James Alexander Thom

Kurt Vonnegut’s Indianapolis: A Writer’s Roots

Kevin Finch

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Morley Safer

He was one of the best-selling authors of the 20th Century. His books became movies. His writings became music. He became an icon. He was Kurt Vonnegut. First, though, he was just a kid from Indianapolis, whose early idyllic life turned tragic. Things got tougher in World War II, when he was captured by the Germans and survived the Dresden firebombing. He overcame all of that to become a literary lion who was both proud of--and frustrated with--his hometown. But as his friend Morley Safer said, he never lost his Hoosier roots. Narrated by NPR Anchor Steve Inskeep, A Writer's Roots talks with Kurt's family and friends, including his daughter, Nan Vonnegut, and fellow writers Morley Safer, Dan Wakefield and James Alexander Thom.