Jim Foster: Conversations On The Coast

Carolyn Burke, author of "No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf," talks about the night that Edith Piaff was discovered by a night club owner. The full interview from a 2011 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.

D.W. Buffa, author of "Breach of Trust," discusses what happened when one of the main characters in the novel decided to resign the Vice Presidency and run for President against the incumbent, and then also shares a brief true story about United States Senator Phil Hart. The full interview from a 2004 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.

Elizabeth Brundage, author of "A Stranger Like You," talks about the part of her book that delves into the challenges in Hollywood for women screenwriters. The full interview from a 2010 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: Edward Acker/elizabethbrundage.com

Jessica Bruder, author of "Burning Book: A Visual History of Burning Man," talks about how several participants in the 2005 Burning Man event headed south into the Hurricane Katrina disaster area to help people rebuild. The full interview from a 2007 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.

Rita Mae Brown, author of "Full Cry," reads a short comical passage from her book where two foxhounds speak to each other about their 72-year-old master "Sister" Jane. The full interview from a 2005 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.

Sonny Brewer, author of "The Poet of Tolstoy Park," talks about what the main charater in the book, Henry Stuart, did after being told by his doctor that he was dying and how it transformed his community. This full interview from a 2006 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.

On this special episode, host and producer Jim Foster speaks with technical producer Robert Costa about how "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" became a long-running program airing on various radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area for several decades, and also speaks about how the book publishing world has changed over the years, where the industry is going next, and many other subjects including his favorite author guest, plus a cameo by Executive Board Member Julie! This discussion took place on the occasion of the last airing of the program on its longtime San Francisco radio frequency 960 AM in 2014, in San Francisco, California. Photo: Robert Costa.

In "The Whole World Over," author Julia Glass writes a novel about all the little accidents in life that come together to determine our choices in love and connections to others in the world. This second discussion about the book took place on a 2007 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: Robert Costa.

In "Perfidia," author James Ellroy writes a historical novel and the first volume of his second L.A. Quartet series, set in Los Angeles in 1941 that follows the story of several very different people who come together to investigate the murder of a Japanese family as America is at the brink of World War II. This discussion with the author took place on a 2014 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: jamesellroy.net

In "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," author Sister Helen Prejean talks about her first-hand experiences witnessing the execution of Dobie Gillis Williams in 1999 and Joseph Roger O'Dell in 1997, how poor people are primarily affected by wrongful executions, and why the execution of Michael Morales was postponed indefinitely in 2006 and led to a moratorium on capital punishment in California. This third discussion with the author took place on a 2006 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: sisterhelen.org

In "Dorchester Terrace: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel," the late author Anne Perry writes the next novel in a series in which Thomas Pitt is now the head of Britain's Special Branch, and follows the story of him and his wife trying to get information from two women in order to prevent an international catastrophe. This conversation took place on a 2012 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: anneperry.us

In "Her Wild Oats," the late author Kathi Kamen Goldmark writes a novel about two people at very different points in their lives who develop an unlikely friendship, a thirteen-year-old boy who plays the harmonica, and a young woman who recently discovered her husband was having an affair. In this discussion, the late author's husband Sam Barry talks about her life and how they completed the book after her passing. This conversation took place on a 2015 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: Chronicle / Eric Luse

In "And the Dark Sacred Night," author Julia Glass writes a novel about a man's quest to find his biological father and what he discovered along the journey about himself and the world. This discussion took place on a 2014 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: Robert Costa.

In this episode, Jim Foster shares his thoughts on the publishing scandal surrounding James Frey's memoir "A Million Little Pieces" and why a memoir by Heather King entitled "Parched" is more meaningful surrounding the subject of alcoholism and addiction, especially considering the fact that many things written as personal experiences in Frey's memoir were later found to be exaggerated or completely false. Book stores later recategorised Frey's memoir as fiction instead of non-fiction. This discussion took place on a 2006 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo Credit: Robert Costa