Writer's Almanac Archives - Page 6 of 307 - Garrison Keillor

Albums APHC Clips Audio Events Prairie Home Archives Songs Writer's Almanac

Writer's Almanac

To subscribe to the Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episode email, which includes the unedited text and audio from one daily anniversary episode selected from the archive, click here >>>

To browse archived episodes of The Writer’s Almanac from before 2017, click here >>>

• • • • •

To support The Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Episodes newsletter, please consider “buying” a donation here >>>

You can also buy a paid subscription to the Anniversary Episode newsletter here >>>

Checks may be made out to Prairie Home Productions, LLC and mailed to:

Prairie Home Productions
P.O. Box 2090
Minneapolis, MN 55402

(Note: donations to LLCs are not tax-deductible)

• • • • •

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Posted on August 26, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of American writer Barbara Ehrenreich (1941), best known for her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (2001).

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Posted on August 25, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

And it’s the birthday of conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts (1918). When he was 40, he became the youngest musical director ever in charge of the New York Philharmonic.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 24, 2026

Posted on August 24, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Roman city of Pompeii, on this date in the year 79. Pompeii was about five miles away from the mountain, and it was a resort town for Rome’s elite.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, August 23, 2026

Posted on August 23, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of writer Edgar Lee Masters, born in Garnett, Kansas (1868). He spent most of his childhood on his grandparents’ farm near Petersburg, Illinois.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, August 22, 2026

Posted on August 22, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of writer Dorothy Parker, born Dorothy Rothschild in Long Branch, New Jersey (1893). Her mother died when she was young, and her father remarried a devout Catholic woman whom Parker despised.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, August 21, 2026

Posted on August 21, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Robert Stone, born in Brooklyn (1937). He was raised by his mother, who was schizophrenic, and when she was institutionalized, he spent several years in a Catholic orphanage.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, August 20, 2026

Posted on August 20, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of novelist Jacqueline Susann, born in Philadelphia (1918). She wanted to be an actress, so she moved to New York when she graduated from high school, but she never had much success.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Posted on August 19, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Gene Roddenberry, born in El Paso, Texas (1921). He was working as a TV writer and producer at NBC when, in 1964, he got the idea for a new series about space exploration — “a Wagon Train to the stars,” as he described it.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Posted on August 18, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Italian-born Viennese composer Antonio Salieri, born in Legnago, in the Republic of Venice (1750). Although he was quite popular in the 18th century, he probably wouldn’t be well known today were it not for the movie Amadeus (1984).

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, August 17, 2026

Posted on August 17, 2026 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of mystery writer Steve Hockensmith (1968), born in Louisville, Kentucky. His background is in journalism, and he’s worked for the Chicago Tribune, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Newsday.

Load next posts