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Special Hour: Remembering Bill McGonagle, Toni Morrison, John Singleton And Ric Ocasek
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Here's the Radio Boston rundown for a special hour on Dec. 31. We remember some of the public figures we lost this year. Tiziana Dearing is our host.
- Bill McGonagle made life better for thousands of people here in Boston as the longtime head of the Boston Housing Authority. He died in October, at the age of 67. He sat down with Radio Boston just a few months before, as he was preparing for retirement
- Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison forever changed the world of literature with her novels like "Beloved" and "The Bluest Eye." She died in August, at the age of 88. We discussed her legacy with Jeneé Osterheldt, cultural writer for the Boston Globe, and Jabari Asim, associate professor and director of Emerson College's graduate creative writing program.
- Filmmaker John Singleton became the youngest and first Black person nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Director, for his seminal 1991 film 'Boyz n the Hood.' He died in April, after complications from a stroke. He was 51. WBUR ARTery producer Arielle Gray sat down with WBUR's Kimberly Atkins to talk about Singleton's movies and their impact on her life.
- Ric Ocasek, the iconic frontman of The Cars, was known around the world ... but in Boston, he was a local. He died in September, at the age of 75. We revisit Ocasek's 2013 conversation with WBUR's Meghna Chakrabarti.
This program aired on December 31, 2019.
