Tuesday

Apr. 22, 1997

Happy the Man

by John Dryden

TUESDAY 4/22

Today's Reading:"Happy the Man" by John Dryden (1631-1700) from IMITATION OF HORACE.

It's the 54th birthday of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Gluck, born in New York City in 1943.

Jazz bassist Charles Mingus was born on this day in Nogales, Arizona, 1922.

It's the 81st birthday of violinist Sir Yehudi Menuhin, born in New York City in 1916.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project which developed the atom bomb during World War II, was born on this day in New York City, 1904.

It's the birthday of novelist Vladimir Nabokov (LOLITA), who wrote his first eight novels while making a living by teaching tennis, Russian, English, and by constructing Russian crossword puzzles. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1899.

The great Oklahoma land rush got underway on this day in 1889, when unorganized Indian Territory was officially opened for white settlement.

It's the birthday of novelist O.E. Rolvaag (GIANTS IN THE EARTH), born on Donna Island, Norway, 1876. He immigrated to the United States when he was 20 and settled in Minnesota where he wrote his novels about Norwegian pioneers.

Novelist Ellen Glassgow, who lived her entire life in Richmond, Virginia, was born on this day in 1873. She received the Pulitzer Prize in 1942.

It's the birthday of philosopher Immanuel Kant, who believed an action must not be based on feelings, but must conform to a law dictated by reason---what he called the "categorical imperative." He was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia, 1724.

Novelist and playwright Henry Fielding (THE HISTORY OF TOM JONES, A FOUNDLING) was born on this day in Sharpham Park, Somerset, England, 1707.

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

 

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