Searching for Shangri-La -- Michael Wood, Caitlin Matthews, Salman Rushdie et al [60min]

Back in 1933 novelist James Hilton wrote of an earthly paradise hidden in the Himalayas. He called it Shangri-La. But Hilton didn't invent the idea. Myths about Shangri-La go back centuries, and they pop up in a variety of places from Tibet to Kashmir. In this hour of "To the Best of Our Knowledge," we'll go in search of this earthly paradise with historian Michael Wood, Celtic scholar and storyteller Caitlin Matthews, novelist Salman Rushdie and others.

SEGMENT 1: Michael Wood's latest documentary film for PBS is called Shangri-La. The companion book is In Search of Myths and Heroes: Exploring Four Epic Legends (California). Wood tells Jim Fleming about his journey through the Himalayas, and we hear clips from the Hilton novel as realized by Hollywood. Also, Ian Baker is a world-class climber and explorer. He's also a Buddhist scholar. In his book, The Heart of the World: A Journey to the Last Secret Place (Penguin), he describes his 8 separate trips to find the hidden waterfall at the end of the Tsangpo Gorge. It's the legendary gateway to Shangri-La. Steve Paulson produced this sound portrait of the journey.

SEGMENT 2: Novelist Amy Tan takes on the comic misunderstandings that arise when Americans seek enlightenment in China in her new novel. It's called Saving Fish from Drowning (Putnam). She tells Steve Paulson the book also touches on serious issues like political repression in Burma. Also, Caitlin Matthews is a Celtic scholar and storyteller. She talks with Anne Strainchamps about the various myths of a lost paradise and how we can find it within ourselves. Matthews' latest book is Singing the Soul Back Home (Connections).

SEGMENT 3: Salman Rushdie has a new novel called"Shalimar the Clown (Random House). It's about Kashmir. Rushdie is from there and tells Steve Paulson that, until recently, the area was an earthly paradise, combining great physical beauty with a tolerant lifestyle. He says the Islam of his grandfather was nothing like that practiced by today's extremists.