biography

"Farewell, Dorothy Parker" by Ellen Meister

Joe Donahue — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:45:00 +0000

Novelist Ellen Meister is a serious Dorothy Parker fan. So much so, she created a Facebook page dedicated to the literary icon and celebrated wit. When it came to writing about her, since Meister is a novelist not a biographer, she decided to write in Dorothy Parker's voice - as a ghost. We’ll talk with Ellen Meister about her book Farewell, Dorothy Parker.

"Margaret Fuller: A New American Life" by Megan Marshall

Joe Donahue — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Margaret Fuller was a groundbreaking author, social reformer, and Transcendentalist. In her new biography about Fuller, Pulitzer finalist, Megan Marshall, tells the story of how Fuller, tired of Boston, accepted Horace Greeley’s offer to be the New-York Tribune’s front-page columnist. The move unleashed a crusading concern for the urban poor and the plight of prostitutes, and a late-in-life hunger for passionate experience.

The book is entitled, Margaret Fuller: A New American Life.

"Hopper" by Tom Folsom

Joe Donahue — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:10:00 +0000

Dennis Hopper was the chopper-riding hippie outlaw in Easy Rider, the prophetic madman in the jungle in Apocalypse Now, the terrifying psychopath in Blue Velvet and the kid gone wrong in Rebel Without a Cause.

The actor was taken under the wing of James Dean, a friendship that set Dennis Hopper on his path to becoming a star. He was a quintessentially American dreamer longing to be the next Orson Welles, a hell-raising director who revolutionized Hollywood.

"Young Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill" by Michael Shelden

Joe Donahue — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:35:00 +0000

In modern memory, Winston Churchill remains the man with the cigar and the equanimity among the ruins. Few can remember that at the age of 40, he was considered washed up, his best days behind him.

"Manifest Injustice" by Barry Siegel

Joe Donahue — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Barry Siegel joins us to talk about his new book: Manifest Injustice: The True Story of a Convicted Murderer and the Lawyers Who Fought for His Freedom.

In the book, Siegel chronicles the dramatic story of an Arizona man named Bill Macumber who, until his unexpected release from prison last November, had spent more than half his life behind bars.

Walter Stahr to give Founders Day keynote address at Union College

Joe Donahue — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:35:00 +0000

Walter Stahr, author of an acclaimed biography on one of Union College's most distinguished alumni, William Henry Seward, will deliver the keynote address at Founders Day today at 12:45 in Memorial Chapel.

"Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson" by Barbara Ransby

Joe Donahue — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:10:00 +0000

Eslanda "Essie" Cardozo Goode Robeson lived a colorful and amazing life. Her career and commitments took her many places: colonial Africa in 1936, the front lines of the Spanish Civil War, the founding meeting of the United Nations, Nazi-occupied Berlin, Stalin's Russia, and China two months after Mao's revolution. She was a woman of unusual accomplishment—an anthropologist, a prolific journalist, a tireless advocate of women's rights, an outspoken anti-colonial and antiracist activist, and an internationally sought-after speaker.

"E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band" by Clinton Heylin

Joe Donahue — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Before he was a stadium-packing megastar, Bruce Springsteen was an introvert, desperate to strike a balance between his nuanced songwriting and the heft of his backing band. Clinton Heylin’s revelatory biography, E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, chronicles the evolution and influence of Springsteen’s E Street Band as they rose from blue-collar New Jersey to the heights of rock stardom.

"Joni: The Creative Odyssey of Joni Mitchell" by Katherine Monk

Joe Donahue — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:45:00 +0000

Joni: The Creative Odyssey of Joni Mitchell is a new portrait of the reclusive icon that examines how significant life events — failed relationships, the surrender of her infant daughter, debilitating sic

The Partisan: The Life of William Rehnquist by John Jenkins

Joe Donahue — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:35:00 +0000

John A. Jenkins joins us to discuss his book, The Partisan: The Life of William Rehnquist.