Tuesday, July 20, 2010

UNC Wilmington Creative Writing professor Phil Furia will be interviewed at 7 p.m. tonight, July 21 on "Fresh Air with Terry Gross" on WHQR Public Radio, 91.3 FM. The full story is available at the link below:

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125514785

The story is related to the new book "Songs of Hollywood," written by Furia and wife and computer science professor Laurie Patterson, which has received national acclaim, including high praise from the California Literary Review, prominent film critic Leonard Maltin and several interview spots on National Public Radio (NPR).

Furia and Patterson weave the stories of some of Hollywood's best known and loved songs with history and more than 200 film stills. From "Over the Rainbow" to "Moon River," the book illustrates how the film industry created memorable songs and highlights the important moments in film history along the way.

Furia and Patterson claim that the songs of Hollywood are "the closest thing America has to a collection of classical music."

Since starting the book 15 years ago, Furia and Patterson have watched nearly 2,000 musical films. The pair also toured the country with shows they personally designed and presented based on their research. The often sold-out multimedia shows merge the music, history and images of influential songwriters such as Duke Ellington and Johnny Mercer — a blend of Furia's research and Patterson's computer technology expertise.

Several local shows raised funds for local public radio station WHQR.

The pair is available for interviews by request.

Media Contact:
Joy Davis, Marketing and Communications, 910.632.3903 or davisj@uncw.edu