1970s

Ben, Jerry & Chico: The Friendship Behind the Ice Cream

Bill Thompson

A few years ago two guys started a small business in an abandoned gas station in Burlington, Vermont. And they built it into one of the world’s best-known and most successful businesses.

Their names were Ben and Jerry. They made ice cream. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?

One of their customers when it was still just a little business in Burlington was A guy who owned a bar in town. His name was Fred Lager, but everybody calls him Chico.

Fred, Ben, and Jerry became good friends, and in 1982 Fred Lager joined the young company as its general manager and CFO. It was in that role that he helped build Ben & Jerry’s, the brand.

In 1988 he became president and CEO.

And in 1994, Chico Lager wrote a book about the Ben & Jerry’s experience. He called it Ben & Jerry’s: The Inside Scoop. It was part memoir, part business how-to, and a lot of social responsibility.

So here now, from 1994, Fred “Chico” Lager.

Erica Jong on Writing, Fame, and Feminism

Bill Thompson

If you saw the bookshelf of a typical feminist in the early 1970s you probably saw The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer – and undoubtedly Fear of Flying by Erica Jong.

That 1973 book with its edgy exploration of female sexuality propelled the poet Jong to International fame overnight and launched what would be a decade-long literary career.

Erica Jong became an icon of the 1970s and ‘80s as she established herself as a literary and media personality.

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She was also a popular and successful writing teacher, and it was that aspect of her life that eventually led to her writing a memoir in 2006.

Her book was called Seducing the Demon and the conversation that she and I had about it was one of several we shared over the years.

So come along with us now as we learn something about Erica Jong and her life, and also something about writing. Here now, from 2006, Erica John.

Erica Jong recently celebrated her 83rd birthday. Fear of Flying has sold over 37 million copies worldwide.

Watergate whistleblower Mark Felt, aka “Deep Throat,” remembered by the co-author of his autobiograqphy

Bill Thompson

It is notoriously difficult to keep a secret in Washington DC. But there was one political mystery that went unsolved for 30 years.

Until finally in 2005 a former top FBI official named Mark Felt revealed that he was the secret source dubbed “Deep Throat” who guided Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post in uncovering the Watergate scandal.

Working with veteran attorney and former prosecutor John O’Connor, Felt published his memoir in 2006, a book called A G-man’s Life.

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Drawing on his notes, letters, and diaries over the years O’Connor helped Felt assemble a portrait of a man dedicated to law enforcement but conflicted about going outside regular channels with his Inside information.

Mark Felt was 93 when the book was published, and was unable to go on a book tour or do interviews, so his publisher sent John O’Connor in his place. That’s when I met John.

So here now, from 2006, Mark Felt’s co-author John O’Connor.

Mark Felt died two years after this interview, in 2008, at age 95.

Sir Michael Caine’s Legacy: Childhood Dreams Come True

Bill Thompson

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.

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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.

His Life As The Eldest Brady: The Recollections of Barry Williamsz

Bill Thompson

Here’s the story of a boy named Brady…

By the age of 15, Barry Williams was already a television veteran. He had had small roles in a number of popular TV shows but he was about to get his big break.

In 1969, Williams was cast in the role of Greg Brady, the eldest of the six children in the blended Brady family, a role that he embraced and ran with for the next five seasons.

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But the endurance of “The Brady Bunch” has far surpassed that of most of its contemporary television series. Those five seasons have persisted in our collective nostalgia all these years.

Get your copy of Barry Williams’s book

By 1992, almost two decades after the show went off the air, it was still popular among not only Baby Boomers and Gen xers but their children, too.

And that’s the year that Barry Williams wrote a memoir, called Growing Up Brady. As a card carrying Brady-watching Boomer myself, there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to talk with him.

I had so many questions, including whatever happened to Fluffy the cat?

So here now, from 1992, Barry Williams.

How Elvis Presley’s Death Haunted His Confidante Larry Geller

Bill Thompson

It’s been 47 years since the king died.

Elvis Presley died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis on August 16,1977 at the age of 42 .

