On This Day in Literary History

[Paul_Hochman]

February 8, 1819

John Ruskin, poet and essayist, is born in London. Ruskin, like Lewis Carroll, would befriend the eponymous Alice Liddell of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland fame.

 

February 8, 1850

Kate Chopin is born in St. Louis, Missouri. Chopin was the mother of six children and it was her obstetrician who persuaded her to begin writing as a form of therapy.

 

February 8, 1926

Neal Cassady is born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Please see February 4, 1968 entry for more info. “Comin', comin', comin' around, comin' around, in a circle”

[Paul_Hochman]

February 9, 1940

J.M. Coetzee is born in Cape Town. Fellow South African author, Rian Malan, described Coetzee as "a man of almost monkish self-discipline and dedication. He does not drink, smoke or eat meat. He cycles vast distances to keep fit and spends at least an hour at his writing-desk each morning, seven days a week. A colleague who has worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once."

February 9 1944

Alice Walker, author of the Color Purple, is born in Eatonton, GA. Walker's influential article on Zora Neale Hurston posthumously resurrected the author's writings. Walker also helped to pay for a gravestone for Hurston's once unmarked plot. 

[Paul_Hochman]

February 10, 1775

Charles Lamb, English author, is born. Charles and his sister Mary coauthored the ever popular, Tales from Shakespeare. Both the Lambs suffered from depression and Mary's illness would eventually lead her to kill her own mother. For more information on the fascinating Lamb siblings, please see Susan Tyler Hitchcock's Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London.

February 10, 1837

Alexander Pushkin, Russian author, succumbs to his wounds after dueling with his wife's purported lover.

February 10, 1957

Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House series, dies in Mansfiled, Missouri.

[Paul_Hochman]

February 11, 1915

Patrick Leigh Fermor, British travel writer, is born. During W.W. II, Fermor was instrumental in capturing German General Heinrich Kreipe during the Battle of Crete. This heroic episode was made into the film, Ill Met By Moonlight starring Dirk Bogarde as Fermor.

February 11, 1917

Sidney Sheldon is born in Chicago. Aside from his numerous novels, Sheldon created I Dream of Jeannie.

February 11, 1963

Sylvia Plath commits suicide. Plath was awarded the Pulitzer Prize 19 years after her death.

February 11, 2006

Peter Benchley, Author of Jaws and the grandson of Robert Benchley, dies.

[Paul_Hochman]

Hi All,

Should I miss anything of particular note, please don't hesitate in chiming in. Thanks!

Paul

[Paul_Hochman]

February 12, 1861

Lou Salome is born in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although 15 years older than him, Salome was in turn the lover, teacher, and muse to Ranier Maria Rilke.

February 12, 1938

Judy Blume is born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Blume's novels are among the most banned children's books in the United States.

February 12, 1968

Christopher McCandless, the subject of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, is born.

Message Edited by PaulH on 02-12-2009 10:08 AM

[Paul_Hochman]

February 13, 1903

Georges Simenon, the creator of Inspector Maigret, is born in Liege. Simenon wrote over 200 novels and sometimes wrote upwards of 70 pages a day.

February 15, 1950

Rafael Sabatini, Italian adventure author, dies in Switzerland. Sabatini's headstone quotes the first line of his famous novel, Scaramouche; "He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad."

[Paul_Hochman]

February 14, 1856

Frank Harris, infamous author of My Life and Loves, is born in Galway. Harris, for a time, lived with the occultist and fellow libertine, Aleister Crowley.

February 14, 1975

P.G. Wodehouse, creator of Jeeves & Wooster, dies in Long Island, NY. Aside from his numerous novels, Wodehouse wrote musical working alongside the likes of Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton, and Cole Porter.

Message Edited by PaulH on 02-15-2009 08:32 AM

[Paul_Hochman]

February 15, 1883

Sax Rohmer, creator of Dr. Fu Manchu, is born. Rohmer died in 1959 after contracting the “Asian Flu”.

February 15, 1937

Gregory Mcdonald, creator of the Fletch Series, is born in Massachusetts. Mcdonald, like his famous leading man, was at one time a journalist.

Message Edited by PaulH on 02-15-2009 08:32 AM

[Paul_Hochman]

February 16, 1944

Richard Ford is born in Jackson, Mississippi. Ford, the author of 6 novels and 4 short story collections, is dyslexic.

February 16, 1959

Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba. For an adventure soaked, alternative view of history, look no further than Lawrence Block's Killing Castro.

Message Edited by PaulH on 02-16-2009 07:58 AM