Sunday

Feb. 6, 2000

Mamie Sharp

by Leonard Nathan

Broadcast Date: SUNDAY: February 6, 2000

Poem: "Mamie Sharp" by Leonard Nathan from The Potato Eaters published by Orchises.

It's the birthday of film director FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT, born in Paris (1932). He started directing in 1959 with 400 Blows, which created a style of French movie making called "La Nouvelle Vague," or The New Wave. His Day for Night (1973) won the Best Foreign Film Academy Award.

It's the birthday of archaeologist MARY DOUGLAS LEAKEY, born in London (1913). Her discoveries made it clear that man had developed millions of years earlier than we had previously supposed. In 1947 she found the skull of an ancestor to both apes and humans that lived 25 million years ago. In 1978, Leakey used a small paintbrush and a dental pick to uncover a set of human footprints nearly four million years old. She stood up from her work, lit a cigar and announced, "Now this is something to put on the mantelpiece."

It's the birthday of playwright and poet CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, born in Canterbury, England (1564). A contemporary of Shakespeare's, he also wrote plays about English history and tragedies for the London stage. These include Tamburlaine the Great (1590) and Dr. Faustus (1604). Marlowe was also one of the Elizabethans' favorite love poets:

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

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

 

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