“If you are interested in ideas,
radio is way more pure than television. You're not distracted by somebody's
nose or hair or posture. You can really see how someone thinks and penetrate to
the essence of who that person is.”
– Terry Gross
Born
on this date in 1951, Gross is the host of the long-running National Public
Radio interview program “Fresh Air” where she has interviewed literally
thousands of guests. Gross has won
praise over the years for her low-key and friendly yet often probing interview
style and for the diversity of her guests.
She was honored in 2015 with the National Humanities Medal for
“Deepening America’s understanding of the humanities and broadening our
citizens' engagement with the humanities.”
The
granddaughter of 4 immigrant grandparents, she grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and
studied at the University of Buffalo where she earned both a bachelor’s and
master’s degree in communications. She
went into broadcasting in 1973 and became both the host and producer of a local
production (in Philadelphia) of “Fresh Air” in 1975. The program went national in 1985. 
Among
her written works is an in-depth look at her life on the air called All I Did
Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists.
While
Gross is a powerful interviewing presence, she is not so physically. “I am
literally smaller than life,” she said.
“I am an unextraordinary-looking person. I've seen people trying to hide
their disappointment when they meet me, and I have to watch them get over it.”
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