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Inspiration isn't always a bolt from the blue. Over the next six months, Morning Edition will explore the ways artists inspire each other. NPR's Elizabeth Blair opens the "Intersections" series by examining famous artists -- such as Van Gogh -- who have publicly acknowledged a debt to others.

NPR's ambassador to children's literature, Daniel Pinkwater, brings in the latest book by one of his favorite author/illustrator, D.B. Johnson. Henry Climbs a Mountain is the third in a series of books featuring a bear based on naturalist Henry David Thoreau. Pinkwater says it might be the best picture book he's ever read.

The Iraqi National Orchestra performs with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. The visit is financed by the U.S. Department of State, and President George Bush is expected to attend. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.

Farnsworth House, a tiny glass pavilion designed by the late modernist master Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, goes on the auction block Friday. Preservationists worry that the new buyer will move the structure from its current site on the banks of the Fox River in Illinois. They say that would destroy its artistic integrity. Chicago Public Radio's Edward Lifson reports.

Before Peter Jackson emerged as the successful director of the Lord of the Rings movies, most of his early films were low-budget efforts that offered a mixed bag of characters and scenarios. Hear NPR's Neda Ulaby and Washington, D.C., video-store clerks Scott Mueller and Adam Robinson.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy has swamped popular culture, winning acclaim from critics and movie fans alike. But for some die-hard fans of science fiction, the original Star Wars films remain the definitive fantasy trilogy. Christian Bordal reports.

Marshall Chapman's father, a South Carolina cotton mill owner, was expecting her to grow into a delicate debutante. Instead, his daughter became a hard-living musician whose songs have been covered by Jimmy Buffett, Joe Cocker, Tanya Tucker and many others. Chapman's new memoir and accompanying CD are called Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller. Hear her extended interview with NPR's Bob Edwards' and songs from the CD.

Most Cajuns, whose ancestors settled in southern Louisiana in the 17th century, spoke French up until World War II. But as Cajun culture is celebrated in music, film and food, only a fraction of the local population calls French its first language. NPR's Renee Montagne speaks with historian Shane Bernard about the Americanization of the Cajuns.

Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson has spent more than 20 years writing a cycle of plays that chronicle black life in 20th-century America, decade by decade. For Intersections, a Morning Edition series on artists and their inspirations, the playwright discusses how he first found the language of the black experience in blues legend Bessie Smith.

Method acting is more than mining personal experiences to play a character — or physically transforming for a role. Author Isaac Butler traces the history of the technique in The Method.