[WILL-AM-FM] Writers Almanac (May 15-21)
Denise Perry
Fr:
RE: The Writer's Almanac, Poetry
Program Rundown: The Writers Almanac
Poetry and Highlights for the Week of May 15, 2000
[WILL-FM/90.9 and FM 106.5 (Danville) and 101.1 FM (Champaign-
Urbana) air this program at 7:55AM (CDT) Monday through Sunday;
WILL-AM/580 airs this program at 12:50PM (CDT) Monday through
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**********ALL SEGMENTS 5:00*************
Broadcast date: MONDAY, 15 May 2000
Poems: Tis easier to pity those when dead, and A Coffin is a sma
ll Domain, by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).
It's the birthday of horror film director David Cronenberg, born
in Toronto (1943). He was raised, he said, on horror movies and
D.C. comics. He directed The Dead Zone (1983), The Fly (1986),
Naked Lunch (1991) and Crash (1995).
It's the birthday of Pop Art painter Jasper Johns, born in
Augusta, Georgia (1930). He went to New York, dropped out of
college, and worked in a bookstore, where he became friends with
the composer John Cage, and the artist Robert Rauschenberg. His
first splash in the New York art scene came with his series of
paintings of the American flags. His other frequent subjects
have targets, maps, numbers, and letters of the alphabet--all
painted in apparently simple colors that have a rich surface and
a delicate tone obtained by mixing his pigments with hot wax.
It's the birthday of twin playwright brothers Peter Shaffer and
Anthony Shaffer, born in Liverpool, (1926). Peter is the author
of Equus (1973), Amadeus (1979), and The Royal Hunt of the Sun
(1964). Anthony is the author of Slueth (1970).
It's the birthday of Russian novelist Mikhail Bulgakov, born in
Kiev, Ukraine (1891). His satires were unpopular with Stalin,
who neither allowed him to leave Russia nor publish at home--
which left Bulgakov in the limbo of writing his serious work in
secret, while acting as a consultant for the Moscow Art Theater.
His comic masterpiece, The Master and Margarita (1967), came out
27 years after his death.
It's the birthday of story writer and novelist Katherine Anne
Porter, born in Indian Creek, Texas (1890). She was 28 when a
flu epidemic turned her hair white and so nearly killed her that
funeral arrangements were made--events that served as the basis
for her story collection Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939). She
often wrote fast: a short story in an evening, a short novel in
a week, rarely revising, subsisting on oranges and cold coffee
in a rented room. She said, "I prefer to get up very early in
the morning and work. I don't want to speak to anybody or see
anybody. Perfect silence. I work until the vein is out. There's
something about the way you feel, you know when the well is dry,
that you'll have to wait until tomorrow and it will be full up
again."
"If I didn't know the ending of a story, I wouldn't begin. I
always write my last lines, my last paragraph, my last page
first, and then I go back to work towards it."
It's the birthday of L. Frank Baum, born in Chittenango, New
York, near Syracuse (1856). His writing career began as a
newspaperman in Aberdeen, South Dakota, then in Chicago, where
he wrote Mother Goose in Prose (1897). It was successful, but
not like the sensation that greeted The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz, and the musical he adapted from it. By 1910 he had turned
out 5 more Oz books. He quit writing them, and for four years
resisted his readers' pleas; but he finally resumed, writing one
sequel every year until he died.
Emily Dickinson died on this day in 1886 of nephritis
(inflammation of the kidney), at the age of 55. She had lived in
seclusion the previous 21 years in her home in Amherst,
Massachusetts.
TIME: 5:00
Broadcast date: TUESDAY, 16 May 2000
Poem: Testing the Waters, by Irving Feldman, from Beautiful
False Things (Grove Press).
On this day in 1956, Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Man who Knew
Too Much was first shown, in New York City. Starring James
Stewart and Doris Day, this was the only film Hitchcock ever
chose to make twice. His British Version, made 22 years earlier
(1934), had starred Peter Lorre as a hired killer in the
suspenseful tale of kidnapping and assassination.
It's the birthday of mathematician Roy P. Kerr, born in Kurow,
New Zealand (1934), who described massive rotating black holes
in space--different from, and coexisting with, the mini black
holes of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. The first black hole
theory (1916), which came out soon after Einstein's general
relativity theory, saw black holes as static and non-rotating.
It's the birthday of poet Adrienne Rich, born in Baltimore
(1929). She was already a brilliant young poet while a student
at Radcliffe, and was a winner of the 1951 Yale Younger Poets
series. Her early poems were written to please her father, who
had encouraged her to read and write poetry, had criticized and
praised her, and made her feel special. She married, and had
three sons by the time she was 30. But in the sixties she jolted
many of her readers by shifting from her early decorous style to
publish more experimental verse with political, feminist themes.
By 1986 Rich was calling herself a radical feminist and lesbian.
