Monday, November 21, 2006

Departing from our usual formula, we are excited to host Sandra Tsing Loh in conversation with Digby Diehl.   Heard regularly on KPCC, writer-performer-musician Loh is a talented wordsmith who pens in-depth observances about everyday occurrences transfigured into delicious rants. Loh writes for many genres and has interesting experiences and advice to share. No stranger to controversy, Loh was fired from a radio commentator job over an un-bleeped obscenity, which triggered her transformation into a free-speech and First Amendment advocate.

Loh is currently appearing in her one-woman show, “Mother on Fire,” at the 24th St. Theatre (see item below). Previously, she was seen in solo performance at the Geffen Playhouse in “Sugar Plum Fairy.” Her other shows include “Aliens in America,” “Bad Sex With Bud Kemp,” and “I Worry.”

Her books include “A Year in Van Nuys,” “Aliens in America,” “Depth Takes a Holiday,” and a novel, “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now,” which was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the 100 best fiction books of 1998.  Her story, “My Father’s Chinese Wives,” received a 1997 Pushcart Prize and was featured in the 1999 Norton Anthology of Short Fiction.  She and her husband Mike Miller also composed the music for Jessica Yu’s documentary short, “Breathing Lessons,” which won an Oscar in 1998.

She has been a regular commentator on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and on Ira Glass’s “This American Life.” Her weekly segment, “The Loh Life,” is heard on KPCC, and her monthly segment, “The Loh Down,” is heard on American Public Media’s “Marketplace.”  Loh is also a contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly.

The evening will be hosted by acclaimed writer and critic Digby Diehl. Diehl is one of the most trusted and successful literary collaborators in America.  He has written, co-written, rewritten, researched, and edited more than three dozen books. His book credits include:

• The forthcoming memoirs of Coretta Scott King;
• “Angel on My Shoulder,” the autobiography of singer Natalie Cole, and a Los Angeles Times #1 bestseller;
• “Million Dollar Mermaid,” the New York Times bestseller and critically acclaimed autobiography of actress Esther Williams;
• “Lost Honor,” the sequel to “Blind Ambition,” for Richard Nixon’s former White House counsel, John Dean;
• Pediatrician Fitzhugh Dodson’s perennial bestseller, “How to Parent;”
• “Soapsuds,” written with soap star Finola Hughes;
• “Tales from the Crypt,” the history of the popular comic book, movie, and television series; and
• “A Spy for All Seasons,” the autobiography of former CIA officer Duane Clarridge.

The founding editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Diehl is a widely respected book reviewer and commentator.  He was the literary correspondent for ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America,” movie critic and entertainment editor for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, and Hollywood correspondent for the “CBS Morning News.” He now offers regular book commentary on KTLA in Los Angeles.

In addition, Diehl is an advisory board member and former president of the P.E.N.

American Center West, a founding member of the National Book Critics Circle, and, not least, was on IWOSC’s first Advisory Board in 1983.