Terry Gross

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Cover of Gross's autobiography, All I Did Was Ask
Cover of Gross's autobiography, All I Did Was Ask

Terry Gross (born 1951) is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio. Gross has won praise over the years for her low-key and friendly yet often probing interview style and for the diversity of her guests. She has a reputation for researching her guests' entire lives and asking them about lesser known aspects of their early careers.[1]

Virtually all of Gross's interviews are taped and edited, and as is the case in many radio programs, guests are often not present in the studio.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Gross grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. She earned a Bachelor's degree in English and a M. Ed. in communications from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. She began a teaching career, but said that she was "totally unequipped" for the job, and was fired after only six weeks.[2] She began her radio career in 1973 at WBFO, a public radio station in Buffalo, New York where she had been volunteering. In 1975 she moved to WHYY-FM in Philadelphia to host and produce Fresh Air, which was a local interview program at the time. In 1985, Fresh Air with Terry Gross went national, being distributed weekly by NPR. It became a daily program two years later.

Gross is married to Francis Davis, jazz critic of the Village Voice. The couple has no children. (In an interview with B.D. Wong, Gross said this is a deliberate choice on their part.) Because of her short haircut and the number of guests from arts and entertainment (some of whom are gay), Gross said in her autobiography that she is sometimes asked whether she is gay or straight, including one memorable instance where a guest at a social occasion informed her mother-in-law of such a speculation. [3] In her interview with Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, she mentioned that at one time she lived in a commune.

[edit] Interview style

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Gross's interviews are "a remarkable blend of empathy, warmth, genuine curiosity, and sharp intelligence." [4] Gross prides herself on preparation. Prior to interviewing a guest, she reads their book(s), watches their movie(s), and/or listens to their CD(s). She reads at least one book a day. The result is often an interview that is engaging. Her questions tend to be probing without violating the subject's privacy. The Boston Phoenix wrote "Terry Gross ... is almost certainly the best cultural interviewer in America, and one of the best all-around interviewers, period. Her smart, thoughtful questioning pushes her guests in unlikely directions. Her interviews are revelatory in a way other people's seldom are."[5]

Gross treats different guests differently. She is often more challenging with political figures than with people in the arts, who may be less prepared for such interviews and less prone to expressing themselves in canned "sound-bites." [6]

[edit] Criticism

[edit] Clashes with guests

Gross has drawn added public attention following some rare occasions when she has clashed with her guests, including these:

  • A February 4, 2002 interview with rock star Gene Simmons, who at one point said, "If you want to welcome me with open arms, I'm afraid you're also going to have to welcome me with open legs," to which Gross replied, "That's a really obnoxious thing to say." This occurred after Gross made two minor factual mistakes (involving his given last name & the use of fishnet stockings) which Simmons commented on by saying "Better research needed. Fire your research person." Unlike most Fresh Air guests, Simmons refused to grant permission for the interview to be made available online. However, the interview appears in All I Did Was Ask, and some unauthorized transcripts are available,[7] as is an audio file of the complete original interview.[8]
  • An October 8, 2003 interview with Fox News television host Bill O'Reilly, who walked out of the interview because of what he considered her biased questions, creating a media controversy fed by the ongoing presidential campaign. Towards the end of the interview, O'Reilly asked Gross if she had been as tough on Al Franken, who had appeared on the program two weeks before O'Reilly, as she had been with O'Reilly. Gross responded, "No, I wasn't…that was a different interview."[9] Gross was later criticised by NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin for "an interview that was, in the end, unfair to O'Reilly."[10] Dvorkin described Gross's interviewing tactics as "unethical" and "unfair" because she continued reading a critical quote of O'Reilly after he had walked out of the room, and he wasn't able to respond.[11] Gross was later supported by an NPR colleague, Mike Pesca, who contended that O'Reilly did, in fact, have the opportunity to respond to a criticism that Gross read to O'Reilly leveled by People Magazine but he defaulted by prematurely abandoning the interview.[12]
  • A February 9, 2005 interview of Lynne Cheney, conservative author and wife of vice president Dick Cheney. The initial focus of the interview was on Cheney's latest history book, but Gross moved on to questions about Cheney's lesbian daughter Mary and her opinion of the Bush administration's opposition to gay marriage.[13] Cheney declined to comment on her daughter's sexuality, but repeatedly stated that she is opposed to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which was being endorsed by President Bush. Cheney declined to discuss the matter further. Later, when Gross brought the interview back to issues of gay rights, Cheney again refused to comment. According to producers, Cheney had been warned that she would be asked about politics and current events.[14] Cheney repeatedly refused to answer these questions.

[edit] Awards for Terry Gross and Fresh Air

[edit] Book

  • (2004) All I Did Was Ask : Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists. Hyperion ISBN 1-4013-0010-3.

[edit] Audio collections with Terry Gross

  • (1998) Fresh Air: On Stage & Screen (cassette)
  • (2000) Fresh Air on Stage and Screen Vol 2 (CD)
  • (2004) Fresh Air Laughs with Terry Gross [UNABRIDGED] (CD)

[edit] External links

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