My fave radio interviews of ’17
In my last several columns, I revealed my favorite books from the past year. In this final installment of 2017 I’m taking a look back to my favorite radio interviews.
As I reviewed 100-plus radio shows produced for WYSO-FM during 2017, I’ll admit that my reasons for choosing certain ones are deeply personal.
These were the author interviews that are my favorites.
Loudon Wainwright III. His memoir “Liner Notes” delves into his tortured love life and ongoing bouts with depression. Over his long musical career he has had to deal with the legacy of that one big radio hit, a song called “Dead Skunk,” which everybody wants to hear and he really hates to perform. We attended the same high school. Afterward, off the air, we compared notes.
Shuly Cawood. Shuly penned my favorite memoir of 2017. “The Going and Goodbye,” is a luminous collection of essays that burst forth like luscious sunbeams from among the clouds. The sun shined when Shuly showed up.
Lee Child. Every time I get an interview with this superstar author, I feel blessed. I think his new Jack Reacher thriller “The Midnight Line” is his best one yet. In this fourth interview I learned something new: he begins writing each new book on the same date, Sept. 1.
Don Winslow. This author is one of my literary idols. I had been trying for years to get another interview with him. I finally did for his novel “The Force.” Fabulous book. What more can I say?
Virginia Heffernan. It took me a year to get an interview for her book “Magic and Loss: the Internet as Art.” How often do I get to talk someone who is quick and funny and current and a million times smarter than I am? Wow, what fun!
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www. wyso.org/programs/booknook. Contact him at vick@ vickmickunas.com. By Thomas Tracy NEW YORK — The co-creator of the iconic television series “MTV Unplugged” has died after being struck by a taxi while walking with his seeing-eye dog near his Upper East Side home, according to a report.
Jim Burns, 65, was crossing Fifth Avenue when a yellow cab turning off East 87th Street struck him about 9:30 a.m. Dec. 23, officials said. He suffered a massive head injury and was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition.
A person close to Burns’ family told Billboard magazine Tuesday that Burns later died.
Burns was at least partially blind and his dog was his “seeing eye companion,” police sources said.
The taxi driver remained at the scene and no charges were filed, police said.
Burns, a longtime writer and executive producer for MTV, created “Unplugged” in 1989 with Robert Small.
Nirvana, Aerosmith, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey and Alice in Chains were among the stars who famously performed stripped-down acoustic versions of their chart-topping hits on the show.
Clapton’s “Unplugged” album earned the singer six Grammy Awards, including best album, record and song of the year. Nirvana also won a Grammy for best alternative music performance for their Unplugged album.
The popular series was revived twice on MTV, most recently this year with Shawn Mendes serving as its first artist.