Fun Facts Friday: Art Buchwald
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / October 20, 2017

Art Buchwald (20 October, 1925 – 17 January, 2007) was an American writer best known for his humorist column in the Washington Post, which was syndicated in many other newspapers and a published more than 30 books. Books by Art Buchwald* 1) Mr. Buchwald was born in New York City and had a pretty rough childhood. The family’s curtain manufacturing business failed during the Great Depression and he was put in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum before moving through several foster homes. 2) The family eventually reunited but it seemed that the young man still had a tough time, he ran away from home at age 17, never finishing high-school. 3) He wanted join the Marines when World War II started, but was too young. Never to be underestimated, he bribed a drunk with half a pint of whiskey to sign as his legal guardian. He served for three years, two of them in the Pacific and was honorably discharged as a sergeant. 4) Even though he didn’t have a high school diploma, Mr. Buchwald was still enrolled in the University of Southern California, Los Angeles upon his return from the war on the G.I. Bill. Because he had not graduated high school he was…

Fun Facts Friday: Conrad Richter
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / October 13, 2017

By the age of 19, Mr. Richter was already working as the editor of a weekly newspaper. Among his other jobs were a private secretary, jobs in publishing, starting a magazine for young people and as a screen writer for MGM.

Fun Facts Friday: Thor Heyerdahl
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / October 6, 2017

Thor Heyerdahl (6 October, 1914 – 18 April, 2002) was a noted Norwegian adventurer who authored more than 10 books. Books by Thor Heyerdahl* 1) He was the son of a master brewer and showed great interest in zoology from an early age, even creating a museum in his childhood home. 2) He studied zoology and geography at the University of Oslo, while at the same time privately studying the Polynesian culture and history. The world’s largest private collection of books and papers on Polynesia was owned by a wealthy merchant in town named Bjarne Kroepelien and was available to the young student. The collection is now a part of the the University of Oslo Library) 3) He served in the Free Norwegian Forces from 1944, after Nazi Germany left. 4) In his Kon-Tiki expedition, Mr. Heyerdahl and his crew sailed 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean on a hand built raft. Out of the 1948 adventure, Mr. Heyerdahl published his book The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas (Kon-Tiki ekspedisjonen, also known as Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft). 5) The 1955-1956 expedition to Easter Island also produced a book, Easter Island: The Mystery Solved(1989), in which Mr. Heyerdahl claimed the island was colonized by the South American people…

Fun Facts Friday: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / September 29, 2017

Today is the birthday of one of the greatest authors in history: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 – 23 April 1616. As you can tell, I am a fan. Not only because of the Quixotic pun of this blog’s name, but also because I think that Don Quixote is still one the most relevant stories in the world. “The pen is the language of the soul; as the concepts that in it are generated, such will be its writings.” Miguel de Cervantes 1 ) Very little is known about Cervantes’ early childhood, however we do know that he was a favorite student of Madrid humanist Juan Lopez. 2 ) In 1569, while living in Rome, Cervantes enlisted in the Spanish fleet to fight against the Turks. He suffered injury at the Battle of Lepanto (1571) which ended his aspirations for military glory. 3 ) On his way home from the war (1575) Miguel and his brother Roderigo were captured by Barbary pirates and became slaves until their ransom was paid five years later. 4 ) Returning to Madrid, Cervantes started writing. Even though he is thought to have written as many as 30 plays, only two survived today. 5 ) Cervantes…

Fun Facts Friday: The Indictment of Playwright Ben Johnson
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / September 22, 2017

On this day in 1598 Ben Johnson, an English playwright, was indicted for manslaughter. Mr. Johnson was a bona fide celebrity in 17th Century England, being admired by writers and socialites. 1) Ben Johnson was educated at the Westminster school by excellent teachers and scholars. 2) Mr. Johnson’s father was a master bricklayer, a good occupation. Ben tried to follow his father’s footsteps but jointed the army. 3) As a soldier, in Flanders, Ben Johnson killed a man in single combat. 4) By 1594 Ben Johnson was back in England acting and writing plays. 5) In 1598 he had a dual with another actor and killed him. Ben Johnson was arrested. 6) The playwright was almost hanged, but because he could read and write he claimed “benefit of clergy”, which got him a more lenient sentence. 7) Mr. Johnson was jailed two more times, but for his writing. It didn’t help that he converted to Catholicism which made him suspicious. 8) Nevertheless, Mr. Johnson became a successful playwright. 9) The 1598 comedy, Every Man in His Humor, featured a young friend, named William Shakespeare in a major role (at the time Johnson and Shakespeare were equally famous). 10) Mr. Johnson was so admired that young writers called themselves “sons of Ben”. Zohar…

