Thursday

Jan. 21, 1999

Long Story

by Stephen Dobyns

THURSDAY 1/21

Poem: "Long Story," by Stephen Dobyns, from Velocities: New and Selected Poems 1966-1992 (Penguin).

It's the birthday of the blues folksinger and song-writer HUDDIE LEDBETTER—known as LEADBELLY—born in 1885 in Mooringsport, Louisiana. He was serving time for murder in Texas when he was discovered by the folk-song collectors Alan and John Lomax.

It was on this day in 1861 that JEFFERSON DAVIS RESIGNED his seat in the U.S. Senate and shortly thereafter became leader of the Confederacy.

It's the birthday of the Confederate general THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON—"Stonewall" Jackson, born in Clarksburg, Virginia, in 1824. He got his nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 for standing "like a stone wall" in the face of gunfire.

It was on this day in 1793 that LOUIS XVI, King of France, was beheaded by revolutionaries in Paris—he had been King for about 28 years.

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

 

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