Archive for 'Birthdays'
Getting old
Frankie Laine is 91 today.
Warren Beatty is 67.
Astrud Gilberto (The Girl from Ipanema) is 64.
Eric Clapton is 59.
Norah Jones on the other hand is just 25 today.
Judith Guest…
was born in Detroit, Michigan, on this date in 1936. The Writer’s Almanac tells her story:
[Guest's] written three novels, each of them about adolescent children who have to deal with a crisis in their family: Second Heaven (1982), Errands (1997) and, most famously, Ordinary People (1976).
She didn’t begin writing seriously until she was in her thirties, after all of her children had begun school. She finished the manuscript of Ordinary People in 1974 and sent it to Viking Press without the usual cover letter and plot synopsis. Viking hadn’t published an unsolicited manuscript in over twenty-five years, but an editorial assistant happened to read Ordinary People and recommended it to her publishers. It was published two years later, and it became a bestseller. In 1980, Robert Redford made it into a movie, and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft…
was born near Albany, New York, on this date in 1793. Schoolcraft is regarded as the foremost pioneer in American Indian studies.
Schoolcraft College (Michigan) provides this biography:
Schoolcraft maintains a prominent position among the pioneers and builders of America’s intellectual climate. His works in ethnology add an important segment to the folklore of America and filled a gap in the overall information of the aborigines of the continent. Little was known in this country, or the rest of the world, of the American Indian: his origin, customs, legends, language, manners. Schoolcraft was to clarify this. After a second trip through the midwest as geologist and mineralogist for the Department of War, he realized that someone had to study the Indian and his world before we could civilize and educate him. Schoolcraft’s plans to act were formulated after participating in a treaty council held in Chicago where he had the good fortune to see Indians of many American nations and observe their “eloquence and serenity.” Accepting a position as Indian agent in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, he commenced, assiduously, to collect and record the life of the Ojibwa Indians, the tribe inhabiting the area around the Sault. His enthusiasm led him to organize the Algic Society, for rehabilitation purposes, and to publish Algic Researches, a text perpetuating knowledge that probably would have been lost had it not been for Schoolcraft’s efforts. Like the monks of Iceland who preserved and recorded Norse mythology from oblivion, Schoolcraft preserved the “dark and dawn of North America” as he called the period of the American aborigine. …
Schoolcraft has also left his mark as an educator and a vital figure in American education. His studies on the middle west were already known to the American public for their literacy, historic and geological merit. To these were added his extensive works on the American Indian. Shortly after arriving at the Sault as Indian agent he opened schools to educate the Indians. Once this was under way he became a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. In this position he was instrumental in saving the state university from financial disaster. He is also credited with establishing and contributing to the first common school journal in the United States, The Journal of Education. Recognition must also be given him for publishing the first literary magazine in Michigan, The Souvenir of the Lakes.
Probably the most important contribution Schoolcraft made was the essential role he played in the creation of The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem “which has made the English critics shout for joy that at length there was an American poem” had immediate and tremendous success. From the time of publication, 1855, the poem has become a part of the cultural background of every English speaking school child and considered a world classic. Of Schoolcraft’s contribution Longfellow states: “…I have woven the curious Indian legends drawn chiefly from the various and valuable writings of Mr. Schoolcraft to whom the literary world is greatly indebted for his indefatigable zeal in rescuing from oblivion so much of the legendary lore of the Indians.”
Jason…
was born in Austin, Texas, on this date in 1975. He is a talented skier, golfer, photographer, computer scientist and playful uncle.
Jason created this photo, which he appropriately called “Mood.”
August Anheuser Busch, Jr. …
was born in St. Louis, on this date in 1899. According to the Library of Congress:
Scion of the famous brewing family, Busch served as Chairman of the Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. from 1946-1975. During his tenure, the company his grandfather established emerged as the largest brewery in the world.
Busch’s grandfather Adolphus Busch came to America from Germany in 1857, settling in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1866, he founded the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser. Busch discovered a way to pasteurize beer, allowing national distribution of his product. By 1901, Anheuser-Busch’s brewery was the nation’s largest. Busch also developed a beer lighter than those commonly sold at the time. This beer, named Budweiser, ultimately became the world’s best seller.
