June 17, 1980 - Writer, photographer, and artist Gordon Parks speaking at Our Creative Community Conference at the Spring Hill Center in Wayzata, Minnesota. Parks address was titled “Universality in Art.” Subjects of speech included his time in Minnesota, race issues, the Civil Rights movement, and education.
July 2, 1980 - On this segment of People on Books, Bob Miller reviews Ordinary Daylight: Portrait of an Artist Going Blind by Andrew Potok.
July 9, 1980 - On this segment of People on Books, James Bohen, of Irish Books and Media, reviews Wheels Within Wheels: The Making of a Traveller, by Dervla Murphy.
July 11, 1980 - On this segment of People on Books, librarian Mary Alice Sell reviews three young adult novels: I Hate to Talk About Your Mother by Hettie Jones; Valley of the Broken Cherry Trees by Lensey Namioka; and Tangled Butterfly by Marion Dane Bauer, a Minnesotan.
July 16, 1980 - On this segment of People on Books, Karen Nelson Hoyle, assistant professor and curator of the Children's Literature Research Collections, reviews A Companion to World Mythology by Richard W. Barber.
July 18, 1980 - On this segment of People on Books, Eoin McKiernan, president of the Irish American Cultural Institute at St. Thomas University, reviews Home Before Night by Hugh Leonard.
July 19, 1980 - MPR’s Rich Dietman interviews Fred Steiner, MPR’s music host/announcer, who just returned from a trip to the People's Republic of China with the University of Minnesota marching band. Steiner reflects on the experience, and answers listener questions.
July 30, 1980 - MPR’s Nancy Fushan talks with Thomas Sanchez, a California writer. Sanchez discusses language, writing and visual arts. Sanchez’s works include "Rabbit Boss", tracing the development of an Indian family from the 1850s to the Eisenhower Era; "The Zoot Suit Murders", a story of love and suspense amid the racial strife of Los Angeles in the 1940s; and a fictionalized account of the 1970s Wounded Knee conflict based on his real-life experiences as a supply-runner at Pine Ridge. Sanchez has been turning back to works of another era - the 50s Beat Generation. He’s traveled around the country reading to blues music poetry by Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Neal Cassady. Program opens with Sanchez performing a reading at the Walker Art Center. Also, on hand was pianist Butch Thompson.
July 30, 1980 - On this segment of People on Books, David Robinson reviews Fly Away Home by Mary Hedin.
August 18, 1980 - MPR's Fred Steiner accompanied the University of Minnesota concert band's tour of the People's Republic of China, and in this program we hear the thoughts and impressions members of the band had about their recent musical tour, with musical excerpts from concert performances.