Biography & Memoir

Walter Polovchak. Polovchak was a 12-year-old Ukrainian immigrant living with his family in Chicago, when he refused to return with them to the Soviet Union. His decision provoked a storm of controversy from his family and authorities in both countries and attracted worldwide media attention. The court battles continued for five years until Polovchak reached his 18th birthday in 1985 and was sworn in as an American citizen.

Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest who for the past 20 years has been at the forefront of the peace movement. He has been arrested and spent time in prison many times for his acts of civil disobedience. Berrigan was one the Catonsville 9, who protested the Vietnam war in 1968 by destroying draft records, and a member of the Plowshares 8, who damaged nuclear warheads in 1980. He now works at an AIDS hospice in New York City. Daniel Berrigan recently completed his autobiography; it's titled To Dwell in Peace.

Arlene Violet, the first female state attorney general in the country. She was also the first nun in Rhode Island to graduate from law school. She has sued a bishop, investigated corrupt judges, retried Claus Von Bulow and the earned the nickname "Attila the Nun." She's written an autobiography titled Convictions.

Bob Geldof, the star of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats and organizer of the Band Aid and Live Aid benefit concerts to aid starvation victims in Africa. His autobiography is titled Is That It?

Book critic John Leonard reviews The Trial of Socrates, by the journalist and social critic I.F.Stone.

Novelist Joseph Heller, author of Catch 22, Something Happened and No Laughing Matter, his 1985 account of being stricken with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a neurological disease in which the peripheral nervous system is attacked. Within two weeks of the first symptoms, Heller could hardly breathe or swallow. It took him two years to relearn his basic motor functions. Heller's best known work is still his first, Catch 22, a satire of the military bureaucracy and the madness of war.

Exiled South African singer Miriam Makeba. At 20, she became the lead vocalist for a top South African band. And when her performances brought her international acclaim, she used her forum to speak out against Apartheid. She was subsequently banned from her native country, and then later from America for her marriage to the radical Stokely Carmichael. For the past 20 years, she's toured with her mentor, singer Harry Belafonte, and last year she toured with Paul Simon's Graceland Tour.

Actor Chuck Norris. He has changed his image from being a cult, martial arts film star to being America's all-round tough guy. His new movie is "Braddock: Missing in Action III." He has just written his autobiography. It's titled The Secret of Inner Strength - My Story.

Singer Margaret Whiting. Her father, Richard Whiting, wrote many of her most popular songs, including "Too Marvelous for Words," "My Ideal," "She's Funny That Way," and "On The Good Ship Lollipop." Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer and other great songwriters of the day were like uncles to her. She is now performing at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Mothers of Invention, a book about the the unrecognized role women had in the technological breakthroughs of the modern era. The authors are Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek.

Jazz clarinetist and alto and soprano saxophonist Bob Wilber. Wilber is also a composer and arranger; He arranged the music for the film "The Cotton Club." And he's just completed his autobiography. It's scheduled for release later this spring and is titled "Music Was Not Enough." This Saturday, Wilber will lead a tribute at Carnegie Hall to the late Benny Goodman, the king of the jazz clarinet. It's the 50th anniversary of Goodman's famed concert there.

Book critic John Leonard reviews a collection of essays by Primo Levi.

Tony Hendra. His new book, Going Too Far, is a history of "Boomer (as in Baby Boomer) Humor." Hendra was editor of The National Lampoon for eight years. He directed the Lampoon play "Lemmings" and co-created and wrote the British TV series "Spitting Image." In addition, he has written several books of satire and appeared in the movie "This is Spinal Tap."

Adrienne Kennedy will reflect on what led her to become a playwright. Her plays include the Obie-winning "Funnyhouse of a Negro."

Red Holzman tells of his five decades in basketball as a player, coach and general manager. He's a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and was coach of the New York Knicks when they won the world championship in 1970. Now retired, Holzman had written an autobiography titled Red on Red.

Detective writer Charles Willeford. His novels have earned him a cult following in the genre. He's now being discovered by a wider audience as his earlier novels are being re-issued in paperback. A new novel is about to be published, as well as an autobiography about his years on the road as hobo during the Depression.

Guitarist Ron Wood. He spent 12 years as a member of the Rolling Stones, seven years with Rod Stewart's Faces and five years with The Jeff Beck Group. A book of his paintings and drawings has just been published. It's titled Ron Wood by Ron Wood: The Works.

Playwright, novelist and essayist Arthur Miller. His plays include "All My Sons," "The Crucible," "After the Fall" and "Death of a Salesman," for which he won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and lasting fame in American theater. He has written an autobiography titled Timebends.

Jerry Falwell, former head of the Moral Majority and temporary head of the PTL (Praise the Lord) organization after revelations of sexual encounters brought down the Rev. Jim Bakker. Falwell recently stepped down as head of the PTL and of the Moral Majority, his Christian political action committee, to concentrate on his ministry, best known through his national television program "The Old Time Gospel Hour." He's written an autobiography titled Strength for the Journey.

"CBS Sunday Morning's" media critic Ron Powers. He's written a book about his hometown, Hannibal, Missouri, titled White Town Drowsing.