Joan Didion (1934-2021), noted essayist, novelist, screenwriter social critic and journalist, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios on October 21, 2003.

Joan Didion died on December 23, 2021 at the age of 87. A chornicler of of the American zeitgeist, she was the author of several novels, including Play It As It Lays and The Last Thing He Wanted, the brilliant book-length essay on grief, The Year of Magical Thinking, and several collections of essays including Slouching Toward Bethlehem. Her screenplays include The Panic In Needle Park, True Confessions, and the 1976 A Star Is Born, most of them co-written with her husband, John Gregory Dunne.

This interview was conducted while she was on tour for her collection of essays, Where I Was From. Sadly, due to technical difficulties, only the first part of the interview was recorded before both the computer and back-up failed.

Photo: Joan Didion at the Brooklyn Film Festival, 2008. Creative Commons.