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The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, May 27, 2023

Posted on May 27, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of marine biologist and writer Rachel Carson, born in Springdale, Pennsylvania (1907). She was an English major at the Pennsylvania College for Women, but in her junior year, she took a biology course. President Kennedy read Silent Spring during that summer in 1962 and formed a presidential commission to re-examine the government’s pesticide policy. The commission endorsed Carson’s findings.

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 26, 2023

Posted on May 26, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of photographer Dorothea Lange, born Dorothea Nutzhorn in Hoboken, New Jersey (1895). She contracted polio when she was seven, and her left leg was noticeably weaker than her right for the rest of her life. During World War II, the War Relocation Authority hired Lange to document the government’s internment of Japanese Americans.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 25, 2023

Posted on May 25, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of philosopher, poet, and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was born in Boston in 1803, and his father’s unmarried sister, Mary Moody Emerson, was a great influence on him. In his book Nature (1836), Emerson first introduced the concept of Transcendentalism — the idea that spiritual truth could be gained by intuition rather than by established doctrine or text — and he would become a leader of that movement.

The Writer’s Almanac for Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Posted on May 24, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It’s the birthday of Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota (1941). He grew up in the declining mining town of Hibbing, Minnesota. He started performing in Greenwich Village clubs and coffeehouses, using the name Bob Dylan (he denies that he took his name from Dylan Thomas). He released his first album, Bob Dylan, in 1962. Dylan won a Nobel Prize in literature in 2016.

The Writer’s Almanac for Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Posted on May 23, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today is the birthday of American poet Jane Kenyon (1947), who once said, “A poet’s job is to find a name for everything: to be a fearless finder of the names of things.” Kenyon is best known for poems that explore depression, spirituality, and nature.

The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 22, 2023

Posted on May 22, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Today in 1846, the Associated Press was formed in New York City. It was born out of the collective desire of five New York City newspapers to be the first to spread the news of the Mexican-American War northward.

The Writer’s Almanac for Sunday, May 21, 2023

Posted on May 21, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

On this day in 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. She said, “I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them.”

The Writer’s Almanac for Saturday, May 20, 2023

Posted on May 20, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

Shakespeare’s sonnets were first published on this day in 1609, most likely without Shakespeare’s permission. The book contained 154 sonnets, all but two of which had never been published before.
Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day/Thou art more lovely and more temperate/Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May/And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date…

The Writer’s Almanac for Friday, May 19, 2023

Posted on May 19, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It is the birthday of American merchant Johns Hopkins, born on a tobacco plantation in Anne Arundel County, Maryland (1795). With no wife or children, he began to ponder the fate of his tremendous fortune after his death and in 1867 he incorporated The Johns Hopkins University and The Johns Hopkins Hospital. When he died in 1873, his $7 million fortune was divided between the two institutions.

The Writer’s Almanac for Thursday, May 18, 2023

Posted on May 18, 2023 - Writer's Almanac

It is the birthday of comedy writer and actress Tina Fey, born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania (1970). Her mother, Jeanne, worked in a brokerage firm and her father, Donald, was a university grant proposal writer. In 1997, she was hired as a sketch writer for Saturday Night Live and she quickly rose to head writer.

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