Constance Frye "Connie" Martinson (born April 11, 1932) is an American writer and television personality. Since its 1979 debut, she has hosted the syndicated television show ''Connie Martinson Talks Books'', which airs on public television. A member of the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

and PEN (Print & Electronic Network), she wrote a column for the weekly newspaper '' Beverly Hills Courier''.

Education

Constance Frye graduated in 1953 from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficia ...

in Massachusetts with a bachelor of arts degree and was awarded the Davenport Prize for speech and literature.

Career

She worked as an editor for ''Writer'' magazine in Boston before moving to Los Angeles with her husband, film and television director

Leslie Martinson Leslie Herbert Martinson (January 16, 1915 – September 3, 2016) was an American television and film director. Career Martinson was born to Gertrude and Lewis Martinson in Boston, Massachusetts on January 16, 1915. He had a brother named Bert ...

. Prior to parlaying her love of literature into a self-financed half-hour television series on books, she was involved in public relations for the Coro Foundation and taught at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

and the

University of Judaism A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. The Connie Martinson Talks Books Collection, now donated to

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna C ...

, consists of nearly 3,000 television interviews (L.A. CityView Channel 35,

Government-access television Government-access television (GATV) is a type of specialty television channel created by government entities (generally local governments) and broadcast over cable TV systems or, in some cases, over-the-air broadcast television stations. GATV pr ...

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

) with authors of fiction and nonfiction taped over the last 30 years. Included in the collection are interviews with

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

, Al Gore,

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral hi ...

, and Joyce Carol Oates. One of her most famous interviews took place in 1995 when she interviewed a then little-known author and future

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

named

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

about his first book, '' Dreams From My Father''. Interviews with a diverse group of best-selling authors include Matthew Pearl,

Cathy Scott Cathleen "Cathy" Scott (born c. 1950) is a ''Los Angeles Times'' bestselling American true crime writer and investigative journalist who penned the biographies and true crime books '' The Killing of Tupac Shakur'' and '' The Murder of Biggie Sma ...

Stanley Wolpert Stanley Wolpert (December 23, 1927 – February 19, 2019) was an American historian, Indologist, and author on the political and intellectual history of modern India and PakistanDr. Stanley Wolpert's UCLA Faculty homepage and wrote fiction and ...

, Ved Mehta,

Rod McKuen Rodney Marvin McKuen (; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and actor. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range ...

Roger Cohen Roger Cohen (born 2 August 1955) is a journalist and author. He was a reporter, editor and columnist for ''The New York Times, and the International Herald Tribune (later re-branded as the'' ''International New York Times)''.and became head of t ...

, and

Vincent Bugliosi Vincent T. Bugliosi Jr. (; August 18, 1934 – June 6, 2015) was an American prosecutor and author who served as Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office between 1964 and 1972. He became best known for su ...

Family

She was married to American film director

Leslie H. Martinson Leslie Herbert Martinson (January 16, 1915 – September 3, 2016) was an American television and film director. Career Martinson was born to Gertrude and Lewis Martinson in Boston, Massachusetts on January 16, 1915. He had a brother named Bert ...

.'Beverly Hills Centenarian', ''

The Beverly Hills Courier ''The Beverly Hills Courier'' is a free weekly tabloid-sized print newspaper of circulation in Beverly Hills and the surrounding communities, and a daily web newspaper. History The publication was founded by March Schwartz in 1965. His staff incl ...

'', January 16, 2015, p.

/ref> They resided in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

References

External links

Connie Martinson Talks Books
in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library
Connie Martinson Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinson, Connie 1932 births Living people People from Beverly Hills, California Television personalities from California American women television personalities Writers from Massachusetts