This week Monica and Caroline will be talking with author Kathleen Quasey and Father Rookey about her biography of Father Rookey titled Healer of Souls.

 92-year old Father Rookey and his biographer are driving up from Chicago for this inerveiw.

Glowing reports of his healing ministry have been heard around Fairfield. Born October 12, 1916 in Superior, Wisconsin, Father Rookey entered the Servite Seminary in Hillside, Illinois in 1930. He studied theology, philosophy and music at Loyola and DePaul Universities in Chicago. In 1941 he was ordained at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica in Chicago.

Writers' Voices continues the "Oz" theme started last week, with this interview with Fairfield-connected Carol de Giere, author of Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked. Carol interviewed Schwartz and his colleagues, friends, and family extensively for this book. She narrates his career from writing Godspell's score at age 23 to his phenomenal success with Wicked. She also covers his not-so-successful creative endeavors. Of interest to other artists and writers is the "Creativity Notes" that share insights about the artistic life. 

In a two-episode special event, Writers’ Voices unveils the makings of The Wizard of Oz and its prequel, Wicked, through biographers Evan Schwartz and Carol de Giere.

Tune in Friday, March 19 at 1pm Central (kruufm.com) to hear Evan Schwartz, author of Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story, reveal both the spiritual teachings and life experiences that inspired The Wizard of Oz. Involving a Swami from the 1893 World’s Fair and a real yellow brick road, this is a fascinating inside look into a creative work that has touched all our lives. You might even find yourself pondering, “Am I a good witch or a bad witch…or both?!”

Next Friday, March 26, Fairfield-connected Carol de Giere talks about her book, Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked. Inspired by The Artist’s Way to follow her dream as a freelance writer, this was her first book project. As part of the process, she has developed www.MusicalSchwartz.com, and began publishing an email quarterly newsletter The Schwartz Scene.

The following interview has been postponed -stay tuned for the rescheduled date.

Please tune in to Writers’ Voices this Friday, April 24, at 1pm for this illuminating interview with Catherine Clinton.

Abraham Lincoln is the most revered president in American history, but the woman at the center of his life, his wife, Mary, has remained a historical enigma. In this definitive, magisterial biography, Catherine Clinton draws on important new research to illuminate the remarkable life of Mary Lincoln, and at a time when the nation was being tested as never before. Authoritative and utterly engrossing, Mrs. Lincoln is the long-awaited portrait of the woman who so richly contributed to Lincoln's life and legacy.

Catherine Clinton is the author of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, which was named as one of the best nonfiction books of 2004 by the Christian Science Monitor and the Chicago Tribune, as well as Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars. Educated at Harvard, Sussex, and Princeton, she is a member of the advisory committee to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Bicentennial Commission, and holds a chair in U.S. history at Queen's University Belfast.

Rebroadcast Monday April 27 at 8am CST.