Sunday

Jan. 3, 1999

Johnny Macree, folk song

by Anonymous

SUNDAY 1/3

Poem: "Johnny Macree," folk song, from A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION FOLK SONG BOOK, edited by Marcia & John Pankake (Viking 1988).

It's the birthday of MORTEN NIELSEN, born in Ålborg, Denmark in 1922, a poet who became a martyr of the Danish resistance during World War II.

It's the birthday of entertainer VICTOR BORGE, born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1909, known for his humorous musical shows on radio and TV. He holds the record on Broadway for the longest-running one-person show, "Comedy in Music," with 849 performances.

It's the birthday of J.R.R. TOLKIEN—John Ronald Reuel Tolkein—born in 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He is the author of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, published in the 1950s, consisting of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. He started writing The Lord of the Rings as an undergraduate, beginning with The Hobbit, which was an introduction to the trilogy.

It's the birthday of German painter AUGUST MACKE, born in Meschede, Germany in 1887. He was a leader of the German expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter ("The Blue Rider"), based in Munich in the early twentieth century.

It's the birthday of LUCRETIA COFFIN MOTT, born in 1793 in Nantucket, Massachusetts, one of the founders of the women's rights movement in the 19th century. She and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were the organizers of the women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. She lived to be 87 and spent most of her life campaigning on behalf of women and freed slaves.

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

 

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