Fun Facts Friday: James Fenimore Cooper
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / September 15, 2017

James Fenimore Cooper (15 September, 1789 – 14 September, 1851) was a popular American writer who is best known for his Leatherstocking Tales featuring Natty Bumppo. Books by James Fenimore Cooper* 1) Mr. Cooper was born in Burlington, NJ. He was the eleventh of 12 children. 2) In 1790 the family moved to upstate New York by Otsego Lake. The area would later be known as Cooperstown, NY. 3) At age 13 the author was enrolled in Yale University. In his third year, Mr. Cooper was expelled without completing his degree due to some stunts he pulled (blowing up a student’s door and locking a donkey in the recitation room among them). 4) Mr. Cooper went on the US Navy (a fledgling outfit at the time) and became a midshipman. The officer’s warrant confirming his rank was signed by Thomas Jefferson. Later in life he published The History of the Navy of the United States of America (1839), after 14 years of research. 5) After his father’s death, young James Cooper found himself a man of means and married the wealthy Susan Augusta de Lancey. The couple had seven kids, five of whom lived to adulthood. 6) The first novel Precaution (1820) was written because Mrs. Cooper bet her husband that he could…

Fun Facts Firday: Ludovico Ariosto
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / September 8, 2017

As governor of the province of Garfagnana, it is said that Ariosto was walking alone when captured by bandits (the province was rife with many gangs of bandits, but as governor Ariosto did not get the resources to fight them). When the chief bandit discovered his captive was the author of Orlando Furioso, he apologized and showed him the respect he deserved.

Fun Facts Friday: Blaise Cendrars
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / September 1, 2017

Blaise Cendrars (1 September, 1887 – 21 January, 1961) was Swiss poet and novelist, he held considerable influence in the European modernist movement. Books by Blaise Cendrars* 1) Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland to a Swiss father and a Scottish mother as Frédéric-Louis Sauser. 2) Young Frédéric never showed much interest in school, he was sent to a German boarding school, but ran away. His dislike for studies showed again when enrolled in a school in his hometown. Finally young Frédéricwas sent to Russia as an apprentice to a Swiss watchmaker. 3) While in St. Petersburg, Russia, he began to write at the encouragement of a librarian at the National Library of Russia. Unfortunately there are no known copies of the poem. 4) When Mr. Cendrars returned to Switzerland in 1907, he started to study medicine and wrote his first verified poems. 5) When World War I started, Mr. Cendrars applealed to other foreign artists to join the French army. As a member of the French Foreign Legion he was serving in Somme where he lost a hand. 6) His war experience is described in La Main coupée (The severed hand) and J’ai tué (I have killed) as well as other poems. 7) As a member of the artistic community in Montparnasse he was considered a modern…

Fun Facts Friday: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / August 18, 2017

Alain Robbe-Grillet (18 August, 1922 – 18 February, 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. Books by Alain Robbe-Grillet* 1) Mr. Robbe-Grillet’s family were mostly scientists and engineers. 2) His occupation was that of an agricultural engineer. 3) After he published his first novel The Erasers (Les Gommes) in 1953, Mr. Robbe-Grillet became a full time novelist. 4) He became a literary advisor for Les Éditions de Minuit a position heoccupied from 1955 until 1985. 5) By 1961 Mr. Robbe-Grillet published four novels. 6) Last Year in Marienbad (L’Année dernière à Marienbad) was the first script he wrote. Afterwards he wrote and directed his own movies. 7) The film was nominated for the 1963 Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay and won the Golden Lion when it came out in 1961 8) From 1971 to 1995, Mr. Robbe-Grillet held the position of a professor at New York University. He lectured on his own novels. 9) His novel Djinn (1981) was the basis for an opera. 10) He was elected a member of the Académie française in 2004 Books by Alain Robbe-Grillet* Zohar — Man of la Book *Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account

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