Friday

Nov. 22, 1996

First Snow

by Mary Oliver

FRIDAY 11/22

Today's Reading:"First Snow" by Mary Oliver from NEW AND SELECTED POEMS published by BeaconPress.

Today is the Feast Day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on this day in 1963 as he and his wife Jacqueline rode through the streets of Dallas in a black Lincoln convertible.

It's the birthday of American composer Gunter Schuller, born in New York City, 1925.

Actress Geraldine Page, known for her many role in the plays of Tennessee Williams, was born on this day in Kirksville, Missouri, 1924.

British composer Benjamin Britten was born on this day in Lowestoft, England, 1913.

Songwriter Hoagy Carmichael ("Georgia on My Mind," "Stardust") was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1899.

It's the birthday of French writer and moralist Andre Gide, in Paris, 1869.

Folk music preservationist Cecil Sharp was born on this day in London, 1859.

Novelist George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) was born on this day in Warwickshire, England, 1819. Author of SILAS MARNER and MIDDLEMARCH.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®

 

«

»

  • “Writers end up writing stories—or rather, stories' shadows—and they're grateful if they can, but it is not enough. Nothing the writer can do is ever enough” —Joy Williams
  • “I want to live other lives. I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get. Writing is my way of making other chances.” —Anne Tyler
  • “Writing is a performance, like singing an aria or dancing a jig” —Stephen Greenblatt
  • “All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • “Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.” —John Edgar Wideman
  • “In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.” —Denise Levertov
  • “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Let's face it, writing is hell.” —William Styron
  • “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” —Thomas Mann
  • “Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials.” —Paul Rudnick
  • “Writing is a failure. Writing is not only useless, it's spoiled paper.” —Padget Powell
  • “Writing is very hard work and knowing what you're doing the whole time.” —Shelby Foote
  • “I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.” —William Carlos Williams
  • “Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.” —Iris Murdoch
  • “The less conscious one is of being ‘a writer,’ the better the writing.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is…that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is my dharma.” —Raja Rao
  • “Writing is a combination of intangible creative fantasy and appallingly hard work.” —Anthony Powell
  • “I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.” —Michael Cunningham
Current Faves - Learn more about poets featured frequently on the show