Her many volumes of poetry include Diving into the Wreck (1973),
Fields of the Republic (1995), and Midnight Salvage (1999).
It's the birthday of oral historian (Louis) Studs Terkel, born
in the Bronx, New York (1912). His family moved to Chicago when
he was 11, where his mother ran a North Side hotel. He got into
theater, became an actor in radio soap operas, and, in the early
40s, became a news analyst, sports reporter, disc jockey, and
then an interviewer. The 9,000 interviews he conducted on radio
and television eventually resulted in his series of oral history
books: Division Street: America (1966), Hard Times: An Oral
History of the Great Depression (1970), Working (1974), and The
Good War: An Oral History of World War Two (1984).
It's the birthday of English novelist H(erbert) E(rnest) Bates,
born in Rushton, Northamptonshire (1905). Hes best known for The
Darling Buds of May (1958), featuring the rollicking Larkin
family.
It's the birthday of historian Douglas Southall Freeman, born in
Lynchburg, Virginia (1886). He grew up in Richmond, where he
witnessed reunions of veterans and military funerals of
Confederate leaders. He became the biographer of Robert E. Lee
with his four volume R.E. Lee (1934). He also wrote a seven
volume biography of George Washington.
On this day in 1836, twenty-seven-year-old Edgar Allen Poe
married his tubercular 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm.
Virginia died 11 years later.
On this day in 1763, James Boswell met Samuel Johnson in the
back parlor of Tom Davies bookshop in London. Boswell had long
looked forward to meeting the great Man of Letters, but was
aware of his prejudices. After introducing himself, he said, "I
do indeed come from Scotland--but I cannot help it."
TIME: 5:00
Broadcast date: WEDNESDAY, 17 May 2000
Poem: Owen: Seven Days, by C.K. Williams, from Repair (Farrar,
Strauss, Giroux).
On this day in 1954 , the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling on Brown
vs. Board of Education of Topeka, unanimously decided that all
laws permitting segregation in public schools were
unconstitutional.
It's the birthday of writer Gary Paulsen, born in Minneapolis
(1939). He has written many novels for adults, and dozens more
in the Young Adult category--mostly outdoor adventures. These
include Dogsong(1985), Hatchet (1987), and The Winter Room
(1989).
It's the birthday of television writer Dennis Potter, born in
Berry Hill Gloucestershrie, England (1935). He wrote 30 plays
for television, which was the medium he liked best. He turned TV
conventions upside-down in such series as The Singing Detective,
which features a crime writer who lies in a hospital bed and
sees his life, his fictional characters, and all his unconscious
figures parade before him in a surreal, musical dream.
It's the birthday of novelist Frederic Prokosch, born in
Madison, Wisconsin (1908). His best known novel was also his
first:'The Asiatics (1935).
It's the birthday of baseball player James (Cool Papa) Bell,
born in Starkville, Mississippi (1903)the fastest man ever to
play baseball. He never played in the majors because of the ban
on black players. He retired from the Negro Leagues after 24
seasons, with a lifetime .338 average. Then, for 21 years, he
worked as a janitor and night watchman at St. Louis City Hall.
One of the few times he played against white players was an
exhibition game in 1948. Against Clevelands Ace pitcher Bob
Lemon, in his second at-bat, Bell singled, then took off early
for second when the next batter bunted. Reaching second without
drawing a throw, Bell noticed the third baseman had failed to
return to his base after charging the bunt, so he kept going,
which drew the catcher toward third. With the plate now
uncovered, Bell sidestepped the catcher's tag and scored. He was
45 years old.
It's the birthday of novelist Dorothy M(iller)'Richardson, born
in Abington, Berkshire, England (1873), who pioneered stream of
consciousness fiction well before Virginia Woolf or James Joyce.
Her twelve volume novel is collectively entitled Pilgrimage.
It's the birthday of surgeon Edward Jenner, born in Berkeley,
Gloucestershire, England (1749), who discovered the smallpox
vaccination.
TIME: 5:00
Broadcast date: THURSDAY, 18 May 2000
Poem: Heavenward, by Thomas Lynch, from Still Life in Milford
(W.W. Norton & Company).
On this day in 1944, Allied troops captured Monte Cassino, in
Italy, after some of the fiercest fighting in the war. It was 50
miles northwest of Naples, 85 miles southeast of Rome. The
Germans were hiding in a Benedictine abbey on top of the
mountain; a massive air raid leveled the abbey, but the Germans
continued to resist. Moroccan troops climbed nearly a mile in
altitude to arrive behind the German position, and Polish troops
attacked from the front.
It's the birthday of composer Meredith Wilson, born in Mason
City, Iowa (1902). He went to New York to play flute in John
Philip Sousas band (1921-23), then was principle flutist for the
New York Philharmonic (1924-1929), then became a music director
for radio and television. But hes best remembered for the hit
show The Music Man (1957), for which he wrote not just the
music, but the also the book and lyrics. He said, I didn't have
to make anything up for The Music Man, all I had to do was
remember Mason City.
