It’s the birthday of critically acclaimed nonfiction author Lauren Hillenbrand (b. 1967). Her first book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001), was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for 42 weeks. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010), a biography of war hero Louis Zamperini, was on the bestseller [...]
It’s the birthday of nature writer and novelist Harold “Hal” Borland (1900-1978), who for years wrote “outdoor editorials” for the New York Times. Some of his work was eventually collected into almanacs comprised of 365 mini essays, such as Hal Borland’s Twelve Moons of the Year (1979, available used on Amazon for the low low [...]
It’s the birthday of western writer Mari Sandoz (b. in 1896 or 1901), whose unromantic and carefully researched portrayals of pioneer and Indian life were ahead of their time and elicited hate mail. Sandoz was born in a two-room shack in Nebraska. Her mother, Mary Elizabeth Fehr, was the fourth wife of her father, Jules [...]
It’s the birthday of artist and children’s book author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers (1977), whose bestselling picture books have sold more than 10 million copies. If there’s a child in your life, you’ve probably heard of How to Catch a Star (2004), Lost and Found (2005), The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2006), Stuck (2011)… Jeffers [...]
It’s the birthday of poet Mona Van Duyn (1921-2004), the first woman to serve as poet laureate of the United States. Her poetry often examines domestic life and married love and is witty, precise yet warm, and full of literary references. (NB: the post of poet laureate of the U.S. was officially established in 1985; [...]
It’s the birthday of novelist Thomas Pynchon (1937), who manages to avoid more journalists by breakfast than most of us will avoid all day. Pynchon’s novels can best be characterized as “weird” (I hope I’m not being too technical). Pynchon was born in Long Island, New York, studied English at Cornell (but took a two-year [...]
It’s the birthday of poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), known for his brilliant dramatic monologues and for marrying Elizabeth Barrett Browning on the sly and running off with her to Italy, like you do. Browning was born in Camberwell, England. His father was a clerk in the Bank of England but also collected rare books, more [...]
It’s the birthday of David Guterson (b. 1956), best known as the author of the wildly popular courtroom drama Snow Falling on Cedars (1994), which won a PEN/Faulkner Award and was made into a movie in 1999. The novel is set in a lushly described Pacific Northwest, as are most of Guterson’s stories and novels. [...]
It’s the birthday of poet and novelist May Sarton (1912-1995), known for writing about solitude, the many forms of love, and the search for self-understanding, topics she also explored in her highly popular journals. You think you know a thing or two about solitude? May Sarton ate solitude for BREAKFAST. Sarton was born Eleanor Marie [...]
It’s the birthday of best-selling mystery author Martha Grimes (b. 1931), known for putting the blood and sex into traditional British mysteries featuring “quaint villages with quirky murders and an urbane detective…” (Neely Tucker, “Martha Grimes named ‘Grand Master’ of mystery writers,” Washington Post, May 4, 2012). Her most famous series stars Richard Jury of [...]
It’s Joseph Heller’s birthday today. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923 and died in East Hampton, New York, in 1999 and in between he wrote Catch-22 in 1961, based on his experiences in WWII. Heller was stationed on Corsica off the Italian coast and sent on bombing runs. He claimed that he [...]
It’s the birthday of Annie Dillard, best known for her stunning Pulitzer-winning nonfiction narrative on the natural world, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974). Pilgrim and two of her later books, Holy the Firm (1977) and For the Time Being (1999), form a trilogy of narratives that ask why natural evil exists. Her husband Robert Richardson [...]