Friday

Sep. 22, 2000

Broadcast date: FRIDAY, 22 September 2000

Poem: "Something Told the Wild Geese," by Rachel Field, from Branches Green (The Macmillan Company).

It's the birthday in Worcestershire, England, 1933, of writer Fay Weldon, author of comic novels like The Fat Woman's Joke, Down Among Women, and Female Friends.

It was on this day in 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, ordering all Confederate slaves freed.

It was on this day in 1827 that Joseph Smith, the 22-year-old son of a poor New England farmer, announced that he had received golden plates from an angel, plates he claimed to then translate into the Book of Mormon.

The French Republic was proclaimed on this day in 1792.

Patriot Nathan Hale was hanged as a spy by the British on this day in 1776. He was 20 years old and had joined the army the summer before after five of his brothers had fought at Lexington and Concord. Hale answered Washington's call for a volunteer to gather information behind British lines. His last words: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

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

 

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  • “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
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  • “In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.” —Denise Levertov
  • “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” —E.L. Doctorow
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  • “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
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  • “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
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  • “Writing is my dharma.” —Raja Rao
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