Day: January 9, 2009

January 9th

Today is the birthday

… of Judith Krantz, 81. She published her first novel at age 50.

… of Bart Starr. The hall-of-fame quarterback is 75.

… of Dick Enberg. The sportscaster is 74 (oh, my!).

… of Joan Baez. The singer is 68.

… of Jimmy Page. The Led Zeppelin rocker is 65.

Combining the visceral power and intensity of hard rock with the finesse and delicacy of British folk music, Led Zeppelin redefined rock in the Seventies and for all time. They were as influential in that decade as the Beatles were in the prior one. Their impact extends to classic and alternative rockers alike. Then and now, Led Zeppelin looms larger than life on the rock landscape as a band for the ages with an almost mystical power to evoke primal passions. The combination of Jimmy Page’s powerful, layered guitar work, Robert Plant’s keening, upper-timbre vocals, John Paul Jones’ melodic bass playing and keyboard work, and John Bonham’s thunderous drumming made for a band whose alchemy proved enchanting and irresistible. “The motto of the group is definitely, ‘Ever onward,’” Page said in 1977, perfectly summing up Led Zeppelin’s forward-thinking philosophy. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

… of Brenda Gayle Webb. Loretta Lynn’s little sister Crystal Gayle is 58.

… of J.K. Simmons. He’s 54. He’s seen on The Closer and Law & Order as Dr. Skoda, and was terrific, I thought, as Juno’s dad.

… New York Times Pulitizer Prize winning book critic Michiko Kakutani is 54 today.

… of Dave Matthews. He’s 42.

Gilligan (and Maynard Krebs) was born on this date in 1935. Bob Denver died in 2005.

Richard Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, on this date in 1913.

The stripper Gypsy Rose Lee was born Rose Louise Hovick on this date in 1914, or January 8, 1911, or February 9, 1911.

Toyota made its first appearance in the U.S. at the Los Angeles Auto Show 50 years ago today. Datsun (Nissan), too.

Anything in an exit row?

Andrew Tobias gave us all a little perspective when he posted this three years ago:

I am listening to 1776 on my Nano, and it’s 2 degrees Fahrenheit (in Boston, in 1776) and people are dragging 120 tons of can[n]ons from Ft. Ticonderoga 300 miles to General George Washington in Dorchester, and the suffering of the troops — civilians like you and me, who’ve left their families to fight the British — is astounding. Sentries are literally freezing to death. And all I can think about is how upset we get if we’re assigned a middle seat.

Richard Nixon

… was born in Yorba Linda, California, on this date in 1913.

NewMexiKen was contacted by the staff working with Richard Nixon on his memoirs, RN, many years ago. I was asked to see if I could determine — from among the Nixon papers in my custody — the time of day he was born. As I remember it, my research was inconclusive. Someone else’s must have been helpful. The memoirs begin:

I was born in a house my father built. My birth on the night of January 9, 1913, coincided with a record-breaking cold snap in our town of Yorba Linda, California.

Nixon, by the way, did not use his middle name or initial. Though you always see him referred to as Richard M. Nixon, he himself signed as Richard Nixon and he titled his memoir RN.