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The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 12, 2023

Posted on May 12, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of American novelist and poet Rosellen Brown, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1939. Her novels include Tender Mercies (1978), Before and After (1992), and Half a Heart (2000), which tells the story of a white, Jewish woman who is reunited with the biracial daughter she abandoned during the sixties

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 11, 2023

Posted on May 11, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of American modern dance pioneer Martha Graham (1894), who once said: “No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time; it is just that others are behind the time.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Posted on May 10, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of country and folk musician Mother Maybelle Carter, born Maybelle Addington in a tiny hamlet near Nickelsville in western Virginia. (1909). She revolutionized guitar playing with her unusual style of playing melody on the bass strings: she used her thumb while strumming with her fingers.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Posted on May 9, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Billy Joel, born in the Bronx (1949). Soon after he was born, his family moved to Long Island’s Levittown, the first suburb in America. “I never wanted to be an oldies act, but I suppose I am,” he said,

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 8, 2023

Posted on May 8, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is believed to be the birthday of poet Phillis Wheatley, born in West Africa, most likely in Senegal or Gambia (1753). She was kidnapped and put on a slave ship, the Phillis, when she was eight years old.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 7, 2023

Posted on May 7, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1952, Geoffrey W.A. Dummer first presented the concept of the integrated circuit, also known as the microchip, which is the basis for all modern electronic equipment.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, May 6, 2023

Posted on May 6, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Orson Welles, Kenosha, Wisconsin (1915). He made his Broadway debut in Romeo and Juliet at the age of 19. He founded the Mercury Theatre when he was 22. When he was 23, he came out with his famous broadcast of War of the Worlds, which caused great hysteria on the East Coast.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 5, 2023

Posted on May 5, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of journalist Nellie Bly, born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (1864). In 1914, she went to work for the New York Evening Journal as America’s first female war correspondent. She wrote from the front lines of World War I for almost five years. She returned Stateside in 1919 and died of pneumonia in 1922.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 4, 2023

Posted on May 4, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Agnes Fay Morgan, born in Peoria, Illinois (1884). She studied chemistry in college, and received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Morgan, with her background in chemistry applied to the field of nutrition, wrote more than 250 scientific papers. She was responsible for much of what we know about the vitamins in food. She also proved the link between vitamin deficiencies and poor health conditions; showed certain vitamins’ effect on hormones; and analyzed the effects of heat and processing on the stability of vitamins and proteins.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Posted on May 3, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton, born Eleanor Marie Sarton in Wondelgem, Belgium, in 1912. “You choose to be a novelist,” she once said, “but you’re chosen to be a poet. This is a gift and it’s a tremendous responsibility.”

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