Revisiting A Conversation With Janis Ian On Thursday's Access Utah

Utah Public Radio | By Tom Williams

Published August 6, 2015 at 10:34 AM MDT

Thursday on Access Utah we revisit a conversation from March of 2011 with singer-songwriter Janis Ian. Her song “Society’s Child” about an interracial romance placed her right at the flash point of the racial tensions of the sixties. She writes in her autobiography about at least one experience performing the song: “I was having a hit record. I was singing for people who wanted me dead. I was fifteen years old.” Janis Ian’s songs including “At Seventeen” still resonate with audiences. We’ll talk with her about her autobiography, Society’s Child, her love of science fiction, and her current work. Janis Ian on Thursday's Access Utah.

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Tom Williams

Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.

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