Saturday
May 15, 1999
Virtue
Poem: "Virtue," by George Herbert (1593 - 1633).
It's the birthday in Augusta, Georgia, 1930, of the Pop artist, JASPER JOHNS. He grew up in South Carolina and moved to New York in the 1950s, where he started making a series of paintings of the American flag.
It's the birthday in Indian Creek, Texas, 1890, of KATHERINE ANNE PORTER, author of the 1962 novel, A Ship of Fools, and dozens of short stories that earned her the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1966. Out of all her writing, she said her favorite was "Flowering Judas," a 12-page short story about a young woman named Laura living in Mexico after a political revolution.
It's the birthday of EMILY FOLGER, in Ironton, Ohio, 1858, who with her husband Henry Folger founded the Shakespeare archive in Washington, D.C., the Folger Library. Henry was head of the Standard Oil Company from 1911 to 1928, and in their spare time, he and Emily collected manuscripts and artwork. When Henry died in 1930, Emily oversaw the construction and management of the Folger Shakespeare Library, including nearly 100,000 pieces they donated to it.
It's the birthday in Syracuse, New York, 1856, of the creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, FRANK BAUM. He came from a wealthy oil family, but lost the family fortune in the 1880s and moved out to Aberdeen, South Dakota. He had three sons, and used to amuse them by making up stories, including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which came out in 1900. He wrote more Oz books in the next decade, and disappointed his readers in 1910 by saying The Emerald City of Oz was the last one he'd write. But in 1914 he picked up the series again, and turned out one Oz book a year till he died in 1919.
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®