Street Gang



Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street is written by former TV Guide editor Michael Davis. The 384-page hardcover book focuses on the rise of Sesame Street as an influential children's show and pop culture staple. The author has confirmed that the book is the result of completing more than 200 interviews over the course of five years.

The project was announced in passing in trade journals in March 2006; one such article claimed that "a dozen of New York’s top publishers [were] eager to get their hands this week on the story of how Sesame Street emerged as the iconic program that shaped the minds of countless kiddies around the globe."

Viking Press published the book on December 26, 2008. Listen & Live Audio will release an audio version of the book narrated by Caroll Spinney on January 1, 2009. The seven-hour, unabridged reading will be available as a 5-disc CD set or a digital download. Recording for the project occurred in early November 2008 at a studio in Manhattan.

Interviewees
Nick Aronson, Marty Arnold, Martin Baker, Lou Berger, Dr. Lewis Bernstein, Frank Biondo, Linda Bove, Molly Boylan, Fran Brill, Bernie Brillstein, David V. B. Britt, Alice Cahn, Dave Campbell, Chris Cerf, Peggy Charren, Dr. Milton Chen, George Clash, Gladys Clash, Kevin Clash, Bob Colleary, Jill Colley, Judy Collins, Pat Collins, Joan Ganz Cooney, Mike Dann, Jim Day, Emilio Delgado, Cynthia P. Deutsch, Danny Epstein, Jason Epstein, Bonnie Erickson, Susan Erion, Annie Evans, Karen Falk, Judy Freudberg, Amy Friedman, Julian Ganz, Brian Garfield, Tony Geiss, Arthur Gelb, Dave Goelz, Linda Gottlieb, Louis L. Gould, Pam Green, Karen Gruenberg, Robert Hatch, Richard D. Heffner, Brian Henson, Cheryl Henson, Jane Henson, Don Hewitt, Jane Hunt, Kate Hunt, Al Hyslop, Eric Jacobson, Brown Johnson, James Earl Jones, Jim Jinkins, Jerry Juhl, Chloe Kimball, Emily Kingsley, Gary Knell, David Lazer, Sharon Lerner, Jerry Lesser, Loretta Long, Joan Lufrano, Sonia Manzano, Ted May, Joey Mazzarino, Mac McGarry, Bob McGrath, Alan Menken, Lloyd Morrisett, Mary Morrisett, Annie Moss, Jerry Nelson, Arthur Novell, Rosie O'Donnell, Roscoe Orman, Sarah Morrisett Otley, Frank Oz, Pete Peterson, Alaina Reed, Charles Rosen, David Rudman, Arlene Sherman, Cathy Short, Fred Silverman, Lisa Simon, Dulcy Singer, Stuart Sucherman, Nick Raposo, Marty Robinson, Diane Sawyer, Josh Selig, Craig Shemin, Liz Smith, Caroll Spinney, Norman Stiles, Beverley Stone, Jon Stone, Polly Stone, John Tartaglia, David Tatum, James Taylor, Rosemarie Truglio, Tom Whedon, Steve Whitmire, Mo Willems, Vanessa Williams, Caroly Wilcox, Norton Wright, and Janet Wolf.

Press
On December 6, 2008, actor Denis Leary appeared on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me and fielded three trivia questions taken from the book.