Friday

Mar. 28, 1997

The Illiterate

by William Meredith

FRIDAY 3/28

Today's Reading:"The Illiterate" by William Meredith from PARTIAL ACCOUNTS, published by Alfred A. Knopf (1985).

Today is Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion, the oldest Christian celebration.

It was on this day in 1941 that English novelist Virginia Woolf (A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN) died when she threw herself into the River Ouse near her home in Sussex, England. Her body was never found.

The Spanish Civil War ended on this day in 1939 when Generalissimo Francisco Franco's troops captured the city of Madrid.

Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa (AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER; DEATH IN THE ANDES) was born on this day in Arequipa, Peru, 1936. He ran unsuccessfully for president of Peru in 1990.

Jerome Isaac Friedman, who, along with two other scientists, confirmed the existence of the fundamental particles called quarks, was born on this day in Chicago, 1930.

Novelist Frederick Exley (A FAN'S NOTES), who suffered from paranoia and schizophrenia, was born on this day in Watertown, New York, 1929.

It's the birthday of novelist Nelson Algren (THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM; A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE) was born on this day in Detroit, 1909.

Russian short-story writer and novelist Maxim Gorky was born on this day in Nizhni, Novgorod, Russia, in 1868.

It's the birthday of the only one of the judges at the Salem witchcraft trials to admit he had made a mistake, Samuel Sewall, born in Bishopstoke, England, 1652.

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

 

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