The Bob Edwards Show, November 26-30, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012: In 1878, a particularly virulent strain of yellow fever traveled north from New Orleans to Illinois and killed about 18,000 people along the way. Memphis was particularly hard hit: more than half of the city evacuated, trying to out-run the disease. Of those who remained, two-thirds contracted the fever and more than 5,000 died in just a few months. Jeanette Keith recounts the story in her new book Fever Season: The Story of a Terrifying Epidemic and the People Who Saved a City. Then, writer Megan Mayhew Bergman moved with her husband to Vermont to help run the family veterinary clinic in 2009. A stand-out from the writing programs at Duke, Bennington, and Breadloaf, Bergman has used her years in Vermont to write a beautiful collection of short story titled Birds of a Lesser Paradise, which is now out in paperback.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012: When an author dies, usually our only way to peek into his personal life is by parsing lines of prose. Then there’s Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote enough personal letters, when he wasn’t writing novels and short stories, to fill decades, and more than 400 pages, in the new book, Kurt Vonnegut: Letters. The volume is edited by Dan Wakefield, a friend of Vonnegut, and fellow writer and native Hoosier.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012: Like most things in our post-modern world, masculinity is being deconstructed. Author and poet Carlos Andrés Gómez takes a hammer to the gendered notion in his memoir MAN UP: Cracking the Code of Modern Manhood. Gómez talks to Bob about integrity, honor, and some other fractured nouns. Then, American historian Harlow Giles Unger takes a fresh look at our nation’s sixth president in his new biography John Quincy Adams. Raised by John and Abigail Adams to be a great leader, Quincy Adams’ career spanned the administrations of George Washington to Abraham Lincoln. In this presidential election year, Bob looks back on one of our most important early leaders.
Thursday, November 29, 2012: Blind since birth, mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin chronicles her journey in the music world in her memoir Do You Dream in Color? Insights from a Girl Without Sight. Celebrated by the New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommansini as possessing “compelling artistry,” Rubin released an album this year, also titled Do You Dream in Color?, with music from Bruce Adolphe, Joaquin Rodrigo, and Gabriel Faure. Then, Bob talks sports with veteran sports reporter John Feinstein.
Friday, November 30, 2012: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, joins Bob to discuss the latest political news. Next, Bob sits down for a performance chat with pianist Chad Lawson. He’s an award-winning pianist and his latest cd is titled The Piano. They discuss what it’s like to be an independent artist trying to make a career in today’s music world. Then, in our latest This I Believe essay, we’ll conclude our month long series on the sacrifices made by service members and their families. This time we hear from Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden.