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The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, July 18, 2024

Posted on July 18, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, born in Louisville, Kentucky (1939). He was trying to make it as a freelance writer, living with his mother, when he was hired by The Nation magazine to write a brief investigative article about the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang. After his article was published, he got a call from a publisher offering him $1,500 to write a book on the same subject.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Posted on July 17, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the comedian and actress who was once called “the funniest woman in the world”: Phyllis Diller, born in Lima, Ohio (1917). She didn’t start her career in stand-up comedy until she was middle-aged, after spending much of her life as a housewife. In her act, she said: “Housework can’t kill you, but why take a chance?”

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Posted on July 16, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of religious leader and writer Mary Baker Eddy, born in Bow, New Hampshire (1821). As a child, she suffered from a spinal ailment and spent much of her life preoccupied by issues of health. She entered a sanitarium in 1862, where she met Phineas P. Quimby, a man who believed in a “science of health” achieved by direct mental healing that had religious overtones.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, July 15, 2024

Posted on July 15, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

On this date in 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered a commencement address to the Harvard Divinity School. Emerson had graduated from Harvard Divinity in 1826. Before he graduated, he had given a lecture called “The American Scholar” to the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa society, in which he spoke of his philosophy of transcendentalism. The speech was published that same year. It made Emerson famous, and it brought the ideas of transcendentalism to young men like Henry David Thoreau.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, July 14, 2024

Posted on July 14, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of Swedish director and writer Ingmar Bergman, born in Uppsala (1918). He studied theater in college, and made his way into the film business in 1941, rewriting screenplays. Over the next decade, he wrote and directed more than a dozen movies.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, July 13, 2024

Posted on July 13, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the poet John Clare, born in Nottinghamshire, England (1793). He may be the poorest person ever to become a major writer in English literature. His father was a peasant farmer. The family often had to live off the proceeds from a single apple tree in their yard. John Clare went to the village school between the ages of five and 11. He learned to read and write and decided he wanted to write poetry.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, July 12, 2024

Posted on July 12, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the man who said: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” That’s Henry David Thoreau, born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts (1817).

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, July 11, 2024

Posted on July 11, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the artist best known for a painting of his mother: James Abbott McNeill Whistler, born in Lowell, Massachusetts (1834). His most famous painting was titled Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), but it’s more commonly known as “Whistler’s Mother.” It’s a portrait of Anna Matilda McNeill Whistler in a black dress, seated in profile against a gray wall. When Whistler’s scheduled model didn’t show up for a sitting, he decided to paint his mother instead.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Posted on July 10, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the short-story writer Alice Munro, born in Wingham, Ontario (1931). She grew up on a farm, and she said, “Reading was an indulgence that you didn’t go in for if there was physical work to be done.” Women were only supposed to read on Sundays, because on every other day of the week they had no excuse to be reading when they could be knitting instead.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Posted on July 9, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the “Queen of Romance,” a woman who wrote more than 700 books: Barbara Cartland, born in Birmingham, England (1901). She started working as a gossip columnist, became a society belle, and then started publishing romance novels. She always wore pink dresses, and she even launched a home decorating line, complete with pink, frilly home items.

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