Fun Facts Friday: Phyllis McGinley
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / March 21, 2014

Phyllis McGinley (21, March 1905 – 22 February, 1978) wrote poetry and children’s books. Notable for her satiric tone and light verse, Mrs. McGinley specialized in focusing on the positive side of life. Books by Phyllis McGinley Mrs. McGinley’s father was a land speculator. The reason they settled in Cliff, CO was because he couldn’t sell the land. Mr. McGinley’s father passed away when she was 12, she then moved in with relatives in Ogden. While attending the University of Utah, Mrs. McGinley entered a university contest for the best poetry, short stories, and essays. She submitted entries under pseudonyms in all categories and twice won all the cash awards. While at the college, the author also submitted her poetry to New York based magazines and moved to the city in 1929. While living in the big city, Mrs. McGinley held various jobs including a copywriter for an advertising agency, teacher in a junior high school in New Rochelle, and staff writer for Town and Country. Her future husband, Charles L. Hayden, worked for the Belle phone company and was a jazz player. Mrs. McGinley thought Mr. Hayden’s jazz playing is a sign he would not be a good husband,…

Fun Facts Friday: Abe Kōbō
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / March 7, 2014

Abe Kōbō (27 March 7, 1924 – 22 January 22, 1993) was a Japanese writer who was also a photographer and playwright. Books by Abe Kōbō His name is pronounced AH-bay KOH-boh Following his father’s footsteps, Abe went to medical school. As the story goes, he was only allowed to graduate if he promised that he’ll never practice medicine. Some of the authors that were influenced Abe were Dostoyevesky, Kafka, Nietzche and Poe. Abe’s first published piece was the book Poems of an Unknown Poet (Mumei-shishū – 1947) which was self published. In 1948 Abe published The Road Sign at the End of the Street (Owarishi michi no shirube ni) which maked his transition into a novelist. Abe won international acclaim in 1962 for his novel The Woman in the Dunes. The author also started an acting studio in Tokyo, where he trained performers and directed as well. Abe was awarded the Akutagawa Prize for The Crime of S. Karuma (1951), the Yomiuri Prize for The Woman in the Dunes (1962), and the Tanizaki Prize for Friends(a play – 1967). Abe was nominated multiple times for the Pulitzer Prize – but never won one. Abe collobaroted with famed Japanese director Hiroshi…

Fun Facts Friday: John Tenniel
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / February 28, 2014

John Tenniel (28 February, 1820 – 25 February, 1914) was a British illustrator and cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. These days Mr. Tenniel is remembered, in part, as the illustrator for Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Tenniel’s father, John Baptist Tenniel, was very athletic and worked as a dancing-master. The son learned fencing, dancing, riding and more from his father. However, at age 20 he suffered a cut which blinded his right eye. Tenniel concealed the injury from his father to spare him the guilt. At age 16 Tenniel’s paintings started to be exhibited at galleries. One of Tenniel’s first commissions was a fresco for the House of Lords. Tenniel had a photographic memory. John Tenniel worked as chief cartoon artist for Punch and his images were considered funny and radical. Tenniel drew 92 drawings for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Tenniel attended the Royal Academy but left in disgust at the quantity of teaching he received. Tenniel’s political cartoons played up the racial stereotypes of the time (Jews with hooked noses, Africans with thick lips, etc.). Tenniel was…

Fun Facts Friday: Benjamin Franklin: Printer & Bibliophile
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / January 17, 2014

January 17 is the birthday of one of the most famous man in American History, Benjamin Franklin ( 17 January, 1706 – 17 April, 1790). I read Benjamin Franklin’s Biography by Walter Isaacson a few years ago and it is, to this day, a favorite of mine. Many people know that Mr. Franklin was a printer, but here are a few interesting facts about his printing career and love of books & libraries.

Fun Facts Friday: Robinson Jeffers
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / January 10, 2014

Robinson Jeffers (January 10, 1887 – January 20, 1962) was a poet from California who is considered today an icon of the environmental movement. Jeffers’ was born in Allegheny, PA which is now a part of Pittsburgh. He began to learn Greek at the age of 5. His father, an Old Testament Literature and Biblical History professor at Western Theology Seminary, sent him to study in European schools including at Zurich, Leipzig and Geneva. Most of Jeffers’ poems were written in epic or narrative form. While going to graduate school at the University of Southern California he met his future wife, Una Call Kuster, in a class on Faust. Jeffers’ was admitted to medical school. After his marriage, Jeffers’ moved to Carmel, CA. Jeffers’ didn’t like what has become of the world and how self centered human beings were. Jeffers coined the word inhumanism, the belief that mankind is too self-centered and too indifferent to the “astonishing beauty of things.” During the 1930s and 40s Jeffers’ patriotism was called into question due to references to current events and leading figures. Jeffers’ poems have been translated to many languages but they are most popular in the Czech Republic and Japan. Zohar…

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