For the past 30 years or so I have been a faithful reader of the New York Times. They have excellent coverage of books. During the 1980's and 1990's I was a fan of the food writer Molly O'Neill. Her culinary column in the New York Times was something I always anticipated with a sense of joy. In 1996 when Molly published a cookbook and she was coming through the area on book tour I eagerly contacted her publicist and arranged an interview.
We had to talk on the phone. She had a busy schedule that day and she called in to the station from Dayton. I was busy myself. We were in the midst of our fall fund drive. I was able to obtain a few copies of her cookbook to offer as premiums to entice some of our Book Nook listeners to call in pledges of support during the program. I only had ten minutes to speak to Molly. We made the most of it. I found her to be delightful.
The New York Times has an excellent obituary section. As the years pass by I am still avidly perusing the obituaries but it can be bittersweet. I hate it when I see the obituary of someone who has been my guest on the program. I absolutely hated it when I noticed recently their obituary for Molly O'Neill. I only spoke to her for ten minutes but when I recall our conversation I always smile. She was a wonderful person.
A Book Nook Bonus Segment!
An interview with the Foreign Minister of East Timor, Jose Ramos Horta
We have some more space to fill so I pulled out this archival interview with Jose Ramos Horta. This was his second appearance on the show. The first time he was on the program we talked about a book he had out. For this second interview he did not have a new book but I interviewed him anyway. 99.9% of the guests I feature on the show have books out. Every once in a while I make an exception though. For example, I interviewed Julia Butterfly because she was living at the top of a redwood tree in California. She had been up there for months to prevent a developer from cutting down the ancient tree. I found that to be a very interesting project so I interviewed her while she was up in that tree.
At the time of this interview with Jose Ramos Horta he was serving as the foreign minister of East Timor. The first time I spoke to him he was still living in what had been a long exile from East Timor. Then he won the Nobel Peace Prize. During this interview I mentioned that if you have won the Nobel you don't have to have a new book out to appear on the program. After this interview he became the head of the state for East Timor.
I loved this interview and I love his voice.
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 Microsun Lamps.
