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Writer's Almanac

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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 2, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, April 2, 2022

“If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.” — Émile Zola, born on this day in 1840.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 1, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, April 1, 2022

Kenyan teacher, author, and environmentalist Wangari Muta Maathai was born on this day, 1940. Maathai was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, March 31, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, March 31, 2022

César Chávez was born on this day in 1927. His leadership on labor and civil rights enmeshed his name with the organized labor movement. President Biden keeps a bust of Chávez behind his desk in the Oval Office.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, March 30, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Minnesota teacher and author Jon Hassler was born on this day 1933. Author of 12 novels, several set in the fictional town of Staggerford.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, March 29, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Monty Python star, Eric Idle, celebrates his 79th birthday today. Idle wrote many of Python’s songs including “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” and won a Tony for the musical “Spamalot” in 2004.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 28, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 28, 2022

“A certain ruthlessness and a sense of alienation from society is as essential to creative writing as it is to armed robbery.” — Nelson Algren, born on this day in Detroit, 1909.

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The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 27, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 27, 2022

Why I’m Here by Jacqueline Berger Because my mother was on a date with a man in the band, and my father, thinking she was alone, asked her to dance. And because, years earlier, my father dug a foxhole but his buddy sick with the flu, asked him for it, so he dug another for […]

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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, March 26, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, March 26, 2022

It’s the 80th birthday of the author Erica Jong. Best known for the boldly sexual feminist novel “Fear of Flying”. Her most recent work is a poetry collection, “The World Began with Yes” (2019).

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The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, March 25, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, March 25, 2022

Today is the birthday of Flannery O’Connor (1925), who said that her subject was “the action of grace in territory held largely by the devil.”

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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, March 24, 2022

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, March 24, 2022

“The easiest way to attract a crowd is to let it be known that at a given time and a given place someone is going to attempt something that in the event of failure will result in sudden death.” –Harry Houdini, born on this day 1874.

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