Piece Description

Jacki Lyden may be petite, but don’t let her height fool you: having seen and done it all at NPR since its inception in 1979, this veteran of the airwaves is nothing short of a public radio powerhouse. You’ve heard her dulcet tones as the guest host of All Things Considered and Weekend All Things Considered. You’ve listened to her thrilling reports from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and, most recently, Iraq. And soon you’ll be reading about her international adventures in her upcoming travelogue about the people of Iraq -- including her first translator, who served as Saddam Hussein’s top translator before defecting in 1991. Jacki’s first memoir, Daughter of the Queen of Sheba (Houghton Mifflin, 1997), tells the tale of her mother’s manic depression. It has been optioned by Paramount Studios, with Lasse Halstrom (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat) set to direct. Producer Rebecca Sheir first encountered Jacki Lyden at the 2003 Third Coast International Audio Festival, an annual jamboree of public radio producers, editors and documentarians in Chicago. This month, when Jacki swung through Iowa City for the University of Iowa’s NonfictionNow Conference, Rebecca had a chance to chat with the NPR legend about her experiences as a war correspondent, a nonfiction author, and a survivor of one of the biggest pre-Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunctions ever to hit journalism.