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Program 05-12-18-A

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What happens when we die? Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen says much more than you think. Not so, says novelist Jim Crace. He thinks we're just flesh to begin with and become meat after we die. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we focus on death, and how an honest reckoning with the Grim Reaper can help us live a better life.

SEGMENT 1:

Novelist Amy Tan tells Anne Strainchamps about the murder that shaped her life as a writer and the role that fate has played in her family's history. And, British novelist Jim Crace is an atheist. He doesn't believe in an afterlife, and tells Jim Fleming that he intended his novel "Being Dead" to be a comfort to readers. Also, Eric Idle talks with TTBOOK's Doug Gordon about death and comedy. And we hear some Monty Python clips.

SEGMENT 2:

We hear a vox pop of answers to the question "What happens when we die?" Also, we meet Pete Daly, an engineer with recurrent melanoma who talks about living with cancer. And, Rachel Naomi Remen is a doctor and the co-founder of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. She's also the author of "Kitchen Table Wisdom" and "My Grandfather's Blessings." Remen talks with Steve Paulson about the transformative effects of cancer.

SEGMENT 3:

Sarah Stewart Taylor is a Vermont mystery writer who's fascinated by cemeteries. She walks through the Sawnee Bean Cemetery near Thetford, Vermont with Steve Paulson. They talk about what the stones reveal about the people whose graves they mark and how funerary symbolism has changed over time. Also, Irish poet Dennis O'Driscoll has eight books of poetry. The latest one is "New and Selected Poems." He talks with Jim Fleming and recites several of his poems.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 05-12-18-A.

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Books:

• Jim Crace, Being Dead: a novel (Picador)
• Dennis O'Driscoll, New and Selected Poems (Anvil Press Poetry)
• Rachel Naomi Remen, My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging (Riverhead Trade)
  
• Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal (Riverhead Books)
• Amy Tan, The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life (Putnam)
• Sarah Stewart Taylor, Judgment of the Grave (A Sweeney St. George Mystery) (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Audio Download:

• Dennis O'Driscoll reads "Someone"
• Dennis O'Driscoll reads "What She Does Not Know Is"
• Dennis O'Driscoll reads "Missing God"
  These are mp2 files.. To listen, left click on the link and it will play through your MP3 player after it downloads into the player -- because it's not being "streamed".
  To download it to your PC, right-click on it, then select Save
  Target As (or Save Link As, or Download Link as, depending on your operating system), then select the destination folder and click Save.

Links:

• -- Anniina's Amy Tan Page
  http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/amytan/
  
• -- Jim Crace
  http://www.jim-crace.com/
  
• -- Eric Idle
  http://www.pythonline.com/eric_idle.html
  
• -- Rachel Naomi Remen
  http://www.rachelremen.com/
  
• -- Sarah Stewart Taylor
  http://www.sarahstewarttaylor.com/
  
• -- Dennis O'Driscoll
  http://www.irishwriters-online.com/dennisodriscoll.html

Clips:

• -- "Bring Out Your Dead"/Monty Python
  Clip from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" soundtrack from the CD, "The Instant Monty Python CD Collection: Volume #4 (Virgin)

Music:

• -- "O Death"/Ralph Stanley
  from the CD, "O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Soundtrack)"
  (Lost Highway)
  http://www.obrothermusic.com/
  
• -- "Enchanted"/Delirium
  from the CD, "Karma" (Nettwerk)
  http://www.nettwerk.com/
  
• -- "Spooky"/Money Mark
  from the CD, "Mark's Keyboard Repair" (MoWax/A&M Records)
  http://www.moneymark.com/
  
• -- "So Now Then"/Jon Brion
  from the CD, "Magnolia (Score to 1999 Film)" (Warner Bros./WEA)
  
• -- "Morning"/Mark Adler
  from the CD, "Focus: Original Score" (Milan)
  http://www.milanrecords.com/
  
• -- "Courtship"/Mark Adler
  from the CD, "Focus: Original Score" (Milan)
  http://www.milanrecords.com/
  
• -- "Job Interview"/Mark Adler
  from the CD, "Focus: Original Score" (Milan)
  http://www.milanrecords.com/
  

Distribution dates:

week of 07/16/2006 - hour 2 week of 12/18/2005 - hour 1	Listen!

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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