patti smith merged poetry with rock and roll. she was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2007. she tells the story of those early years in a memoir titled "just kids" which won the national book award for nonfiction. patti smith joins me. this book goes back to before you were you, the public figure. why did you want to look at that? >> the day before robert died, we knew he was dying and because we had collaborated for so many years, i asked him what he wanted me to do to continue working with him in the best way i could. then he said, "would you tell our story. you're the only one that could tell it." our story started when we were 20 years old and it began, the two of us were unknown. we evolved as artists and human peculiars together. >> ifill: you could see it coming through, the aspiration to art but trying to channel it somehow. >> both of us had a mission. robert really believed in himself. robert was a very interesting boy, because he was quite shy yet absolutely confident in his abilities and that he would

when patti smith puts her fingers to it, that is what you get. nice to have you on the program. >> i am so happy. sorry. tavis: i am happy having you here. i hope you are happy at home. that is our show. i will see you back here next time on pbs. thanks for watching. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i am tavis smiley. join me next time. join me for a singer next time. we will see you then. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and and remove obstacles of economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] c

>> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org >> join me next time as patti smith won the national book award. we will see you then. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. a nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs.

. >> johnny depp has an interview with "vanity fair," with patty smith. a really interesting interview. he says a lot of things. one thing that people are really talking about is that he basically says, every big-screen alter ego that he has played, from edward scissorhands to mad hatter and captain jack sparrow, none of them are straight. that's what he says. according to him, that's how he plays them. >> i knew that. >> our stage manager apparently knew that. like i said, it's a frank interview. he also says that acting was an odd deviation from his original plan. he said in his late teens he actually wanted to be a musician. he says he's played every character under the sun but there's one he would still love to inhabit, and that is hamlet. we could see him somewhere down the road doing hamlet. he also talked about one other thing and that was angelina jolie, they're doing that new movie "tourist." he said, i was pleased to find she's incredibly normal and has a wonderfully dark, kind of perverse sense of humor. sharing a lot. >> no kidding. >>> real q

"because the night," patty smith had a hit with it. >> right. >> bruce: this is the one steve was pissed jimmy: that's cool, first of all. that's pretty cool. >> bruce: nobody had ever seen a mercedes-benz, but somehow or other, he managed to get -- he came up with the orange mercedes, and he drove me to coney island. and on the way, somehow, he talked me into giving up the song, which i'm glad that i did. because i wasn't going to finish it, and she finished it beautifully. and it would have never seen the light of day, much less been the song that it is without her working on it. so, thank you, patty. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> jimmy: what's cool is that -- what's cool is you guys are going to give us a taste of that song and another song from "the promise." >> bruce: yes, we are. yes, we are. >> jimmy: right about now. [ cheers and applause ] come on back! bruce springsteen and steven van zandt perform with the roots and the e street band when we get back! come on! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ when i use expedia, my friends at work think there's more than one "me." ...because o

patti smith meets johnny depp photoed by annie liebovitz. what is it as an actor and as... >> that's very interesting. i think apart from the fact that he's a very accomplished actor, he has a quality... i was just thinking about that yesterday. it is impossible not to love him. he's so very easy to love and i think that that's... that makes me as a viewer always feel very grateful. sometimes it's hard to get into a frame of mind where you can love someone and he's a teacher of love in some way. so he makes it so easy for us to access that feeling and that's also why i wanted someone to show more of him in this... in this film. when i had that first meeting with him i didn't know what to expect. i only know his various screen persona and he... he was mysterious to me. so i didn't know what was he going to be like and was he going to be like captain jack sparrow or ed wood? was he the mad hatter or the demon of fleet street? so just getting to know him and seeing what incredibly just sharming immensely lovable and funny person person he is, i

