Brushes With Death

Queens College professor Harold Schechter is interested in subjects that simultaneously repel and attract most people. He has written extensively about serial killers, violence and death.

His latest work, THE WHOLE DEATH CATALOG takes at the rituals and ephemera that surround death. Schechter talks about the psychology, history and trends of death amongst the living.

LISTEN: HAROLD SCHECHTER

Rolling Stone journalist Mikal Gilmore has been up close to death in two different ways. In 1996 he was assigned to cover the final days of psychedelic guru Timothy Leary.

Leary, who had terminal cancer, wanted to turn his death into a media event, and had plans to broadcast his final moments live on the internet. Gilmore had been close to a high-profile death before. His brother, Gary Gilmore, was the first person executed after the Supreme Court upheld death penalty statutes in 1976.

LISTEN: MIKAL GILMORE - TWO DIFFERENT DEATHS

Woodstock Three Ways

The Woodstock music festival defines a generation for some. But as the cultural touchstone is marked by a 40-year anniversary, participants, next-generation observers and historians can come up with various different views about the "three days of peace, love and music." Upon reflection, many cite the highly influential movie (partially filmed by a then-unknown Martin Scorsese) as making the true lasting impact on the culture. Others see Woodstock as the capping event on the transition from good times to bad.

Here are three different views of Woodstock from men who have strong ties to the sixties.

Woodstock literally did change Elliot Tiber's life. His memoir TAKING WOODSTOCK, which recounts his role in helping get the festival off the ground, is the basis for the film of the same name directed by Ang Lee. Tiber serves as the main character in the film (and, naturally, in his own memoir), which stars Demetri Martin.

LISTEN: ELLIOT TIBER, TAKING WOODSTOCK


Rolling Stone magazine writer Mikal Gilmore takes a cultural and sociological view of the festival. Gilmore has written extensively about the sixties and where politics and music meet.

LISTEN: MIKAL GILMORE, REFLECTIONS OF WOODSTOCK


Author of THE ROCK AND ROLL BOOK OF THE DEAD, David Comfort, notes that bad trips were also a part of the festival. Comfort cites an ungrounded stage, weather and traffic problems and stars on the edge of total implosion as reflections of some of the darker side of Woodstock. Notably, Comfort notes that Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix would each live only about a year past the festival.

LISTEN: DAVID COMFORT, ON THE DARK SIDE OF WOODSTOCK