In the probing and insightful conversations published in this book, author Barbaralee Diamonstein celebrates seventeen of our nation's remarkable "Singular Voices" - men and women who have made a significant contribution to American life. This one-of-a-kind collection constitutes vibrant oral history in the making, as it illuminates some of the most interesting leaders in the fields of politics, literature, science and medicine, human rights, business, education, the performing arts, and architecture.

Speaking with unusual candor, they reflect on their professional careers and personal lives, their achievements and their struggles, and the animating sources of their distinction.

Coming from a diversity of backgrounds and heritages, many of these individuals have endured adversity at a young age: racial or religious prejudice, economic hardship, or the premature loss of a parent. Yet, through their extraordinary determination, resilience, focus, intelligence, and humor, all overcame those potent obstacles and went on to high accomplishment.

While some of those portrayed here are very well-known, others have yet to achieve wider recognition. Included are playwright Edward Albee; astronaut and physician Ellen Baker; former senator Bill Bradley; former president Jimmy Carter; William Conway, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, professor of African-American Studies at Harvard University; writer and gay activist Larry Kramer; Dr.

Sherwin Nuland, Yale University medical school professor and author of How We Die; opera diva and arts administrator Beverly Sills; Ruth Simmons, the first African-American president of Smith College; Gloria Steinem, writer, feminist, and founder/editor of Ms.; author William Styron; choreographer Twyla Tharp; architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown; Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel; and James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank. Diamonstein's lively photographs, taken in the course of the conversations, further convey the character of her subjects.

The result is an invaluable chronicle of the accomplishments of some of America's most fascinating personalities - extremely gifted men and women who are innovators in meeting life's challenges.