Friday

Jul. 7, 2000

Routine

by Arthur Guiterman

Broadcast date: FRIDAY, 7 July 2000

Poem:
"Routine," by Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943).

It's the birthday of painter Marc Chagall, born in Vitebsk, Russia (1887), near the Polish frontier. Chagall painted many dreamlike pictures combining people, animals and musical instruments (especially the violin) with Jewish and Christian symbols. He painted the huge murals flanking the Metropolitan Opera at New York's Lincoln Center.

It's the birthday of film director George Cukor, born in Manhattan (1889), who directed Katherine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Ingred Bergman, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, and many others.

It's the birthday of Italian film director Vittorio de Sica, born in Sora, Italy, 50 miles east of Rome (1901). His first big success was The Bicycle Thief (1949), followed by Umberto D (1952), Two Women (1960), and Finzi-Continis (1971). He said, "Life gives me the impression of cruelty. I read the newspapers—crimes, murders, divorces. I do not find evidence of sincerity there. I love humanity. I trust humanity. But humanity has a way of disillusioning me."

On this day in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World, or "Wobblies," founded their labor organization in Chicago. In opposition to the American Federation of Labor, the Wobblies opposed capitalism, and admitted unskilled workers in craft unions. Among the IWW founders were William D. ("Big Bill") Haywood, of the Western Federation of Miners, Daniel DeLeon of the Socialist Labor Party, and Eugene V. Debs of the Socialist Party.

It's the birthday of pitching great Satchel Paige (Leroy Robert Paige) born in Mobile, Alabama (1906). For decades he was renowned in the Negro leagues; at 35 he pitched every day for 29 days straight. In a 1934 exhibition game, he threw a 13-inning, 1-0 victory over Dizzy Dean, who won 30 games for the Cardinals that year. And he once struck out Rogers Hornsby, one of baseball best hitters ever, 5 times in one game.

It's the birthday of Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, born in Butler, Missouri (1907), author of Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), a cult classic, as well as The Green Hills of Earth (1951), Double Star (1956), and Citizen of the Galaxy (1957)

It's the birthday of black poet and novelist Margaret Walker, born in Birmingham, Alabama (1915). She spent 30 years writing her novel Jubilee (1966), which has been translated into 6 languages and made into an opera.

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

 

«

»

  • “Writers end up writing stories—or rather, stories' shadows—and they're grateful if they can, but it is not enough. Nothing the writer can do is ever enough” —Joy Williams
  • “I want to live other lives. I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get. Writing is my way of making other chances.” —Anne Tyler
  • “Writing is a performance, like singing an aria or dancing a jig” —Stephen Greenblatt
  • “All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • “Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.” —John Edgar Wideman
  • “In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.” —Denise Levertov
  • “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Let's face it, writing is hell.” —William Styron
  • “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” —Thomas Mann
  • “Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials.” —Paul Rudnick
  • “Writing is a failure. Writing is not only useless, it's spoiled paper.” —Padget Powell
  • “Writing is very hard work and knowing what you're doing the whole time.” —Shelby Foote
  • “I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.” —William Carlos Williams
  • “Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.” —Iris Murdoch
  • “The less conscious one is of being ‘a writer,’ the better the writing.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is…that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is my dharma.” —Raja Rao
  • “Writing is a combination of intangible creative fantasy and appallingly hard work.” —Anthony Powell
  • “I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.” —Michael Cunningham
Current Faves - Learn more about poets featured frequently on the show