April 24, 1940; Sue Grafton: The alphabet lover and popular mystery writer was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Goodreads.com 27/5/13
"It is never too late to be wise."
April 25, 1719: British writer Daniel Defoe published his first novel, the enduring Robinson Crusoe, 294 years ago today. 28/5/13
April 25, 1719: British writer Daniel Defoe published his first novel, the enduring Robinson Crusoe, 294 years ago today. 28/5/13
"Some of these things are true and some of them lies. But they are all good stories."
May 2, 1536; Hilary Mantel: It's been 477 years since Anne Boleyn was arrested and sent to the Tower of London to make way for Henry VIII's next wife, Jane Seymour. 29/5/13
"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are."
May 3, 1469: Would Niccolò Machiavelli have thought that celebrating birthdays was a betrayal of weakness? The Renaissance Italian philosopher was born 544 years ago today. 30/5/13
"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter."
May 5, 1816: He burned bright and died young. The English poet John Keats had his first sonnet published 197 years ago today, when he was just 20 years old. He died five years later. 31/5/13
There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do.
May 6, 1940: John Steinbeck received a Pulitzer Prize for his best-seller, The Grapes of Wrath, 73 years ago today. The title, based on a lyric from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," was suggested by his wife. 1/6/13
"There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors."
May 16, 1929: Poet, activist, and MacArthur "genius" Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland, 84 years ago today. In 1997 she turned down the National Medal for the Arts in a protest against the disparity of justice in America. 2/6/13
"The world's perverse, but it could be worse."
May 9, 1921: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mona Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa, 92 years ago today. In 1992 she was named Poet Laureate. 3/6/13
"Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough."
May 11, 1918: A theoretical physicist who made his work accessible and appealing, Richard Feynman was born in New York City, 95 years ago today. He won a Nobel Prize, worked on the Manhattan Project, and authored a series of irreverent science books. 4/6/13
"Do your thing and don't care if they like it."
May 18, 1970: Happy birthday, Tina Fey! The superstar comedian and author of Bossypants turns 43 today. Blergh! 6/6/13
"The bravest people are the ones who don’t mind looking like cowards."
May 29, 1906: Born in Bombay to British parents, T.H. White's novels, including The Sword in the Stone, popularized the Arthurian legend and were a strong influence on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. 7/6/13
"Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody."
May 31, 1669: As a concession to his failing eyesight, Samuel Pepys stopped writing in his famous diary, 344 years ago today. The decade-long volume is a valuable look at daily life during the Restoration. 8/6/13
"Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you."
June 5, 1972: Happy birthday, Chuck Klosterman! The journalist and essayist was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota, 41 years ago today. 9/6/13
"I read a book one day and my whole life was changed."
June 7, 1952: Happy birthday, Orhan Pamuk! The Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer was born in Istanbul 61 years ago today. 10/6/13
If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.
June 8, 1862: Enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson formally asked literary critic Thomas Wentworth Higginson to be her friend, launching a lifelong correspondence that was vital to Dickinson's artistic growth. 11/6/13
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings"
June 9, 1922: An aviator and a poet, John Gillespie Magee Jr. was born to missionaries in Shanghai, 91 years ago today. His poem, High Flight, is still memorized by cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy today. 12/6/13
"A book is really like a lover. It arranges itself in your life in a way that is beautiful."
June 10, 1928: Oh Maurice Sendak, we love you so! The prickly, big-hearted children's book writer was born 85 years ago today in Brooklyn, New York. The monsters in his classic, Where the Wild Things Are, were inspired by his immigrant family. 13/6/13
"Love the world and yourself in it, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element."
June 13, 1963: Happy birthday, Audrey Niffenegger! The author of The Time Traveler's Wife famously received a $5 million advance for her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry. She turns 50 today. 14/6/13
May 2, 1536; Hilary Mantel: It's been 477 years since Anne Boleyn was arrested and sent to the Tower of London to make way for Henry VIII's next wife, Jane Seymour. 29/5/13
May 3, 1469: Would Niccolò Machiavelli have thought that celebrating birthdays was a betrayal of weakness? The Renaissance Italian philosopher was born 544 years ago today. 30/5/13
"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter."
May 5, 1816: He burned bright and died young. The English poet John Keats had his first sonnet published 197 years ago today, when he was just 20 years old. He died five years later. 31/5/13
There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do.
May 6, 1940: John Steinbeck received a Pulitzer Prize for his best-seller, The Grapes of Wrath, 73 years ago today. The title, based on a lyric from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," was suggested by his wife. 1/6/13
"There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors."
May 16, 1929: Poet, activist, and MacArthur "genius" Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland, 84 years ago today. In 1997 she turned down the National Medal for the Arts in a protest against the disparity of justice in America. 2/6/13
"The world's perverse, but it could be worse."
May 9, 1921: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mona Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa, 92 years ago today. In 1992 she was named Poet Laureate. 3/6/13
"Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough."
May 11, 1918: A theoretical physicist who made his work accessible and appealing, Richard Feynman was born in New York City, 95 years ago today. He won a Nobel Prize, worked on the Manhattan Project, and authored a series of irreverent science books. 4/6/13
"Do your thing and don't care if they like it."
May 18, 1970: Happy birthday, Tina Fey! The superstar comedian and author of Bossypants turns 43 today. Blergh! 6/6/13
"The bravest people are the ones who don’t mind looking like cowards."
May 29, 1906: Born in Bombay to British parents, T.H. White's novels, including The Sword in the Stone, popularized the Arthurian legend and were a strong influence on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. 7/6/13
"Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody."
May 31, 1669: As a concession to his failing eyesight, Samuel Pepys stopped writing in his famous diary, 344 years ago today. The decade-long volume is a valuable look at daily life during the Restoration. 8/6/13
"Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you."
June 5, 1972: Happy birthday, Chuck Klosterman! The journalist and essayist was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota, 41 years ago today. 9/6/13
"I read a book one day and my whole life was changed."
June 7, 1952: Happy birthday, Orhan Pamuk! The Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer was born in Istanbul 61 years ago today. 10/6/13
If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.
June 8, 1862: Enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson formally asked literary critic Thomas Wentworth Higginson to be her friend, launching a lifelong correspondence that was vital to Dickinson's artistic growth. 11/6/13
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings"
June 9, 1922: An aviator and a poet, John Gillespie Magee Jr. was born to missionaries in Shanghai, 91 years ago today. His poem, High Flight, is still memorized by cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy today. 12/6/13
"A book is really like a lover. It arranges itself in your life in a way that is beautiful."
June 10, 1928: Oh Maurice Sendak, we love you so! The prickly, big-hearted children's book writer was born 85 years ago today in Brooklyn, New York. The monsters in his classic, Where the Wild Things Are, were inspired by his immigrant family. 13/6/13
"Love the world and yourself in it, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element."
June 13, 1963: Happy birthday, Audrey Niffenegger! The author of The Time Traveler's Wife famously received a $5 million advance for her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry. She turns 50 today. 14/6/13
