Fresh Air, Aminatta Forna and John Kander (Nonfiction‪)‬

Writer Aminatta Forna and composer John Kander on this edition of Fresh Air. When she was 10 years old, Aminatta Forna's father, a doctor and advocate for democracy in Sierra Leone, was executed for treason. As an adult, Forna returned to Sierra Leone to investigate the circumstances surrounding her father's death. Her memoir is The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest. Forna is a broadcast journalist living in London. With his writing partner, Fred Ebb, John Kander wrote the music for the original Broadway musical Chicago. The movie version of Chicago is nominated for 13 Academy Awards this year. Kander and Ebb are nominated for their song "I Move On." Kander and Ebb also wrote the music for the shows Cabaret, Woman of the Year, and the Martin Scorsese movie musical New York, New York. (Broadcast Date: February 26, 2003)