Author: Bill Thompson

Neil Simon was born on the Fourth of July, 1927 and grew up in New York City. Because of a troubled home life, he spent a lot of time at the movies, absorbing the world of comedy and theater.

As a young man, Neil Simon wrote for radio and early television, including Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” and “The Phil Silvers Show.”

But Simon’s life took a turn in 1961, when his first play, “Come Blow Your Horn,” was produced.

That was followed by “Barefoot in the Park,” and the Tony Award-winning “The Odd Couple,” which premiered on Broadway on March 10th, 1965.

Simon went on to write 30 plays, as well as many movie screenplays.

In 1983 Simon became the only living playwright to have a New York theatre named for him.

I met and interviewed him in 1996, when he wrote a memoir called “Rewrites.”

Here now, Neil Simon, from 1996:

Neil Simon died on August 26th, 2018. He was 91.

Twenty years ago tomorrow a book was published that broke rules, set new boundaries, redefined fiction. It was a groundbreaking novel by Mark Z. Danielewski. It was his first book, called “House of Leaves.”

It’s a book you don’t just read, you see it. The pages are an art form in themselves.

It took six more years for him to write his second book, called “Only Revolutions.”

That’s the book that I interviewed him for, a year later, in the fall of 2007.

We met in a bookstore cafe one afternoon, as around us, fans looked on while I asked him about “Only Revolutions,” “House of Leaves,” and the writing life.

Here now, Mark Z. Danielewski from 2007:

Mark Z. Danielewski’s latest book, “The Little Blue Kite,” was published last fall.

By the way, yesterday, March 5th, was Mark Z. Danielewski’s 54th birthday.

Most authors would be delighted to be on the New York Times bestseller list once or twice.

Clive Cussler made it to the list 20 times.

He was much more than a novelist — he was an adventurer and expert underwater explorer.

Cussler was also founder and chairman of NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency.

Clive Cussler’s recurring hero was a classic American fiction hero named Dirk Pitt. And Pitt never let us down, as Cussler’s books were invariably action-packed wioth plenty of plot twists and thrills-a-minute.

One of my several interviews with Clive Cussler took place in the summer of 2001. We talked abouty his Dirk Pitt thriller “Valhalla Rising.”

Here now, Clive Cussler, from 2001:

Clive Cussler died last week at the age of 88.

It’s been 37 years since that record-breaking series finale of the TV show “MAS*H.”

And William Christopher may be best remembered as the lovable Father Mulcahy, but he had a long and distinguished acting career.

I first met and interviewed him when he was in the Washington, DC area in early 1986 — my birthday, in fact — as he was taking on the lead role in the play “The Seven Year Itch” at a local dinner theater.

But I had so many “MAS*H” questions…

Here now, my 1986 interview with William Christopher:

William Christopher died on the last day of 2016. He was 84.

Gordon Cooper was the youngest of the seven original Mercury astronauts, the ones who famously had “the right stuff.”

He was a World War II fighter pilot, later a test pilot who was chosen as one of the first seven astronaut in 1959.

As part of the Mercury program, Cooper was the first American astronaut to spend an entire day in space, and the first to sleep in space.

And later Cooper was a key member of the Gemini program. He retired from NASA in 1970.

I met and interviewed him thirty years later. Here, now, my interview with Gordon Cooper from 2000:

Astronaut Gordon Cooper died on October 4th, 2004 at age 77.

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. played a key role in World War II.

Not only were his combat accomplishments extraordinary, but his leadership helped shape the United States Air Force for decades to come.

Davis was the leader of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

As commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and 332nd Fighter Group in Europe, Davis demonstrated that African-American pilots were just as skilled as their white counterparts.

Benjamin O. Davis flew sixty missions in the war.

He later became the first African-American general in the U.S. Air Force.

I met General Davis upon publication of his memoir. Here now, my 1992 interview with General Benjamin O. Davis.

General Benjamin O. Davis died at age 89 on the Fourth of July, 2002. He’s buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

It all started over 15 years ago, when an ordinary guy from Maryland named Frank Warren kaunched a project, to encourage people to share secrets.

Not just ordinary secrets, either. The postcards he started to get, from total strangers, were touching, some
were poignant, some were weird or alarming, some were hilarious.

Soon, Frank had enough material for a book — several books, in fact — a website, a traveling show…

I first met Frank Warren in 2005, when his first book, “PostSecret,” was published.

He is an icon of the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. John Lewis has been at the forefront of the effort.

He was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) when he helped organize the 1963 March on Washington.

But Lewis paid a price for his activism, often facing violence and nearly being beaten to death.

Today he is in his 17th term representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

February 21, 2020 is his 80th birthday.

This weekend marks the start of the spring 2020 Major League Baseball exhibition schedule.

It was in a spring many years ago that I got to meet and interview one of my boyhood idols: the legendary and once home run king Hank Aaron.

Now, when I was growing up, Ernie Banks of the Cubs was my main man, but Hank Aaron was right up there – and not just because we share a birthday. In 1974, Aaron broke the record that had stood for decades: Babe Ruth’s 714 lifetime home runs. Aaron’s record stood until Barry Bonds broke itt in 2007.

So here now is my interview with Hammerin’ Hank from 1991.

Hank Aaron celebrated his 86th birthday a couple of weeks ago.