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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Posted on December 18, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of hymn writer and Methodist Charles Wesley, born in Epworth, England (1707). He went to Oxford, where he was more interested in socializing than in Scripture — he wrote later: “My first year at College I lost in diversions.” His older, more serious brother, John, wrote about Charles: “He pursued his studies diligently, and led a regular, harmless life; but if I spoke to him about religion, he would warmly answer, ‘What, would you have me be a saint all at once?’ and would hear no more.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Posted on December 17, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

Poet John Greenleaf Whittier was born on this day near Haverhill, Massachusetts (1807). Whittier was raised on a debt-ridden farm, attended school only 12 weeks a year, and had to walk several miles to borrow books on biography or travel since his house contained only a single almanac.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, December 16, 2024

Posted on December 16, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of science fiction author Arthur C[harles] Clarke (1917) born in Minehead, Somerset, England. He was known as one of the “Big Three” of sci-fi, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. His best-known work is 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, December 15, 2024

Posted on December 15, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of physicist and writer Freeman Dyson, born in Crawthorne Village, England (1923). While he was in his 20s, he made a huge contribution to science: He solved the central problem of quantum electrodynamics, a theory that describes how light and matter interact.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, December 14, 2024

Posted on December 14, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Amy Hempel, born in Chicago, Illinois (1951). She always knew she wanted to be a writer, but she didn’t have anything to write about, so she moved to California and worked in a series of odd jobs. She took an anatomy class where she performed autopsies on corpses, and then she worked in a counseling group for terminally ill people. But after her best friend died of cancer, she moved to New York City. It was only after she’d left California that she could write about the life she had been living there.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, December 13, 2024

Posted on December 13, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of mystery novelist Ross Macdonald, born Kenneth Millar in Los Gatos, California (1915). He also published under the names John Macdonald and John Ross Macdonald. He is most known for a series of novels starring Lew Archer, a private investigator. Macdonald named his character after Sam Spade’s dead partner in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon (1930).

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, December 12, 2024

Posted on December 12, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of painter and printmaker Edvard Munch, born in Løten, Norway (1863). He was a sickly child; his mother and favorite sister both died of tuberculosis when Munch was a boy, and he was still a young man when his father and brother died as well. Another sister went mad. “I inherited two of mankind’s most frightful enemies — the heritage of consumption and insanity — illness and madness and death were the black angels that stood at my cradle,” he wrote in his journal.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Posted on December 11, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the writer who said: “To write a poem you must first create a pen that will write what you want to say. For better or worse, this is the work of a lifetime.” That’s Jim Harrison, born in Grayling, Michigan (1937). He had a couple of major accidents that ended up changing his writing career. When he was seven years old, he was playing with a friend and she accidentally cut him across the face and he went blind in one eye. He felt as though that set him apart from other kids, and he started turning to nature, to the woods and creeks and fields.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Posted on December 10, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet Emily Dickinson, born in Amherst, Massachusetts (1830). She was a bright, spirited girl who loved to be outside. She had a close-knit group of girl friends, and together they would explore the woods around Amherst, picking flowers, meeting people, helping with the final cooking down of maple syrup in the spring, and going for long walks. They read the Atlantic Monthly, admiring some of the poets and laughing at others, and they joined a Shakespeare club and then protested when their male tutors tried to cross out all the inappropriate parts from their books.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, December 9, 2024

Posted on December 9, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of one of the people who helped invent the modern computer: Grace Hopper, born in New York City (1906). She began tinkering around with machines when she was seven years old, dismantling several alarm clocks around the house to see how they worked. She was especially good at math in school.

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