Thursday

Dec. 18, 1997

The Fugitive

by John Calvin Rezmerski

THURSDAY 12/18

Today's Reading: "The Fugitive" by John Calvin Rezmerski from HELD FOR QUESTIONING, published by University of Missouri Press.

It's the birthday of director Steven Spielberg (JAWS; ET; THE COLOR PURPLE; SCHLINDER'S LIST) born in Cincinnati in 1947.

It's the birthday of activist Stephen Biko, born in King William's Town, South Africa, 1946. His brutal death made him an international martyr for South African black nationalism.

Former German Chancellor Willy Brandt was born on this day in Lubeck, Germany, 1913.

Jazz pianist and bandleader Fletcher Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia, 1898.

It's the birthday of baseball player Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb, born in Narrows, Georgia, 1886.

Abstract painter Paul Klee was born on this day near Bern, Switzerland, in 1879.

It's the birthday of short-story writer H.H. Munro, who used the pen name Saki. He was born in Burma in 1870 and died in World War I.

American pianist and composer Edward MacDowell ("To a Wild Rose") was born on this day in New York City, 1861.

J.J. Thomson, whose discovery of electrons revolutionized knowledge of atomic structure, was born on this day near Manchester, England, 1856.

It's the birthday of Joseph Grimaldi, considered one of the greatest clowns in history, born in London, 1778.

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