Stephen Sondheim’s Pivotal Relationship with Oscar Hammerstein
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Stephen Sondheim, who died recently at the age of 91, grew up in a highly dysfunctional home. The man who was to become the central figure in the American Theater for six decades was raised in an atmosphere of material privilege laced with significant emotional turmoil. Sondheim’s father, Herbert, was a clothing manufacturer and his mother, […]
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The Eternal Grief of Losing a Child
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This is how author Mark Twain described his reaction to hearing of the sudden death of his daughter, Olivia “Susy” Clemens: “It is one of the mysteries of our nature that a man, all unprepared, can receive a thunder-stroke like that and live. There is but one reasonable explanation of it. The intellect is stunned […]
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Countdown Bin Laden: The Gripping Conclusion of a Ten-Year Manhunt
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In writing Countdown Bin Laden, veteran network anchor, Chris Wallace, and his co-author Mitch Weiss, found themselves facing a formidable challenge. How was it possible to craft an intriguing account of the manhunt for Osama bin Laden when the world’s entire book-buying public already knew the outcome of the story? Wallace’s goal was to write an […]
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Harry Houdini died on Halloween, as Predicted
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Preeminent illusionist Harry Houdini died on Halloween 95 years ago. It was a curious death. A famous fortune teller predicted it months in advance. And shortly beforehand, Houdini himself suspected it was coming. While his attending physicians identified peritonitis, occasioned by a ruptured appendix, as the official cause of death, some wondered if foul play was […]
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A Century of Living through the Eyes of NPR’s Doris Grumbach
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“Sometimes you have to put your realistic glasses on and see who you are.” Those are the words of Will Muschamp, a college football coach, most recently on the staff of the Georgia Bulldogs. Doris Grumbach isn’t a devoted sports fan, probably does not follow Georgia football, and may never have heard of Will Muschamp. But, no one […]
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