Today is the birthday
… of William “Smokey” Robinson, born in Detroit on this date in 1940.
Some Smokey Robinson trivia:
- The nickname Smokey was given him as a child by an uncle.
- The Robinsons were neighbors of the Franklins; Smokey is two years older than Aretha.
- They both attended Detroit’s Northern Senior High School (as did NewMexiKen’s mom).
- Smokey wrote both “My Guy” and “My Girl.”
- Bob Dylan called Smokey “America’s greatest living poet.”
- Smokey has written more than 4,000 songs.
… of author Amy Tan, 56 today.
When Tan was 15, her father and older brother both died of brain tumors, within six months of each other. Her mother became convinced spirits were cursing the family, and she moved Tan and her younger brother to Switzerland. Tan continued to rebel against her mother, who wanted her to become a part-time concert pianist and a full-time brain surgeon. Instead, Tan became an English and linguistics major, and fell in love with an Italian. She and her mother didn’t speak for six months.
Tan worked as a freelance business writer, working 90-hour weeks to keep up with demand. But she eventually realized she was addicted to work she didn’t like. She went into counseling and began writing short stories.
When her mother went into the hospital in 1985, Tan promised herself that if her mother survived, she would take her to China and learn her mother’s stories. It was a trip that would change Tan’s perspective. She said later, “When my feet touched China, I became Chinese.”
Tan’s short stories became The Joy Luck Club (1989), a novel about four Chinese immigrant mothers and their relationships with their American-born daughters. It was an instant best seller and was made into a film. Tan has written five novels, all best sellers, including The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991) and The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001). Her most recent novel is Saving Fish from Drowning (2005).
… of Jeff Daniels, 53. Daniels has been nominated for several acting awards, most recently for The Squid and the Whale.
… of “Family Ties” actress Justine Bateman. Mallory Keaton is 42.
… of Benicio Del Toro. The supporting actor Oscar winner, for Traffic, is 41. Del Toro was nominated for the supporting actor Oscar again for 21 Grams.
Author Carson McCullers was born on in Columbus, Georgia, on this date in 1917.
Her most famous novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, published in 1940, delves into the “lonely hearts” of four individuals—an adolescent girl, an embittered radical, a black physician, and a widower who owns a cafe—struggling to find their way in a Southern mill town during the Great Depression. (Library of Congress)
The great jockey Eddie Arcaro was born on this date in 1916.