“I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs…. They are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, not to violate by cruelty.” — James Herriot Scottish writer James Herriot was born in Glasgow on this day in 1916. When he was 50, Herriot, who was born […]
For the 100th anniversary of J.D. Salinger’s birth, the deliciously trenchant Ron Charles leaves behind all the silliness you might associate with his on-the-nose but super funny “Totally Hip Video Book Reviews” and gets back to his roots of brilliant observation. From hisWashington Post piece on the anniversary of the birth of Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger: Tuesday is J.D. Salinger’s 100th birthday, but Holden Caulfield is still 17. The iconic teenager of “The […]
Shirley Jackson, best known as the author of The Lottery, a short story, and the novel The Haunting of Hill House, was born on this day in 1916. According to an article put together by The New Indian Express, “much like her mystery-filled stories, Jackson’s life had an eerie quality to it, too.” If that makes you wonder just how eerie, the article doesn’t disappoint. Filled with facts culled from the 2016 biography Shirley Jackson: […]
P. G. Wodehouse, the “funniest writer who ever lived”* was born on this day in 1881. One of the best known humorists of the 20th century, Wodehouse is identified most strongly as the creator of Jeeves “the gentleman’s gentleman.” In a long a prolific career, Wodehouse wrote over 90 books while also writing or collaborating on another 50 film scripts, plays and musical comedies. You can read more about Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse here and […]
Albert Camus, the Nobel Prize-winning author, journalist, and philosopher who died in 1960, would have turned 100 on November 7th. Camus was born in French Algeria in 1913 and died in the Burgandy region of France. Camus’ centenary is being celebrated widely in France. According to Publishing Perspectives, “Books have been published and re-issued and events are ongoing to commemorate one of the country’s preeminent intellectuals. From BD (graphic novels) to a film adapted from […]
Diane Ackerman was born in Waukegan, Illinois on this date in 1948. Though the author has given the world numerous books over the years, she is best known for 1990’s A Natural History of the Senses. When January Magazine interviewed her several years ago, she said the book has continued to have meaning for many. “People still send me their smell memories,” she said. “Which I like. I’ve become the repository of everybody’s smells.” Ackerman’s […]
Thomas Keneally, the author best know for his Booker Prize-winning novel Schindler’s Ark, was born on this day in 1935. Schindler’s Ark was published in 1982 “when I still had hair,” Keneally said when January Magazine interviewed him in 1999. The book was later adapted for film by Stephen Spielberg and released as Schindler’s List and would become an Academy Award-winning movie. On the occasion of Keneally’s birthday, Writer’s Almanac says: Today is the birthday of Australian […]
William Faulker (The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying) who was born on this day in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897, was not only creative in his wonderful writing, he was also deeply creative in his life. Though Faulkner’s work is strongly associated with the American South, in WWI, he served for Canada. According to Writer’s Almanac, Faulkner added the “U” to his last name when applying for the Royal Canadian Air Force, […]
Frankenstein author Mary Shelley was born on this day in 1797. According to Writer’s Almanac: After her marriage to the poet Percy Shelley, the couple went to stay in a lakeside cottage in Switzerland with the poet Lord Byron in the summer of 1816. One rainy night, after reading a German book of ghost stories, Byron suggested that they all write their own horror stories. Everyone else wrote a story within the next day, but […]
Mystery fans in England can look forward to a massive Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay on the English Rivera next month. The festival will begin on September 16, just one day after what would have been the mystery author’s 123rd birthday. Agatha Christie, the “Queen of Crime” was born in Torquay, not far from where the festival will be held and, according to the festival web site, Christie “spent many of the most important chapters […]
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