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Science Fiction writer WILLIAM GIBSON. He's part of a small group of writers whose work is known as "cyberpunk" which combines the science of communication and control theory -- cybernetics -- with punk, an anti-social rebel or hoodlum. GIBSON's first novel, "Neuromancer, was the first novel to win Science Fiction's triple crown: the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick awards. GIBSON coined the term "cyperspace" to describe the "data highways" or the globe-circling, interconnected telephone network that connects billions of computer, voice, and fax systems. Cyperpunks think of the wires not so much as a conduit but as an actual place that can be entered. GIBSON's "Neuromancer" turned out to be a trilogy. He's got a new book that's part crime and science fiction, "Virtual Light." (Bantam

Poet and novelist MICHAEL ONDAATJE (on-DAH-chay). He won Britian's highest literary prize, the Booker Prize, for his novel set in post World War II, "The English Patient," (Vintage Books). ONDAATJE was born in Cyelon (now Sri Lanka), emigrated to England, and now lives in Canada. He also has written a personal memoir, "Running in the Family," (Vintage) about his eccentric family. Both books are now out in paperback

World music commentator MILO MILES reviews some dancehall reggae by Jamaican-born New Yorker, Shaggy. His debut album is "Pure Pleasure," (V

World music critic MILO MILES reviews music by the women''s acapella group, Zap Mama. They have a debut album called "Zap Mama." (Luaka Bop).

2: Writer and criminal defense lawyer, ALFREDO VEA, JR. He's just written his first book, a novel, "La Maravilla" (Dutton). It's based on his own life, growing up in the desert outside of Phoenix, where Mexican, Indian, Spanish, and Afro-American influences converged. The images of growing up there kept creeping up in VEA's work as a criminal lawyer, so he decided to write the book.

In May of this year, we broadcast a live concert with singer-songwriter ARTHUR ALEXANDER, whose songs were recorded on early records by The Beatles ("Anna") and The Rolling Stones ("You Better Move On"). ALEXANDER had spent the past fifteen years driving a bus for a community center in Cleveland, but this year he returned to performing and released a new album, "Lonely Just Like Me" (Elektra Nonesuch), his first release in twenty years. This summer, just as he was starting a new tour and a new chapter of his life, ALEXANDER suffered a heart attack and died in Nashville. (Concert Rebroadcast from 5/7/93).

Maureen Corrigan on a British best seller, published this month: "The Queen and I" by Sue Townsend (Soho Books).

HARRY WU is a resident scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He came to the U.S. from China where he was held in a prison labor camp for 19 years. The son of a wealthy banker, WU was a newly graduated college student when he was arrested in 1960 and denounced as an "enemy of the revolution." In the camps he endured torture, starvation, and he learned to "stop thinking in order to survive." In 1979 he was released. After emigrating to the U.S., WU made a daring trip back to China for the TV show "60 Minutes." Disguising his identity, he and a camera crew went back to the prison labor camp to document abuses there. WU's new memoir is "Bitter Winds: A Memoir of My Years in China's Gulag." (John Wiley & Sons).

Former Mouseketeer, ANNETTE FUNICELLO. At the age of 12, she was discovered by Walt Disney at a dance recital; he was looking for kids for his new show, "The Mickey Mouse Club." FUNICELLO became the "most popular" Mouseketeer, and went on to star in a number of Disney films: "The Shaggy Dog," "Babes in Toyland," and "The Monkey's Uncle." Before she went to star in the beach party movies for which she is also known, Disney requested that she wear a one-piece bathing suit instead of a bikini. FUNICELLO agreed. In 1987 FUNICELLO was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and she founded the Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases. FUNICELLO's new autobiography is "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, (Hyperion - written with Patricia Romanowski).

One of Israel's leading journalists, TOM SEGEV (pronounced like NEGA in negative). He has a new book,"The Seventh Million: The Israelis and The Holocaust," (Hill & Wang) in which he argues that some Israelis use the holocaust to encourage Israeli chauvinism and aggression. SEGEV writes a weekly column on politics and human rights for the daily newspaper "Haaretz."

2: Director JAMES FOLEY. His most recent film is the screen adaptation of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize winning play, s"Glengarry Glen Ross," which is now out on video. It stars Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, and Ed Harris. FOLEY made his directorial debut in 1984 with "Reckless." He directed and co-wrote the critically aclaimed thriller "After Dark, My Sweet" two years ago. REBROADCAST. Originally aired 10

2: Conversation with Cokie Roberts continues.