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The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, March 3, 2025

Posted on March 3, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the host of “This American Life”: Ira Glass, born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1959. He got into radio, he says, “totally by accident.” It was 1978, he was 19, had just finished his freshman year of college, and was looking for a summer job with an ad agency or a TV station. He managed to talk his way into an internship with NPR despite the fact he’d never listened to public radio.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, March 2, 2025

Posted on March 2, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of a man considered to be the most popular children’s book writer in American history, the best-selling children’s book writer of all time, and a man who revolutionized the way children learned to read: Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seus , was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on this day in 1904.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, March 1, 2025

Posted on March 1, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet Robert Lowell, born in Boston, Massachusetts (1917). He began his poetry career emulating the style of John Milton, writing about impersonal events and using strict meter and rhyme, but by the time his collection Life Studies was published in 1959, he was writing free verse about his own life.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, February 28, 2025

Posted on February 28, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Colum McCann, born in Dublin, Ireland (1965). He’s the author of Let the Great World Spin (2009), which won the 2009 National Book Award. His fiction has been translated into 30 languages.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, February 27, 2025

Posted on February 27, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of John Steinbeck, born in Salinas, California (1902). His early books didn’t sell well at all, and he supported himself as a manual laborer. His first success came with the 1935 novel Tortilla Flat, which was the story of King Arthur and the Round Table told through the lives of pleasure-loving Mexican Americans.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Posted on February 26, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

President Woodrow Wilson established the Grand Canyon National Park on this date in 1919, after a 30 year opposition from ranchers, miners, and entrepreneurs. Today, the Grand Canyon National Park covers more than 1,900 square miles; the canyon itself is 277 river miles long, 10 miles wide, and a mile deep. The park receives 5 million visitors every year.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Posted on February 25, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of former Beatle George Harrison, born in Liverpool, England, in 1943. He was the youngest of Harold and Louise Harrison’s four children, and the youngest of the four Beatles as well. He joined the band when he was only 14, and there was a tendency ever after for his bandmates to treat him like a tag-along kid brother.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, February 24, 2025

Posted on February 24, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Steve Jobs, born in San Francisco (1955) to two University of Wisconsin graduate students who placed him for adoption. Clara and Paul Jobs, an accountant and a machinist, adopted him when he was still a baby. Growing up, Jobs and his father would tinker with electronics in the garage.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, February 23, 2025

Posted on February 23, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of W.E.B Du Bois, born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (1868). His town was virtually all white. But he didn’t really notice racial discrimination — he said that he was only aware of it when people visited from out of town. He was smart; he went to Fisk University in Nashville and then to Harvard, where he was the first African-American to get a Ph.D.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, February 22, 2025

Posted on February 22, 2025 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the first president of the United States, George Washington, born in Westmoreland County, Virginia (1732). He came from a prosperous family, but when he was young, his father died after a long inspection of his plantation in terrible weather.

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