A year ago I did my first interview with Thomas Perry. Prior to that I had not been familiar with him and would have remained ignorant about his incredible output had it not been for Otto Penzler at the Mysterious Press. When I noticed Otto has been publishing Perry I knew right away that I needed to start reading his stuff. After I read "Murder Book" I was hooked. In 2023 I read about twenty more of his titles. I went "write" back to the beginning and I have loved every single book I have read by him. So when I had the chance to speak to him again about his latest, "Hero," I was excited because I wanted to tell him how I have gone from essentially clueless to a hard-core fan. So that's what I did.
Bonus segment:
We had some extra time and we went back and pulled a musical gem out of the archives, this recording of Toshi Reagon that I made when she stopped by WYSO as she was touring to promote her album "The Righteous Ones." I wasn't certain about when this was recorded but now I'm fairly convinced it was during 1999. She was going to be performing that evening with a full band at Canal Street Tavern. She had just a guitarist with her that day and he was exceptional. So was she. My memory of that afternoon is a bit hazy after 25 years. I just recall that she looked really young. I had no idea how old she was and I wasn't going to ask. When we put together this archival broadcast I speculated that she could have still been in her teens. Well, she wasn't that young, she merely had a youthful appearance. Try to imagine my surprise when I checked to see how old she is now. Today, on the date we aired this program, January 27, 2024, it was her 60th birthday. I had no idea about that and did not plan it this way. But there are no accidents, right? Happy Birthday, Toshi!
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public.