In February 1953, August Anheuser Busch, Jr. rescued a St. Louis tradition by purchasing the St. Louis Cardinals. Busch’s decision was a relief to local baseball fans threatened with the prospect of seeing their team move to Milwaukee or Houston. He became a familiar figure at Cardinal games, entering the Busch Memorial Stadium behind a team of the brewing company’s famous Clydesdale horses.
Sarah Vaughan…
was born on this date in 1924. The PBS web site for American Masters profiles Miss Vaughan:
Jazz critic Leonard Feather called her “the most important singer to emerge from the bop era.” Ella Fitzgerald called her the world’s “greatest singing talent.” During the course of a career that spanned nearly fifty years, she was the singer’s singer, influencing everyone from Mel Torme to Anita Baker. She was among the musical elite identified by their first names. She was Sarah, Sassy — the incomparable Sarah Vaughan.
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost was born on this date in 1874.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Birthday boys and girls
Leonard Nimoy, to be known forever as Mr. Spock, is 73 today.
Alan Arkin is 70. Arkin was twice nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role — for The Russians are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.
James Caan is 65. Caan was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather.
Diana Ross is 60. According to news reports Miss Ross celebrated early by persuading an appeals board to reduce her estimated $168,000 annual property tax bill by $30,000. According to Newsday:
Ross contested the town’s $13.4 million appraisal of her 5-acre Belle Haven estate, which includes a 12,562-square-foot mansion with 11 bedrooms, six bathrooms, five fireplaces, a hot tub, pool, tennis court and two apartments.
The person who used to look like Jennifer Grey is 44 today.
Joseph Campbell…
was born on this date in 1904. Professor Campbell is best known for his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which discusses the myth of the hero’s journey found in many cultures, and for his PBS series with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth.
Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces has been sited as a source of inspiration by many filmmakers, novelists and comic book creators, most notably Star Wars director/writer George Lucas.
Edith Wheeler…
was born in New York City on this date in 1900. On her father’s side Edith was descended from John Wheeler and Agnes Yeoman who emigrated from England in 1634 on the ship Mary & John and settled in Massachusetts. Edith’s mother’s father, Andrew Jackson Hutchinson, served with the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion.
Edith Wheeler had four children and sixteen grandchildren of whom NewMexiKen is one.
The first woman inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…
Aretha Franklin, was born on this date in 1942. I Never Loved A Man, Respect, Baby I Love You, A Natural Woman, Chain of Fools, Think, The House That Jack Built, I Say a Little Prayer, Bridge Over Troubled Water — all great, but for NewMexiKen give me Aretha’s version of You Are My Sunshine.
The following is an excerpt from Richie Unterberger’s fine review in the All Music Guide:
When Franklin left Columbia for Atlantic, producer Jerry Wexler was determined to bring out her most soulful, fiery traits. As part of that plan, he had her record her first single, “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” at Muscle Shoals in Alabama with esteemed Southern R&B musicians. In fact, that was to be her only session actually at Muscle Shoals, but much of the remainder of her ’60s work would be recorded with the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, although the sessions would actually take place in New York City. The combination was one of those magic instances of musical alchemy in pop: the backup musicians provided a much grittier, soulful, and R&B-based accompaniment for Aretha’s voice, which soared with a passion and intensity suggesting a spirit that had been allowed to fly loose for the first time.
In the late ’60s, Franklin became one of the biggest international recording stars in all of pop. Many also saw Franklin as a symbol of black America itself, reflecting the increased confidence and pride of African Americans in the decade of the civil rights movements and other triumphs for the black community. The chart statistics are impressive in and of themselves: ten Top Ten hits in a roughly 18-month span between early 1967 and late 1968, for instance, and a steady stream of solid mid- to large-size hits for the next five years after that. Her Atlantic albums were also huge sellers, and far more consistent artistically than those of most soul stars of the era. Franklin was able to maintain creative momentum, in part, because of her eclectic choice of material, which encompassed first-class originals and gospel, blues, pop, and rock covers, from the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to Sam Cooke and the Drifters. She was also a fine, forceful, and somewhat underrated keyboardist.
