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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 25, 2025

Posted on May 25, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the man who said, “Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.” That’s Ralph Waldo Emerson, born in Boston (1803). His father, who died when he was eight, was a Unitarian minister, as were many of Emerson’s family members before him. He was a quiet and well-behaved young man, not an exceptional student.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, May 24, 2025

Posted on May 24, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Michael Chabon, born in Washington, D.C. (1963). He loved comics as a kid, and wrote his own. When he was 10 years old, he wrote his first short story starring Sherlock Holmes.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 23, 2025

Posted on May 23, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of the author of the classic children’s book Goodnight Moon: Margaret Wise Brown, born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1910. Brownie, as she was known to her friends, had a revolutionary idea about children’s stories: Kids would rather read about things from their own world than fairy tales and fables.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 22, 2025

Posted on May 22, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It is the birthday of the first openly gay man elected to public office. Harvey Milk was born in Woodmere, New York (1930). He was the younger of two boys and was teased as a child for his big ears and big nose. He played football in high school, studied math in college, and wrote for the college newspaper.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Posted on May 21, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. When Clara was only 10, her brother David fell off the roof of the family barn. At first, he seemed fine, but the next day he developed a headache and fever. The doctor diagnosed “too much blood” and prescribed the application of leeches to help draw out the extra blood.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Posted on May 20, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1946, English-born poet W.H. Auden became a U.S. citizen. Auden began writing poetry in high school, studied at Oxford, and made friends with other writers, including Cecil Day-Lewis and Christopher Isherwood. He published Poems (1930), a collection of poetry that brought him renown as a writer.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 19, 2025

Posted on May 19, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, born in Chicago (1930), the youngest of four children. Her father was a prominent real estate broker, and active in the fight against segregation. When Hansberry was eight, her parents bought a house in a white neighborhood. The house came with a restrictive covenant, which stipulated that it couldn’t be sold to a black person, so Hansberry’s father arranged for a white co-worker to buy it for him.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 18, 2025

Posted on May 18, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of film producer, director, and three-time Academy Award winner Frank Capra, born in Bisacquino, Sicily (1897). He moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was a young boy, and he worked odd jobs until he finally landed work at Columbia studios.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, May 17, 2025

Posted on May 17, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

The Supreme Court ruled that school segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment on this date in 1954. An eight-year-old girl named Linda Brown in Topeka, Kansas, had to travel 21 blocks every day to an all-black elementary school, even though she lived just seven blocks from another elementary school for white children.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 16, 2025

Posted on May 16, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It is the birthday of writer and broadcaster Louis “Studs” Terkel, born in the Bronx, New York (1912). His family moved to Chicago when Terkel was 10 years old and his parents ran rooming houses. Terkel remembers all different kinds of people moving through the rooming houses — dissidents, labor organizers, religions fanatics — and that that exposure helped build his knowledge of the outside world.

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