Monday

May 26, 1997

Virtuosi

by Lisel Mueller

MONDAY 5/26

Today's Reading: "Virtuosi" by Lisel Mueller from WAVING FROM SHORE, published by Louisiana State University Press (1989).

Today is Memorial day, an observance dating back to Civil War times.

Today is the Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury. He was sent to convert the English from paganism, and became the first archbishop of Canterbury. He died on this day in 604 AD.

It's the anniversary of the day in 1940, during World War II, when the evacuation of Dunkirk (France) began. British and Allied troops were trapped there by advancing German troops.

It's the birthday of actor James Arness, who played Matt Dillon on the long-running TV western GUNSMOKE. He was born in Minneapolis on this day in 1923.

It's the birthday of jazz singer Peggy Lee, born in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1920.

The actor who played Tonto in THE LONE RANGER television series, Jay Silverheels, was born on this day on the Six Nations Indian Reservation in Ontario, 1919.

Actor John Wayne (RIO BRAVO; THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE; TRUE GRIT) was born on this day in Winterset, Iowa, 1907.

It's the birthday of documentary photographer Dorothea Lange, who was hired by the Farm Security Administration to photograph migrant workers during the depression. She was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1895.

Blues singer Mamie Smith ("That Thing Called Love," "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down") was born on this day in Cincinnati, in 1883.

It's the birthday [June 6 New Style] of Russian novelist, short-story writer, and poet Aleksandr Pushkin, born in Moscow, in 1799.

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

 

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