En Pointe Elegance: Ballerina Suzanne Farrell’s Journey of Grace

Photo by Kroon, Ron / Anefo

Few people have done more to advance neoclassical ballet in the last half-century then the girl from Cincinnati who started turning heads when she was a teenager.

Suzanne Farrell’s unique talent brought her to the attention of the legendary George Balanchine, and together they transformed the modern world of ballet.

More below video:

Over a career that spanned nearly three decades Farrell set the standard for a generation of dancers.

Get your copy of Suzanne Farrell’s book

A hip replacement surgery ended Farrell’s ballet career in 1989. She has devoted her life to teaching since then. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

The year after her retirement she wrote a memoir called Holding On To The Air. I met her that fall when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1990, Suzanne Farrell.

Suzanne Farrell is now 79. She is a professor of dance at Florida State University.

Sir Michael Caine’s Legacy: Childhood Dreams Come True

On this day, March 14, 1933 a baby boy named Maurice Joseph Micklewhite was born in London. His parents were working class, and his family lived a meager existence.

But at age 10, young Maurice was bitten by the acting bug thanks to a small part in a school play.

That launched an 8th decade career for the man we now know as Michael Caine. He adopted his stage name off the success of The Caine Mutiny.

By the time he retired a couple of years ago Michael Caine had appeared in 160 movies, picking up two Oscars and three Golden Globe awards along the way.

More below video:

His best known films include Alfie, The Ipcress File, The Man Who Would Be King, A Bridge Too Far, Hannah and Her Sisters, Sleuth, Miss Congeniality, and Austin Powers.

In 2000 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth to become Sir Michael Caine.

Get your copy of Michael Caine’s book

In 1992, Cain wrote what would become the first of three memoirs, a book called What’s It All About? That’s what I have the chance to spend a few minutes with this incredible actor.

So here now, from 1992, Sir Michael Caine.

Today, as Sir Michael Caine celebrates his 90 second birthday, he lives in retirement in London.

Elaine Brown And The Evolution of The Black Panther Party

When Huey Newton and Bobby seale formed the Black Panther Party in 1966, it was largely a very masculine male oriented organization. It was a year before it had its first female member.

And then in 1968 a 25 year old woman from Philadelphia joined the black Panther party. Her name was Elaine Brown.

It was largely through her efforts that the party became more female-friendly, and in 1971 she succeeded Eldridge Cleaver as the party’s information minister.

When Huey Newton fled to Cuba in 1974 to avoid prosecution in the US, he appointed Brown chairwoman of the party.

More below video:

But the party continued to struggle with male versus female rivalries, and when Newton returned in 1977, Brown had had enough, and left the party.

The Black Panthers dissolved in 1982.

Get your copy of Elaine Brown’s book

Fast forward to 1993, and Elaine Browne wrote A Memoir called A Taste of Power. That’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, Elaine Brown.

Elaine Brown will be 82 next week.

She currently heads Oakland & the World Enterprises, an organization she founded in 2014.

One Momentous Summer, 60 Years Ago, Told In Fiction B y a Veteran Actress Who Lived It

Freedom Summer was a paradigm shift in America’s deep South in 1964.

Thousands of young Americans, black and white, poured into Mississippi that summer for a massive black voter registration movement.

They were young, idealistic, and motivated. Most were there for the summer only, but their brief presence shone a bright light on the injustices of the day.

One of those bright and eager volunteers was a young woman who would later become a well-known actress, Denise Nicholas.

More below video:

Best known for her roles in the TV series “Room 222” and “In The Heat of The Night“ Nicholas was also featured in dozens of other TV shows and movies.

Get your copy of Denise Nicholas’s book

And finally, in 2005 she reached back for those memories of 1964 in writing her debut novel, a book called Freshwater Road. It was about an idealistic young woman named Celeste arriving in Mississippi in 1964 to do the work of Freedom Summer.

She and I talked about her book when she was on an author tour.

So here now, from 2005, Denise Nicholas.

Denise Nicholas is 81 now.

Brian Wilson: The Troubled Genius of The Beach Boys

Brian Wilson is widely regarded as one of the most influential music figures of our time.

As a founding member of The Beach Boys, Wilson led a music revolution that went far beyond the ‘60s “California sound” or even pop music generally.

But fame and success carry a price. And for Wilson, the price he paid was his mental health and later physical well-being, as well Substance abuse further complicated his life.

More below the video:

Yet Wilson continued to create and innovate – and perform. And in 1991, he wrote a memoir, a book he called Wouldn’t It Be Nice. That’s when I met him.

Get your copy of Brian Wilson’s book

So here now, from 1991, Brian Wilson.

