand. She lives in Tennessee.

Bob Greene

Bill Thompson
BG PAUL W TIBBETS JR

Tomorrow, August 6th, is the 75th anniversary of the first-ever use of a nuclear weapon in war, when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

At the controls of the B-29 called the Enola Gay was a young pilot named Paul Tibbetts.

After the war, Tibbetts returned to a very humble and private life in Ohio.

Bob Greene

As the 1990s were drawing to a close, Chicago Tribune columnist and author Bob Greene was finally, after years of trying, to get Paul Tibbetts to talk about his history-making flight.

The result was Greene’s book “Duty.”

So here now, from 2001, Bob Greene.

Paul Tibbetts died in 2007 at age 92.

Bob Greene is 73 now. He left thre Chicago Tribune in 2002. His last book was publsihed in 2009.