Saturday

Jul. 10, 1999

The Village Blacksmith

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Broadcast Date: SATURDAY: July 10, 1999

Poem: "The Village Blacksmith," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).

It's the birthday of American-born painter James McNeill Whistler, born in Lowell, Massachusetts (1834), whose most famous work is "Arrangement in Grey and Black, Number 1: The Artist's Mother" (1872), commonly known as "Whistler's Mother."

It's the birthday of novelist Marcel Proust, born in Paris (1871). After his mother's death, when he was 35, he withdrew from society life, secluded himself in his cork-lined Paris apartment, and concentrated on writing A la Recherche du temps perdu [Remembrance of Things Past]—written, and then revised and tirelessly expanded, until it was three times its original length by the time of his death (1922). Of seven volumes, he only completed the final revisions on the first four—Swann's Way; Within a Budding Grove; The Guermantes Way; and Cities of the Plain).

On this day in 1890, Wyoming joined the Union as the 44th state, its capital in southeastern Cheyenne.

It's the birthday of composer Carl Orff, born in Munich, Germany (1895) into a Bavarian military family. His best known musical piece is the secular oratorio Carmina Burana (1937).

It's the birthday of jazz singer Ivie Anderson, born in Gilroy, California (1905), best remembered for her 11 years with Duke Ellington.

Today is the 68th birthday of short story writer Alice Munro, born in Wingham, Canada (1931), author of the short-story collections Lives of Girls and Women (1971) and The Progress of Love (1986).

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

 

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