Brian Wilson Is 82 now. He stopped touring in 2022, and his family has said he suffers from dementia.

Motown’s Mary Wilson And Her Supreme Faith

She was the little girl from Detroit with big dreams And along with some friends with similar dreams, Mary Wilson became a founding member of the greatest Motown girl group ever: the Supremes.

Originally the Primettes in 1959, they became the Supremes in 1961 when they signed with Berry Gordy.

It took three years before their first #1 hit record, but the Supremes racked up nearly a dozen more in the ‘60s.

By 1970 the Supremes were a different group. Florence Ballard was gone, so was Diana Ross. Mary Wilson kept the Supremes going into the ‘70s.

But perhaps her biggest success was yet to come.

It was immense success as an author. Her 1986 book Dream Girl became a smash bestseller.

Get your copy of Mary Wilson’s book

And in 1990 Wilson followed it up with another book, Supreme Faith. I met her that fall to talk about it.

So here now, from 1990, Mary Wilson.

The Supremes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Mary Wilson died in 2021. She was 76.

Honoring Vietnam War Heroes: Col. David Hackworth’s Most Important Book

Veteran’s Day was originally known as Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I on November 11th.

So perhaps it was fitting that a baby born on Armistice Day in 1930 would be destined for an illustrious military career,

David Hackworth joined the Army shortly after World War II, and was decorated for his service in the Korean War.

By the late 1960s Hackworth had become the youngest Army colonel in Vietnam.

Get your copy of David Hackworth’s book

He helped form what became known as Tiger Force.

After the war Hackworth became a journalist and author, and in 2002 wrote a book about the ragtag battalion he was sent to lead in 1969. He called the book Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts. He and I talked about the book that spring, including his wife’s essential role in writing it.

So here now, from 2002, Col. David Hackworth.

David Hackworth died in 2005 at age 74. He’s buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Ultra Violet: Her Life With Andy Warhol

Photo by David Shankbone

Pop art icon Andy Warhol once said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Don’t know about you but I can think of lots of people on social media who have proven that to be true.

Famous For 15 Minutes is also the title of a 1988 book by French-American artist and actress Isabelle Dufresne,one of Andy Warhol’s “superstars” who went by the name Ultra Violet.

Get your copy of Ultra Violet’s book

Dufresne was introduced to Warhol in 1963 by Salvador Dali. She spent the next several years at Warhol’s Factory before they went their separate ways in the 1970s.

I met Ultra Violet when she was on her book tour about a year and a half after Warhol’s death.

So here now, from 1988, Ultra Violet.

Isabelle Dufresne, Ultra Violet, died in 2014 at the age of 78.

Do We Owe ’69’s Woodstock To Elliot Tiber?

Photo by Niccolò Caranti

It was this week 55 years ago – starting on August 15, 1969, to be exact – that organizers put on what they called an “Aquarian Exposition” in White Lake, New York.

It was a three day music festival that is now widely known simply as Woodstock.

But by one man’s account it almost didn’t happen – if not for him.

Elliot Tiber and his family operated a small, rundown motel in Bethel, New York. And Elliot also owned a permit to hold a music festival.

Get your copy of Elliot Tiber’s book

As he told in his 1994 book Taking Woodstock, that permit, coupled with his friendship with dairy farmer Max Yasgur, helped make Woodstock possible.

I met Elliot when he was on a book tour, which happened to coincide with the Woodstock ‘94 festival.

And if you thought you were about to hear a quiet, sedate conversation with a nearly-65-year-old has-been, get over it. And buckle up, because here’s my 1994 interview with Elliot Tiber.

Elliot Tiber died in 2016. He was 81.

Chris Kraft: The Father of NASA’s Mission Control

This weekend marks 55 years since human beings first set foot on the surface of the moon

The Apollo 11 mission put astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon Good 3rd crew member, Michael Collins, remained in the orbiting And module .

It was the fulfillment of an ambitious goal set at the beginning of the 1960s by President John F Kennedy .

During the 1960s tens of thousands of talented engineers and experts working at warp speed, if you will, help the U.S. reach that goal

At the heart of it all was a brilliant aerospace engineer named Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. It was largely Chris Kraft created, pioneered, or invented many of the things that we now regard as standard elements of the NASA space program

Get your copy of Chris Kraft’s book

From Mercury to Gemini to Apollo, Kraft was there, helping shape what the space program became .

In 2001 Chris Kraft wrote a memoir of his life and career, mirroring that of NASA.it was called flight comma and that’s….few minutes with this iconic figure.

So here now, from 2001 Chris Kraft.

Chris Kraft died in 2019, just days after the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing he had helped make possible.