Lowell Steward Airman

In high school, Steward was interested in going to college, but the school steered him to a vocational career instead — because he was Black. Instead, he went to Los Angeles Junior College until he could be accepted at Santa Barbara State College (now the University of California at Santa Barbara). He was the only … Read more

From This is True for 21 December 2014

Cosimo Matassa Rock producer

“Virtually every R&B record made in New Orleans between the late 40s and the early 70s was engineered by Cosimo Matassa.”

From This is True for 14 September 2014

Rollin King Pilot

The best part? He went back to being a pilot.

From This is True for 29 June 2014

Oscar Dystel Book editor

Simply, Dystel was not a writer, but had an eye for great writing.

From This is True for 1 June 2014

André Schiffrin Book publisher

Born in Paris, Schiffrin was the son of a book publisher who had to flee the Nazis. The family settled in the United States, and André followed in his father’s footsteps: in 1961 he became the managing director of publishing at Pantheon Books, which was established in 1942 by several Europeans who fled the Nazis … Read more

From This is True for 8 December 2013

Agnes Turk Richardson Savvy nun

As a child growing up in Los Angeles, ‘Midge’ Richardson was an “extra” in more films than she can remember (believed to be more than 100), so she thought she would like to be an actress. “I think when we got into high school, we got a little more sensible about it,” she said, and … Read more

From This is True for 23 December 2012