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The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Posted on February 7, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of writer Laura Ingalls Wilder, born in Pepin, Wisconsin (1867). The Ingalls family moved repeatedly—to Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Iowa and finally to De Smet, South Dakota. Laura married a farmer named Almanzo Wilder, and they settled in the Ozarks on a chicken farm.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Posted on February 6, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of film director François Truffaut, born in Paris (1932). His parents didn’t want him around, and he spent his childhood with his grandmother, forgetting his loneliness through books and movies. He estimates that he watched about two thousand movies between his tenth and fifteenth birthdays.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, February 5, 2024

Posted on February 5, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of baseball player Hank (Henry) Aaron, born in Mobile, Alabama (1934). He started off in the Negro Leagues with the Indianapolis Clowns, then spent 20 years with the Milwaukee (later, Atlanta) Braves. He hit 755 home runs—40 more than the record set by Babe Ruth.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, February 4, 2024

Posted on February 4, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, born in Breslau, Prussia (1906). He came from a family of Lutheran theologians and pastors and decided when he was 16 that he wanted to study for the ministry. He chose to study at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, February 3, 2024

Posted on February 3, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of the avant-garde novelist and poet Gertrude Stein, born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (1874). She was one of the early students at Radcliffe College, the sister school to Harvard University, and her favorite professor was the psychologist William James. He taught her that language often tricks us into thinking in particular ways and along particular lines.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, February 2, 2024

Posted on February 2, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It is the birthday of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, born Alissa Rosenbaum in St. Petersburg, Russia (1905). In 1917, she witnessed the first shots of the Russian Revolution from her balcony. A communist gang took over her father’s shop, and her family was immediately reduced to poverty.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, February 1, 2024

Posted on February 1, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of poet and novelist Langston Hughes, born in Joplin, Missouri (1902). He was a member of the Harlem Renaissance, and he was one of the first African-American poets to embrace the language of lower-class black Americans.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Posted on January 31, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of one of the most important folklorists in American history, Alan Lomax, born in Austin, Texas (1915). (Some sources give his birthday as January 15.) His father, John Lomax, was one of the first people ever to travel around the American South to write down the lyrics of folk songs sung by ordinary people in saloons and on back porches. It was John Lomax who discovered a folksong that became known as “Home on the Range.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Posted on January 30, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, born in Hyde Park, New York (1882). He was the first president to set up a presidential library, in part because he was a lifelong collector, and he didn’t want to break his collection up. He had a collection of more than a million stamps in 150 matching albums; he collected coins; medals; 1,200 naval prints and paintings, and more than 200 model ships; armies of miniature donkeys, elephants, pigs; and political cartoons.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday January 29, 2024

Posted on January 29, 2024 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of writer Anton Chekhov, born in Taganrog, Russia (1860). His father came from a long line of serfs, but his grandfather had bought the family’s freedom before he was born. When Chekhov was 16, his father’s grocery store went out of business.

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