Lisa Phillips loved public radio so much that after graduating from college, she took a job as News Director of KTPR in rural Fort Dodge, Iowa. Her day started at 4:30 a.m., in time to broadcast Bob Edwards's first "Good Morning" on Morning Edition. Over a decade later and still a devoted public radio fan, Phillips was driven to know more about the people who deliver the news, the conversation and the diverse programs that she and millions of others enjoy every day. The result is Public Radio: Behind the Voices, a collection of personal stories from more than 40 of the most listened to voices in public radio.

We join Lisa Phillips as she talks to Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, and Linda Wertheimer about the long standing professional and personal connection they share. We accompany her as she visits the home of legendary Daniel Schorr, shares lunch with Michael Feldman, has a cozy conversation with Marian McPartland, and a coast-to-coast phone call with Renée Montagne. Through personal interviews and in-depth research, Phillips allows us to get to know these and many other popular figures of public radio by letting them speak for themselves — about their lives, loves and professional journeys inside and outside of radio.

As Phillips writes in her introduction, these public radio hosts are "with us when we get up in the morning, when we drive to work, when we cook dinner, garden, sit in the bathtub. But they are veiled by the invisibility, the inherent modesty, of radio. We delight each time that veil is briefly lifted." Public Radio: Behind the Voices lifts the veil and deepens our appreciation for the voices — and the people — who bring us the world through our radio every day.

"While commercial radio has become increasingly formulaic, Phillips says, the radio audience has established an intimate connection with public radio hosts: 'This voice-to-ear relationship is a startlingly radical one in an era when image is everything.' The SUNY journalism professor, who has worked at six public radio stations in five states, is passionate about her field, and her fervor is evident throughout these 43 profiles of public radio personalities, her 'broadcasting heroes.' Blending research with in-depth interviews, she divides the portraits into three categories. 'Music' ranges from the spontaneity of Nic Harcourt (on the free-form Morning Becomes Eclectic) to 'deliciously polite' Marian McPartland (on the long-running Piano Jazz). 'News and Information' covers Susan Stamberg (NPR's 'founding mother'), Daniel Schorr, Bob Edwards, Nina Totenberg and others. Finally, the 16 profiles in the 'Talk and Entertainment' section include Tavis Smiley, Garrison Keillor and quipster Michael Feldman (Whad'Ya Know?). Phillips praises the narrative style of Ira Glass (This American Life) and the conversational approach of Fresh Air's Terry Gross, although Glass and Gross both declined to be interviewed. Phillips is a gifted journalist, able to draw out her subjects' vibrant presence on the printed page. 16-page b&w photo insert not seen by PW." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"For the millions of us who can't live without public radio, Lisa Phillips answers our questions about the people we love to listen to. Just as we've gotten to know them by the stories they tell, she tells their stories — giving us a personal connection to this vital, daily source of news and information." Judy Woodruff, broadcast journalist, former correspondent and anchor for PBS and CNN

"This book is such fun. Phillips has a knack for finding the entertaining and telling anecdote that brings the public radio personalities behind the microphones to life." Carole Zimmer, former NPR reporter, currently with Bloomberg News

"Lisa Phillips has dug deep into the lives of more than forty of the industry's cherished voices for a closer, more intimate look. With vignettes that are both breezy and earnest, Phillips interweaves personal history and contemporary life in a fresh and captivating way." Michael P. McCauley, author of NPR: The Trials and Triumphs of National Public Radio

"For those of us who connect to the larger world principally through the radio, these voices are not so far from being members of the family. And yet we know little about them, since radio is usually ignored by the tv and film-obsessed media. So these respectful, straightforward, and informative short profiles provide a real service — Lisa Phillips has provided us with the equivalent of a playbill for public radio. Any fan will want a copy." Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

Lisa A. Phillips is a former radio reporter who has worked at six public radio stations in five states. She teaches journalism at the State University of New York at New Paltz and has freelanced for the New York Times, NPR, Marketplace, and other publications and radio programs. Her reporting has received four regional Edward R. Murrow awards, a New York Festival award, and honors from The Communicator and the Associated Press. Phillips is also a published fiction writer who has been honored with a 2002 New York Foundation for the Arts fiction award, the National Society for Arts and Letters/Pittsburgh chapter award and the Scott Turow award. She lives in Woodstock, New York, with her husband, Bill Mead, and their daughter Clara. For more information, visit her website at lisaaphillips.com.