Monday, March 06, 2000
Gross breathes 'Fresh Air' into radio
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When Terry Gross meets fans of her National Public Radio talk show, she gets unusual reactions from loyal listeners who feel they know her intimately.
“People think I'm taller. Some people assume I must be very attractive,” says Ms. Gross, 49, host of NPR's Fresh Air since 1985.
“It's not like I'm the Hunchback of Notre Dame or anything. Outside of being short, there's nothing really striking about me,” explains the 5-foot-1 talk-show host, who speaks tonight at the Plum Street Temple downtown. She is part of the Woman's City Club national speaker forum.
“It's always interesting to hear from listeners what they expect you to be,” she says. “Listeners tend to create their own mental pictures. They create the person they want me to be.”
Such is the intimate power of radio, which can stimulate the deepest parts of our imagination. Our mental pictures from radio are so superior to television, where we're distracted by clothing and hairstyles.
“On radio, you just listen to what the people are saying,” she says. “You're not judging people by their haircuts.”
Fascinating subjects
Few people stimulate listeners the way Ms. Gross does — through fascinating conversations with artists, actors, authors, playwrights, poets, politicians and musicians. Her “probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insight” earned her a Peabody award in 1994.
“We talk about what's new in books, music, movies and TV, but we want more than that,” she says by phone from Philadelphia's WHYY-FM.
“We want to talk about ideas. We want to talk about the connection of their work to their lives.”
Ms. Gross connects with her guests because she chats with them on tape for about nearly an hour. And that's after spending several hours in preparation. Her devotion to detail stops short of meeting guests before a show.
“I like to start fresh, pardon the expression,” she says with a laugh. “I don't want them to feel like they've already told me some stuff, and they might not tell it again as well.”
She usually reads, or at least skims, “a couple of books a night.” Sometimes she reads while watching a TV show, or a movie on video, involving a prospective guest.
Her taped conversations are edited by producers down to 15 to 40 minutes, depending on if she has one or two guests on a show. She feeds the show live at noon from Philadelphia to NPR affiliates.
Succinct format
Ms. Gross honed her interviewing skills hosting a local three-hour live version of Fresh Air show in 1975 on Philadelphia's WHYY-FM.
“There were times I felt I was obviously taking the long way around the block to fill time. And now I can be as succinct as possible to fit more in, not just in the show, but into each interview,” she says.
Among her favorite guests are singer Rosemary Clooney, writer John Updike and comedian Martin Short.
“Rosemary Clooney represents everything good about show business,” says Ms. Gross. “The feeling I get from her is that she genuinely wants to connect with her audience when she's on stage. When I get together with her, I really feel like I connect with her.”
A jazz music fan, Ms. Gross is married to Francis Davis, jazz music critic and author of The History of the Blues (Hyperion; $16.95).
In 15 years, guests have ranged from Toni Morrison to Marilyn Manson, from Randy Newman to Nancy Reagan. She has picked the brains of some of America's best-known artists: Stephen King, Saul Bellow, Robert Altman, August Wilson, Lauren Bacall, Charles Schulz, Roseanne Cash, Jerry Seinfeld, Lionel Hampton, Betty Carter, Oliver Stone, Joyce Carol Oates, Jessye Norman and Ice-T.
Her dwindling wish list includes Kevin Spacey, who did her show once during his days on CBS' Wiseguy (1988), and Christopher Walken.
“I think they're both phenomenal actors,” she says.
Fans who attend her speech tonight will hear samples from her favorite guests and some of her “absolutely worst interviews,” people who were not prepared for her probing questions.
She has struck a raw nerve with actor Faye Dunaway, singer Lou Reed, actor Peter Boyle and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
“People who think of me as the sensitive interviewer will be surprised to hear me being insulted, and people walking out on me and slamming the door,” she says.
“Some people take offense from questions for which no offense was intended. People come on the show and expect that they're just going to publicize their new thing. But we want more, and some people aren't prepared for that.”
NPR listeners always are eager for more of her discussions of art and culture. On a radio dial filled with shock jocks and bombastic broadcasters, Ms. Gross' NPR hour is truly Fresh Air.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. Write: 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax: 768-8330.
ON THE AIR
×›What: Fresh Air.
• Where: National Public Radio.
›When: Live noon-1 p.m. weekdays on WMUB-FM (88.5), 4-5 p.m. on WVXU-FM (91.7) and 7-8 p.m. on WNKU-FM (89.7).
Death casts its first shadow
Consider investing in schools
McCain pleads for Ohio win to keep his campaign alive
State House races are hotly contested
Democrats love Evanston, andvice versa
Love Sunday weather? It gets better today
Reluctant hero saves friend
County rethinking parking at stadiums
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
Rape victim heals with forgiveness
162 pounds lost, one life gained
Balanced diet ensures body gets nutrients
Exercise other half of lifestyle change
O'Keeffe's 'Autumn' here for spring
Cammys to praise Pure Prairie League
GET TO IT
Gross breathes 'Fresh Air' into radio
Hersch brought celebration of music home
'Mozart Affect' effective
New 'Scarlet Letter' deserves an ovation
'Wait Until Dark' thrills by the book
Effort to stem farmland development taking root
Mardi Gras crowd swells to 50,000
Medical waste plan goes to public
Mega-mall project ignites opposition
TRISTATE DIGEST
Waste plan may reduce overflows
