The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor

On this day in 1943, the Allies invaded the island of Sicily--it was the first homeland territory they managed to take from an Axis power. The invasion, which used 2,500 vessels, was the largest ever assembled up to that time. The U.S. 7th Army attacked on the west side of the 85-mile front; the British 8th Army attacked on the east side.

It's the birthday of short story writer Alice Munro, born in Wingham, Canada (1931). She began writing while in college; her first collection of stories, Dance of the Happy Shades, was published in 1968.

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

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). His system of musical education for children, based on developing a sense of rhythm through group exercise and playing percussion instruments, is still widely used.

On this day in 1890, Wyoming joined the Union as the 44th state.

It's the birthday of novelist Marcel Proust, born in Paris (1871). A frail, asthmatic child, he adored and depended upon his mother. Soon after her husband's death, she, too, died. Marcel 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 expanded, until it was 3 times its original length when he died (1922). Of seven volumes, he completed the final revisions only on the first four: Swann's Way; Within a Budding Grove; The Guermantes Way; and Cities of the Plain.

It's the birthday of American-born painter James McNeill Whistler, born in Lowell, Massachusetts (1834). He moved first to Paris, and then to Venice, before settling in London. His most famous painting is "Arrangement in Grey and Black, Number 1: The Artist's Mother" (1872), commonly known as "Whistler's Mother."

It's the birthday of Protestant reformer John Calvin, born in Noyon, Piccardy, France (1509).

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