Sons & Daughters – Now I've Heard Everything

Unlocking the Heart: Leo Buscaglia, aka Dr. Love

June 14, 2024June 8, 2024Bill Thompson

They used to call him “Dr. Love.:

Author, educator, and motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia was an immensely popular figure in the 1980s, seeding the American psyche with a message of love and humanity. Buscaglia was also widely renowned for his penchant for hugging people, even strangers. But once you met Leo you were no more a stranger to him,.

Lao Buscaglia’s parents were Italian immigrants, and although he often mentioned his mother in his books, he had never written extensively about his father, until his 1989 book Papa, My Father. That’s when I first met him.

In this powerful interview, Leo urges us to connect and reconnect with our fathers – and mothers – before we run out of chances to do so.

So here now, from 1989, Leo Buscaglia.

Leo Buscaglia died in 1998. He was 74.

A Legacy Revealed: Hank Williams’ Daughter Jett

June 3, 2024June 1, 2024Bill Thompson

Country music legend Hank Williams was married twice. Between those two marriages Williams had a relationship with a woman named Bobbie Jett. And they had a daughter, who was born five days after Williams’ death from heart failure.

But it took some 30 years for that baby girl to learn the real story of her parentage.And it took years of court fights for the full story to emerge, and for her to obtain her share of the Hank Williams legacy.

Jett Williams became a professional musician in her own right, and in 1990 she told her story in an autobiography called Ain’t Nothin’ As Sweet As My Baby. That’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1990, Jett Wililams.

Jett Williams is 71 now. Her last record was released in 2017.

From Insider to Author: Susan Ford’s White House Thriller

May 22, 2024May 19, 2024Bill Thompson

Susan Ford was 17 when her father, Gerald Ford, became the nation’s 38th president, and she moved into the White House.

The youngest of the Fords’ children, and the only daughter, Susan acclimated to her new surroundings, absorbing details about the history and protocols of the First Family’s home.

And years later, she drew upon that intimate insider’s knowledge to write fiction, a mystery set in the White House, complete with scandal and intrigue. .

In a nod to her real life profession, and that of her book’s main character, Ford called her book Double Exposure.

And alongside all the elements of a good, page-turning mystery Ford gave her readers some delectable tidbits about the White House and its mysteries.

So here now, from 2002, Susan Ford.

Susan Ford will be 67 in July. She lives in Texas.

A Daughter’s Loving Embrace: Rain Pryor’s Book About Richard Pryor

November 24, 2023November 23, 2023Bill Thompson

Rain Pryor (center_ with Bill and Hillary Thompson

The late Richard Pryor was a hugely talented comedian and brilliant entertainer — but, by his own admission, a failure as a father.

In 2006 his daughter Rain Pryor wrote a memoir, a sympathetic portrait of the man, failings and all. Her book was called Jokes My Father Never Taught Me.

So here now from November 2006, Rain Pryor.

Richard Pryor died in December 2005, at the age of 65.

Rain Pryor is 54 now, and is active as a comedian, actor, and singer.

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The Secret Daughter of Elvis Presley

November 8, 2023November 7, 2023Bill Thompson

In the early 1980s a young woman named Desiree sat her mother down and asked her to finally tell her about her real father.

The story that Lucy de Barbin told her daughter was the story of how she met Elvis Presley, fell in love with him, and had an affair. Elvis, she explained, was Desiree’s father.

Then, somehow, a journalist caught wind of the story, and persuaded Lucy and Desiree to tell their story in a book. Which they did, in 1987, a book called Are You Lonesome Tonight?

I met them when they were on a national publicity tour for their book.

Now, whether you believe them or not – and there are plenty of people who don’t – theirs is a fascinating story.

So here now from 1987 Lucy de Barbin and Desiree Presley.

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Amy Tan

May 12, 2023July 14, 2023Bill Thompson

Sunday is Mother’s Day. So today, my conversation with an author who called upon her mother’s life experiences to craft one of America’s best loved novels of the late 20th century.

Amy Tan’s parents emigrated to the US from China. And they brought with them not only their own personal histories, of course, but centuries of Chinese history and wisdom.

It was against that backdrop that Tan wrote her 1989 best-selling novel, The Joy Luck Club.

And as you’ll hear in a few minutes, Tan’s writing tapped into a consciousness that even her own mother was startled by.

The first time I interviewed Amy Tan was in 1990, when the paperbackedition of The Joy Luck Club had just been published .

So here now, from 1990, novelist Amy Tan.

Amy Tan is 71 now. She is frequently listed as among the most important and influential American authors of her time.

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Dexter Scott King

January 17, 2022January 16, 2022Bill 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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Rock Brynner

June 18, 2021June 15, 2021Bill Thompson

In the 1950s, few actors dominated Broadway the way Yul Brynner did.

Playing the lead in the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s play “The King and I,” Brynner eEstablished himself as a top-tier performer.

He won two Tonys for his portrayal of the King of Siam, as well as an Academy Award when the play was adapted to film.

Later he was cast in such big budget movies as the Ten Commandments, The Magnificent Seven, and Westworld.

His son Rock was born in 1946, and was as captivated as anyone with his father’s strong a persona.

A few years after his father’s untimely death from lung cancer, Rock Brynner wrote a memoir of life with his famous dad. And tha’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1991, Rock Brynner.

At age 75, Rocj Brynn er has now lived 10 years longer than his father did. He is a professor of history..

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