Fresh Air Archive: James Ellroy and Maxine Kumin

Crime writer James Ellroy and poet Maxine Kumin on this edition of Fresh Air. Ellroy sets his novels in 1950's L.A., where he grew up. His series of novels, L.A. Quartet was a best seller. His latest novel is called Hollywood Nocturnes. When he was ten, his mother was murdered near their L.A. home. He wrote an article about returning to L.A. to go through the police files on his mother in Gentleman's Quarterly'. In this interview, he talks about how his mother's murder led to his crime writing. Kumin's latest collection of essays and stories on living on a New Hampshire farm is called Women, Animals, and Vegetables. Kumin received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1973 and is Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. (Original broadcast date: August 16, 1994)