Franklin’s commercial and artistic success was unabated in the early ’70s, during which she landed more huge hits with “Spanish Harlem,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and “Day Dreaming.” She also produced two of her most respected, and earthiest, album releases with Live at Fillmore West and Amazing Grace. The latter, a 1972 double LP, was a reinvestigation of her gospel roots, recorded with James Cleveland & the Southern California Community Choir. Remarkably, it made the Top Ten, counting as one of the greatest gospel-pop crossover smashes of all time.
Ub Iwerks…
was born on this date in 1901.
Iwerks was Disney’s right hand man in the creation of the early Mickey Mouse cartoons. Disney would come up with the ideas, stories, and motivations, then Iwerks would bring it to life. Bringing Mickey Mouse to life, however, was no easy task and it required Iwerks to spit out 600 drawings every single day. Iwerks dedication, however, would soon payoff for him and Disney. The third Mickey Mouse cartoon that Disney directed and Iwerks animated, “Steamboat Willie,” would be the one that would catapult Mickey and Disney into stardom and household names.
Though Iwerks and Disney were colleagues since age 18, they spliit in 1930 after Iwerks signed a deal with a distributor that had failed to pay Disney. Walt and Roy Disney bought out Iwerks’ 20% ownership in Disney Brothers Productions. After attempting to establish his own studio, Iwerks returned to Disney in 1940. He is credited with combining live action with animation.
Source: An online essay, Ub Iwerks – The Early Disney Years.
Johann Sebastian Bach…
was born in Eisenach, Germany, on this date in 1685.
Music…should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the recreation of the soul; where this is not kept in mind there is no true music, but only an infernal clamor and ranting.
Holly Hunter…
was born in Conyers, Georgia, on this date in 1958.
Miss Hunter has been nominated for an Academy Award four times, twice for best actress and twice for supporting actress. She won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Piano in 1993. She has also won Emmys for Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom and Roe vs. Wade.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
NewMexiKen is wearing the green today in honor of his Irish children and grandchildren.
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you
In the palm of his hand.
Albert Einstein…
was born in Ulm, Germany, on this date in 1879.
Sweet Baby James
James Taylor, sweet sounding as ever, is 56 today.
Douglas Adams…
was born on this date in 1952.
Adams died of a heart attack in 2001. His obituary from BBC included this background:
Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952 and educated in Essex before returning to Cambridge to study at St John’s College.
His career included work as a radio and television writer and producer before his life was changed by the publication of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 1979.
The satirical tale chronicled the journey of alien Ford Prefect and his human companion Arthur Dent throughout the Universe after the destruction of Earth.
It centred around the search for an answer to life, the universe, and everything – which turned out to be 42.
The novel went on to sell more than 14 million copies worldwide and was followed by the sequels The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; and So Long and Thanks For All the Fish.
The Writer’s Almanac has this:
…The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a series of satiric science-fiction novels that begins when the main character, Arthur Dent, is yanked from Earth just before the planet is demolished to make space for an interstellar highway. The book begins: “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. This planet has–or rather had–a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time . . . lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.”
Great stuff — at least it was 25 years ago.
Chocolat star…
Juliette Binochet is 40 today. Winner of the Oscar for best supporting actress in The English Patient and nominee for best actress in Chocolat, Miss Binochet was one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people in 1997. Her break-through role was as Tereza in the 1988 film The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has this story:
In 1990 she wrote to the president of France, Francois Mitterand, to ask him for funds for her film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991). However he didn’t help. In 1993 Mitterand asked Binoche to dinner at the presidential palace in Paris. When asked by the press why he invited her, he said “I dreamt one night that I kissed her, now I hope she will be my mistress”. Binoche declined the invitation. Soon after they bumped into each other in a Paris market and had a long discussion about art, love, books and poetry.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. …
was born on this date in 1841. Three times wounded in the Civil War, Holmes survived to become a prominent legal scholar, Chief Judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1902-1932. He is considered one of the greatest of the Supreme Court justices.
But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done…. The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force…. The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. It is a question of proximity and degree.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Schenck v. United States, Baer v. United States, 249 U.S. 52 (1919).
But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas—that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, dissenting, Abrams et al. v. United States, 250 U.S. 630 (1919).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Powered by WordPress.