Saturday

Jan. 8, 2000

A Daughter-In-Law Watches the Old Man Hesitate

by Elinor Benedict

Broadcast Date: SATURDAY: January 8, 2000

Poems: "A Daughter-In-Law Watches the Old Man Hesitate" by Elinor Benedict from The Tree Between Us published by March Street Press.

It's the birthday of British novelist (William) Wilkie Collins, born in London (1824). He was a close associate of Charles Dickens, and collaborated with him on the novel No Thoroughfare (1867). Collins' own novels are considered to be the first known English detective fiction, and his popular mystery, "The Woman in White" (1860), was received with great acclaim. He wrote over 30 popular full-length detective novels in his career.

It's the birthday of American publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday, born in Brooklyn, New York (1862). At the age of fifteen, Doubleday dropped out of school to work for Scribner and Sons Publishing, where he worked his way up to manager of Scribner's Magazine (1866). Eventually he founded Doubleday House.

It's the birthday of the King of rock and roll, Elvis (Aaron) Presley, born in Tupelo, Mississippi (1935). He made his first commercial recording, "That's All Right Mama" at age 19, which got him noticed by RCA Victor. Presley was signed by RCA for $35,000 in 1955. Among his greatest hits are "Hound Dog," and "Don't be Cruel," which hit number one on the rock and roll charts on this day in 1956 (flip sides of a 45). It stayed there for eleven weeks — a record at the time. He died at his Memphis mansion, "Graceland," in 1977, reportedly of natural causes. He was 42. In his lifetime, Elvis Presley sold over 500 million records.

It's the birthday of English physicist and author (Dr.) Steven (William) Hawking, born in Oxfordshire, England (1942). He was educated in mathematics and theoretical physics at Oxford, Trinity Hall and Cambridge. Hawking's greatest interest is in the physics of black holes and their relationship to the Big Bang Theory of Creation. His research in this area brought to light theoretical properties of black holes, objects which previously had baffled scientists in many fields. In his twenties, Hawking was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, but continued to work despite becoming increasingly incapacitated. In 1988 he published his best-seller, A Brief History of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes.

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

 

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