Almost instantly rumors and speculation swirled about, as fans and critics alike struggled for an explanation

Get your copy of Larry Geller’s book

Among the utterly devastated were those closest to Elvis, including his family, and his longtime hairdresser and confidante Larry Geller.

Twelve years after Presley’s passing, Geller wrote a book, which he said represented who the real Elvis was. It was titled If I Can Dream. I met Larry that spring to talk about it.

So here now, from 1989, Larry Geller.

Larry Geller turned 85 last week. He and his wife live in Arizona.

If he had lived, Elvis Presley would now be 89.

50 Years Later: The Legacy of the Nixon Resignation

Bill Thompson
Photo by Jim Wallace (Smithsonian Institution)

Today is August 9th — and it was 50 years ago today that Richard Milhous Nixon made U.S. hisory by becoming the first, and so far only, president to resign from office.

He was done in by his involvement in covering up a botched burglary at Democratic p[arty headquarters in Washington’s Watergate office and hotel complex in 1972.

After a long political career filled with Incredible comebacks, this was the one Nixon could not come back from.

The evening of August 8th Nixon addressed the nation with his stunning announcement. And at noon on that Friday, August 9th, Gerald Ford was indeed sown in as president. He told the nation that evening that “our long national nightmare is over.”

Get your copy of Stephen Ambrose’s book

Thirteen years later, acclaimed biographer Stephen Ambrose published the first of what would become a three-volume biography of Richard Nixon. What made his trilogy extraordinary was his admission that he had always disliked Nixon, but grew to like and admire him.

The third and final volume of Ambrose’s biography was published in 1991, and by then Nixon had come a long way toward rebuilding his public image.

So here now, from 1991, Stephen Ambrose.

\Richard Nixon died in 1994 at age 81.

Stephen Ambrose died from cancer in 2002. He was 66.

Andrea Dworkin: Championing Women’s Rights

Bill Thompson

The feminist movement that was born in the 1960s had many faces, and many voices. One of the most prominent was a writer and activist whose first book in 1974 catapulted her to prominence.

Andrea Dworkin was an early voice speaking out about violence against women, especially sexual violence. Dworkin is today best known for her analysis of pornography and prostitution.

Get your copy of Andrea Dworkin’s book

Dworkin co-founded the organization Women Against Pornography, and was frequently and widely quoted in the media and in other writers’ books.

And she was a dedicated believer in the power of books and reading.

I met her in 2002 when she wrote what turned out to be her last book, a memoir called Heartbreak.

So here now, from 2002, Andrtea Dworkin.

Andrea Dworkin died in 2005. She was 58.

Revolutionizing Femininity: Germaine Greer’s Pioneering Ideas

Bill Thompson

In the early 1970s many women had two books on their shelves: The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer.

That was the then-31-year-old’s first book and virtually overnight turned her into an international celebrity A leader of the feminist movement

Her ideas about femininity, Male-female relationships, and marriage You find those things For millions of readers

In the years that followed Greer was a prolific writer of essays and books Many of those essays were collected in a 1987 volume which she entitled The Madwoman’s Underclothes. And that’s when I had a chance to spend a few minutes with this iconic figure.

So here now, from 1987, Germaine Greer

Today, January 29, is Germaine Greer’s 85th birthday. She divides her time between England and Australia .

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Betty Friedan

Gloria Steinem

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Echoes of a Legend: John Denver’s Autobiography

Bill Thompson
Photo by RCA Records

When John Denver died in a plane crash in October 1997, the world lost not just a popular singer, but a songwriter whose work touched the hearts of millions.

Among the 300 or so songs that he recorded, some 200 he wrote. He had 33 gold records, and was uncommonly successful in crossing genre lines, from country to adult contemporary to the Billboard Hot 100. .

Both Colorado and West Virginia have adopted John Denver songs as official state songs.

In 1994, John Denver published his autobiography, called Take Me Home. And that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1994, John Denver.

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Glen Campbell

Jimmy Buffett

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