E-mail a friendJune 12, 2009
Award-winning writer Colson Whitehead explains how African Americans who are not affluent connect to the story told in his new book, Sag Harbor. Actress-singer-minister Della Reese talks about her historic guest-hosting for Johnny Carson and how she navigates her career.
Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead
Award-winning writer talks about reviewers calling his work the first post-racial Obama era novel to come out. (2:51)
Full interview. (12:37)
Esquire named Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist the best first novel of 2000. Whitehead has also received a coveted MacArthur Fellowship and won the Whiting Award for young writers with exceptional promise. In between books, the New York native writes reviews, essays and fiction that have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times. After graduating from Harvard, Whitehead worked at The Village Voice and also began drafting his first novel. His latest is the coming-of-age story told in Sag Harbor.
Della Reese
Della Reese
Singer-actress talks about the challenges of hosting a talk show at a time before her network and advertisers were ready for it. (3:29)
Full interview. (14:31)
Della Reese has been a performer nearly all of her life. She began singing in church at age 6. At 18, she was the first performer to take gospel music to the Vegas casinos. She switched genres in the '50s and had three Top 40 hits. Television also beckoned. She was the first female host of The Tonight Show and the first Black woman with her own primetime variety show. Reese is also an ordained minister and author. Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, she's a spokesperson for a national awareness campaign.