Sunday

Mar. 2, 1997

Crows in Winter

by Anthony Hecht

SUNDAY 3/2

Today's Reading:"Crows in Winter" by Anthony Hecht from THE TRANSPARENT MAN, published by Alfred A. Knopf.

It's the birthday of novelist John Irving (THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP; THE 158-POUND MARRIAGE; THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE), born in Exeter, New Hampshire, 1942.

It's the 66th birthday of Mikhail Sergeyvich Gorbachev, born in Privolye, Russia, 1931.

Novelist D.H. Lawrence died on this day of tuberculosis, in a sanitarium in Vence, France, in 1930, at the age of 45.

It's the 74th birthday of singer and guitarist Doc Watson, born in Deep Gap, North Carolina, 1923.

Industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, responsible for the look of cameras, telephones, the interior of the Boeing 707, farm equipment and many household appliances, was born on this day in New York City, 1904.

It's the birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel, Doctor Seuss, author of THE CAT IN THE HAT, THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS, GREEN EGGS AND HAM and many other classics for the young. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, 1904.

Composer Kurt Weill (THE THREEPENNY OPERA) was born on this day in Dessau, Germany, 1900.

It's the birthday of soldier and Texas politician Sam Houston, born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1793.

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