Robert Stone (1937-2015), “Bay of Souls,” 2003

Robert Stone (1937-2015), author of “Dog Soldiers,” “A Flag for Sunrise” and “Damascus Gate,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios on April 25, 2003 during the book tour for “Bay of Souls.”

Robert Stone, who died on January 10^th, 2015 at the age of 77, won the National Book Award in 1975 for his novel Dog Soldiers and was a finalist four other times, and twice was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among his other books were the critically acclaimed A Flag for Sunrise, set in war-torn Central America, and Damascus Gate, set in the conflicted city of Jerusalem. His memoir, Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties, is one of the best books written about the counterculture.

Robert Stone’s books tend to have complicated characters existing during complex political and social turmoil. Two of his books became films, Hall of Mirrors became WUSA, and Dog Soldiers became Who’ll Stop the Rain, an excellent film that was dumped by the studio.

Following the interview, only four books were published. In 2007, it was the memoir Prime Green, followed in 2010 by a collection of short stories, Fun with Problems. The college novel mentioned at the end of the interview, Death of the Black Haired Girl, was published in 2013, and a collection of non-fiction The Eye You See With, was published posthumously in 2020. A second interview, from 2007 for Prime Green will be posted in the future.

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