October 3, 2005 - Playwright August Wilson is being remembered as a giant of the American Theatre. Wilson died of liver cancer in Seattle yesterday at the age of 60. He moved to St. Paul in 1978 where he got his first paying job as a writer, composing educational scripts for the Science Museum of Minnesota. During his time in Minnesota Wilson began writing the set of plays that would make him famous. The ten-play cycle chronicled the black experience in America. In a 1991 speech to the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, Wilson fondly remembered the 12-years he lived in St. Paul.
October 3, 2005 - Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson is being remembered today as a literary giant who did more to bring the African American experience to the stage than any other writer. Wilson died yesterday in Seattle from liver cancer. He was 60-years-old. As Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts reports, Wilson's passing is being deeply felt in the Twin Cities, where he lived and wrote for nearly 12 years.
September 1, 2005 - Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and one-time St. Paulite August Wilson has revealed that he is dying of liver cancer and may only have months to live. Wilson left Minnesota in 1990 after living here for 12 years, but he made a short homecoming in 1991 to address the University of Minnesota Alumni Association.
August 26, 2005 - With the announcement of a terminal disease by playwright August Wilson, an excerpt of Wilson speaking to the University of Minnesota Alumni Association back in 1992 is aired.
May 30, 2003 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on August Wilson’s play “King Hedley II.” Report includes interview with Penumbra’s Lou Bellamy and excerpts from play.
September 29, 1999 - Eight people will be awarded the 1999 National Humanities Medal by President and Mrs. Clinton today at a special ceremony at the White House. Two of the medal winners are Garrison Keillor and August Wilson. Wilson now lives in Seattle, Washington, but he began his career as a playwright in St. Paul. At an event yesterday sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Wilson talked about what has inspired him as a writer. Garrison Keillor also spoke at yesterday's event. He talked about the difference between being a writer and hosting A Prairie Home Companion.
September 29, 1999 - Eight people will be awarded the 1999 National Humanities Medal by President and Mrs. Clinton today at a special ceremony at the White House. Two of the medal winners are Garrison Keillor and August Wilson. Wilson now lives in Seattle, Washington, but he began his career as a playwright in St. Paul. At an event yesterday sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Wilson talked about what has inspired him as a writer. Garrison Keillor also spoke at yesterday's event. He talked about the difference between being a writer and hosting A Prairie Home Companion.
September 29, 1999 - On Wednesday morning Garrison Keillor and August Wilson receive the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton. They, and the other recipients of this year's medal spoke at the National Endowment for the Humanities on Tuesday, and you can hear their remarks on Midday.
May 14, 1997 - For the first time in it's 20-year history, St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre Company will perform August Wilson’s “Fences” on the stage of the region's best known theater, the Guthrie, in Minneapolis.
April 15, 1996 - MPR’s John Rabe talks with Lou Bellamy, artistic director of Penumbra Theatre, about the arts organization celebrating its 20th season.