Monday, March 14, 2005
Kerouac, Albee, Ibson, Hubbard, lots more; Busy Weekend
Saturday, March 12 Birthday of poet and novelist Jack Kerouac, born in Lowell, MA (1922), best known for his novel On the Road (1957), which he reportedly wrote in three weeks on a single ream of paper. He is the author of the label, "Beat Generation," from which the term Beatnik derived. He said,...
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Friday, March 11, 2005
Frankenstein, Snow, and Raisins
On this day in 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus was published. She was 21 when she published what is frequently called the world's first science fiction novel. (See Along the Writing Path blog for mini author profile.) On this day in 1888 the...
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Thursday, March 10, 2005
War
On this day in 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was named Lieutenant General of the Union armies during the Civil War. President Lincoln had given this responsibility to several men, but they had not done as well as Lincoln had hoped, so the president turned to Grant, who had a reputation for brilliance. Two...
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Wednesday, March 9, 2005
Virginia Woolf, Her Lover, and Mickey Spillane
On this day in 1913, Virginia Woolf delivered the manuscript for her first novel, The Voyage Out, to Duckworth Publishing House, after working on it for almost 7 years. After years of writing drafts and versions of the novel, it was accepted, and she had to correct the proofs. She found the...
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Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Writers' Successes.
Birthday of literary critic Leslie Fiedler, born in Newark, NJ (1917), and best known for his book Love and Death in the American Novel (1960). He believed that the great theme of American literature was the search for identity. He said, "Americans have no real identity. We're all... uprooted people...
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Monday, March 7, 2005
Novelists and Frost's Most Famous Gets Published
Birthday of the novelist William Boyd, born in Accra, Ghana (1952), and author of many novels, including A Good Man in Africa (1981) and The Blue Afternoon (1995). His most recent book is the story collection Fascination, which came out this year. Birthday of novelist Bret Easton Ellis, born in Los...
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The Weekend: Nazis, E.B. Browning, Lardner, Norris & Michelangelo
Saturday, March 5 On this day in 1933 the Nazi Party won 44% of the vote in German parliamentary elections and joined with the Nationalists to gain a slight majority in the Reichstag. In 1921, Hitler became chairman of the Nazi party, and in 1923 tried to overcome the German government in what was...
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Labour Day in Australia. What?
My desk calendar lists today as Labour Day in Australia (WA), and Eight Hours Day in Australia (TAS). I'd loved to know more about what the two days stand for, what they mean, and how people celebrate them (or not). Anyone? Anyone?
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Friday, March 4, 2005
Lincoln, Chicago, The Black Dahlia, and The Lone Ranger
Today is the original date for the inauguration of presidents in the United States. On this day in 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address after easily winning re-election in 1864. Lincoln took the executive oath with the newly-completed Capitol dome in view. He briefly talked...
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Thursday, March 3, 2005
Carmen, Bell, War Tragedy, and Frankenstein's Father
On this day in 1875, the opera Carmen appeared on stage for the first time at the Opéra-Comique in France. In 1872, Georges Bizet wrote to a friend, "I am asked to write three acts for the Opéra-Comique... It will be bright, but of a brightness that allows style." At the premiere, the audience was...
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