on "art beat," jeff talks to rock legend patti smith about her national book award-winning memoir, "just kids." also there, you can submit your favorite books, films and music for a special year-end feature next week. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. jeff. >> brown: and that's the newshour for tonight. on monday, ray suarez reports on economic change coming to cuba. i'm jeffrey brown. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> this was me-- best ribs in nelson county. but i wasn't winning any ribbons managing my diabetes. it was so complicated. there was a lot of information out there, but it was frustrating trying to get the answers i needed. then, my company partnered with united healthcare. they provided on-site screenings, healthy cooking tips. that's a recipe i'm keeping. >> turning complex data into easy tools. we're 78,000 people looking out f

now, patti smith won the national book award this year for just kids. e.g. read it, jenn risko? >> guest: i did not read it and i have to tell you i'm sad that i haven't read it because it's totally my kind of book. i know that john mutter, our editor-in-chief read it and he said that he was just entranced. and i've spoken to the folks at atco a number of times. what a cool thing for patty smyth, write? just amazing. >> host: we have a tweet here that is related to the last caller's question. how will the rise of e-books -- it will give you a chance to talk more generally about the industry. how the rise of e-books affect the future for editors, authors and book sellers and publishing overall? if you would come and take the e-mail and talk about the changes in 2010 and how it affected the industry. >> guest: there has been a lot of change. i was thinking recently another book that hit the times list was the sir palin book. an interesting thing about this was that last year when pearland came out with going rogue, they delayed harpercollins delayed the electronic book of days for

now, patti smith won the national book award this year for just kids. e.g. read it, jenn risko? >> guest: i did not read it and i have to tell you i'm sad that i haven't read it because it's totally my kind of book. i know that john mutter, our editor-in-chief read it and he said that he was just entranced. and i've spoken to the folks at atco a number of times. what a cool thing for patty smyth, write? just amazing. >> host: we have a tweet here that is related to the last caller's question. how will the rise of e-books -- it will give you a chance to talk more generally about the industry. how the rise of e-books affect the future for editors, authors and book sellers and publishing overall? if you would come and take the e-mail and talk about the changes in 2010 and how it affected the industry. >> guest: there has been a lot of change. i was thinking recently another book that hit the times list was the sir palin book. an interesting thing about this was that last year when pearland came out with going rogue, they delayed harpercollins delayed the electronic book of days for

witnesses there spotted smith outside a store with the man accused in her abduction, 32-year-old jeffrey scott easley. patti an brown is at the breaking news desk with more. >> reporter: that's right, this 12-year-old girl was missing from the east coast and later found on the west coast with her murdered mother's boyfriend. she was interviewed by police yesterday in san francisco. britney mae smith lived with her mother, tina smith, and tina's boyfriend, jeffrey easley, in virginia but on december 6th, the 41-year-old mother was found dead inside her home in ron oak county, her daughter britney and 32-year-old jeffrey were gone. after a nationwide search, jeffrey easley and britney smith were spotted three days ago panhandling outside a safeway in san francisco. easley was arrested and police say they consider him a very good suspect in the death of britney's mother, tina. britney's great aunt, lois chaukette, told local reporters she met jeffrey for the first time on thanksgiving and did not like his behavior around the 12-year-old girl, she said, quote, he was touching her hair and hands and just gazing

patty. get the sensation. >> reporter: i'm kris sanchez in pacifica, where high tide is coming in. we'll tell you what that could mean coupled with the rain we're seeing headed our way. >>> good morning, i'm christie smith the bay area. this is what happened in one east bay neighborhood. coming up, we'll tell you what the city of oakland is doing to help homeowners prepare. >>> plus a live report from southern california where flooding is causing a lot of evacuations. and a live look at president obama. he's live at the white house this morning. he's about to make military history. it is 6:30, wednesday, december 22nd, "today in the bay." >>> from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." >>> good morning. i'm marla tellez. brent and laura have the day off. scott mcgrew is doing a radio update for our friends at knbr and will rejoin me in just a few minutes. >>> the rain is the big story today. live reports from both the east bay and the peninsula are coming up. we begin with meteorologist rob mayeda. good morning, rob. >> good morning, marla. we're watching that lane kind of getting out of the bay area. let's first show you our hour-by-hour forecast. we're going to get so