When my wife Cindy's health declined after two kidney transplants, how would she find a third organ donor? 

The answer -- which involves my 33-year error -- could make you believe in miracles. And it also leads us to one last challenge: Can we toss the items that remind us of what happened?

If you missed the first part of their death-defying tale, you'll find it here.

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At 20, my wife Cindy thought she was about to die.  Following a lupus diagnosis at 15, her kidneys had shut down in a way that seemed fatal.  But after devastating years on dialysis, many near-death experiences, and three kidney transplants, Cindy is going strong 46 years later.  Her optimism and determination to survive, and the joy she got from painting and creating art, kept her going through each crushing health challenge.

Reminded by cards and letters we saved, Cindy and I share in this episode -- for the first time -- the entire rollercoaster tale of our intertwined lives (including my own highly flawed behavior) after we met as college freshmen.

This is part 1 of 2.  Coming up in the second part:  Just when it seemed that Cindy's health would improve, the most dramatic life-threatening challenges began.  And then...  we discovered a error that lasted 33 years.  This was the start of a sort of miracle.  Hear Part 2 wherever you get your podcasts,  or listen here.

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Rap mogul Eazy-E's death from AIDS complications in 1995 was a shock. Hear reactions at the time from  Wu-Tang's Method Man and others. Plus, hear my 1992 talk with Eazy while driving in Compton during the L.A. riots. 

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Compton's rap mogul and NWA founder Eazy-E hanging out with me? Unlikely. But it happened in 1991 when I interviewed him for my 1992 book Break It Down: The Inside Story from the New Leaders of Rap.

Hear Dr. Dre (former Yo! MTV Raps host) explain Eazy's huge cultural impact, then hear Eazy's candid interview.

This is part 1 of 2.  Coming up in the second part: my followup interview with Eazy in 1992 as we drove through Compton, just after the L.A. riots.  Plus, reactions from Method Man and others to Eazy's death from AIDS-related complications.  Hear it wherever you get your podcasts or listen here.

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When bestselling spy novelist Joseph Kanon was a book publisher and I was his assistant, I secretly sent out letters in which I pretended to be the boss. Until the Brooke Shields incident. Listen as Joe learns what really happened in 1979.

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Broadway?  Movies?  TV? That's nuthin'.  Stage and screen actress Donna Murphy first found fame on the high school literary magazine staff with Michael and Sally.  Listen in as they read poems by Donna and others 50 years later -- and get a big surprise.

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When 19-year-old Jennifer Beals enrolled at Yale – after starring in 1983's Flashdance -- she couldn't escape a People Magazine interview in which I tried to impress her with my academic credentials.  Listen in as I replay her patient response to my ridiculous cringe-worthy mistakes.

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In 1985, Joni Mitchell gave me a multi-hour interview for People Magazine about flunking high school, Woodstock, Bob Dylan, her Chelsea apartment, poetry, painting, and much more -- which you'll hear in this episode. Oh, c'mon. Do not ask me to toss those tapes.  (Part 1 of 2.)

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It ain't gonna be easy to throw out never-shared interviews with Joni Mitchell, Kiefer Sutherland, Eazy-E, and many others. That's the challenge coming up on I Couldn't Throw It Out.

For decades, Michael Small has saved treasures, including 15 years of recorded interviews when he was a reporter for People Magazine. And more than 60 interviews with original hip-hip starts from his 1992 book Break It Down: The Inside Story from the New Leaders of Rap. That's not even mentioning all the cards and letters he saved since he was 6, his father's checkbook stubs from 1946, and all the items that now fill 24 boxes.

No one else seems to want these things.  So will co-host Sally Libby get him to do some Swedish Death Cleaning and throw it all out?  And will their guests do the same?  Listen to this five-minute preview and find out.

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When I interviewed Joni Mitchell for People Magazine in 1985, some of her best tales were the longer ones. Hear a few of them, including how she met Jimi Hendrix, why Jack Nicholson missed his cameo in her song, and  a recitation of her 7th grade poem.  No way will I ever toss this tape.  (Part 2 of 2)

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