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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Posted on January 18, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

A.A. Milne, the author of “Winnie-the-Pooh” was born on this day in 1882. Milne wasn’t altogether happy that the “bear of very little brain” had overshadowed what he considered his more serious writing, having written for “Punch” magazine and penned several plays before he penned his story of the bear of little brain.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Posted on January 17, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1706 Benjamin Franklin was born.He wrote under a variety of pseudonyms and, as “Richard Saunders,” published Poor Richard’s Almanack every year from 1732 to 1758. It contained weather predictions, household hints, poetry, essays, and adages such as “Marry’d in haste, we oft repent at Leisure”; and “Where there’s Marriage without Love, there will be Love without Marriage.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, January 16, 2023

Posted on January 16, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the man who didn’t give up his shot: Broadway composer, actor, and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda was born on this day (1980) in New York City.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, January 15, 2023

Posted on January 15, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth I took place on this date in 1559 in Westminster Abbey. She officially become queen two months before, upon the death of her half-sister, Mary Tudor. She spoke these words after she emerged from the abbey, holding aloft the orb and scepter of state: “Be ye well assured I will stand your good Queen.” She reigned for 44 years.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, January 14, 2023

Posted on January 14, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Emily Hahn (1905) once called “a forgotten American literary treasure.” She worked as a correspondent for “The New Yorker” for decades, also publishing 54 books and poetry. At Hahn’s funeral in 1997 her granddaughter eulogized: “Chances are, your grandmother didn’t smoke cigars and let you hold wild role-playing parties in her apartment. Chances are that she didn’t teach you Swahili obscenities. Chances are that when she took you to the zoo, she didn’t start whooping passionately at the top her lungs as you passed the gibbon cage. Sadly for you, your grandmother was not Emily Hahn.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, January 13, 2023

Posted on January 13, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1968, country musician Johnny Cash recorded a live concert at Folsom Prison in California. Cash said: “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, January 12, 2023

Posted on January 12, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Jack London was born on this day in 1876. He lead a life of adventure and manual labor which he used to inform his writing. His first published work was “Story of a Typhoon off the Coast of Japan” based on his own experiences for a contest in San Francisco. He won first prize over literature students from Stanford and Berkley. Thus began a famous writing career.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Posted on January 11, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Writer and ecologist Aldo Leopold was born on this day in in Burlington, Iowa (1887). He wrote: “Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Posted on January 10, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

“It is the imagination that gives us poetry. When you sit down to write a poem, you really don’t know where you’re going. If you know where you’re going, the poem stinks, you probably already wrote it, and you’re imitating yourself.” – Phillip Levine, poet, born on this day in 1928.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, January 9, 2023

Posted on January 9, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1956 when the “Dear Abby” advice column first appeared in print, in the San Francisco Chronicle.

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