It's the birthday of Hollywood director Frank Capra, born in
Palermo, Sicily (1897). His family came to America and settled
in Los Angeles when he was six. He bluffed his way into his
first silent movie job when he was 25, giving an aspiring
producer the impression he was a director. He became a gag-
writer for the Our Gang comedies, then made his pictures: Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Meet John Doe,
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and many others.
It's the birthday of philosopher and mathematician Bertrand
Russell, born in Ravenscroft, Monmouthshire (1872). He won the
Nobel Prize in Literature (1950) for his philosophical writings.
On this day in 1832, French novelist George Sand (Amandine-
Aurore-Lucile-Dudevant) published her first novel,'Indiana.
Written after she had left her husband, taken a lover, and moved
to Paris, Indiana made her an instant celebrity. Its heroine
abandons an unhappy marriage and finds love.
TIME: 5:00
Broadcast date: FRIDAY, 19 May 2000
Poems: No Brainer, and Whose Double Standard Is It Anyhow? by
Gerald Locklin, from This Sporting Life and Other Poems (JVC
Books).
It's the birthday of director and screenwriter Nora Ephron, born
in New York City (1941). Her parents were both playwright/
scriptwriters who used scenes from Ephron family life in their
scripts. In the early 1960s, they based a play called Take Her,
She's Mine on Nora's letters home from college. Films she has
written and/or directed include Heartburn (1985), When Harry Met
Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and You've Got Mail
(1998).
It's the birthday of diet writer Jane Brody, born in Brooklyn
(1941). As a columnist for the New York Times and Family Circle,
shes nudged Americans towards accepting the idea that diet and
lifestyle--particularly regular exercise--are major influences
on health.
It's the birthday of writer Paul Erdman, born in Stratford,
Ontario (1932), a Swiss banker turned jailbird turned mystery
writer. His first writing attempt while in prison was the Edgar-
winning financial mystery The Billion Dollar Sure Thing (1973).
It's the birthday of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, born in
Chicago (1930). A Raisin in the Sun (1959) was the first play by
a black woman ever to appear on Broadway.
It's the birthday of black separatist Malcolm X (originally
named Malcolm Little) in Omaha, Nebraska (1925). His home was
firebombed by white racists; his father was killed by a trolley
car, with murder suspected; three of his four uncles were
murdered by whites. Malcolm turned to a life of drugs and petty
crime, for which he was imprisoned when he was 21. In jail he
was converted by Black Muslims. In the last year of his life, he
made a pilgrimage to Mecca, was converted to orthodox Islam, and
modified his views, saying he no longer believed whites to be
innately evil. He was assassinated the next year while giving a
speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem (1965). Three years
after his death, The Autobiography of Malcolm X came out.
Written by Alex Haley based on interviews conducted shortly
before the assassination, it was a huge best seller.
It's the birthday of politician Ho Chi Min (original name Nguyen
That Thanh), born in the central Vietnamese village of Kim Lien
(1890). He worked as a cook on a French Steamer, and visited
many cities, included Boston and New York. He lived in London
for two years, then settled in France, where he worked as a
gardener and a waiter. During his six years in France he became
an active socialist, and later trained as a communist in Moscow.
From 1941 he led the Vietminh, first against the Japanese, then
against the French, and finally against the United States, until
his death in 1969.
Its the birthday of coloratura soprano Dame Nellie Melba
(originally Helen Porter Mitchell), born in Melbourne, Australia
(1959). For her operatic debut in Brussels (1887), in which she
sang the part of Gilda in Rigoletto, she used the name Melba, a
shortened version of the city where she was born. She was quite
a popular diva in her day: she was made a Dame of the British
Empire, and Melba Toast and Peach Melba were named after her.
TIME: 5:00
Broadcast date: SATURDAY, 20 May 2000
Poem: The Sleepy Giant, by Charles E. Carryl.
On this day in 1927, the "lone Eagle," Charles A(gustus)
Lindbergh, took off alone from muddy Roosevelt Field on Long
Island. His monoplane The Spirit of St. Louis held 451 gallons
of gasoline and 20 gallons of oil, but no lights, no heat, no
radio, no automatic pilot or de-icing equipment. It took
Lindbergh 33 ? hours to make his 3,610 mile flight to Le Bourget
Field; he won the $25,000 prize for the first nonstop flight
between New York and Paris. In the year preceding his triumph,
19 aviators had died trying.
It's the birthday of comedian Goerge Gobel, born in Chicago
(1919), a TV star of the 1950s.
On this day in 1916, Norman Rockwell had his first cover
painting on The Saturday Evening Post. It showed a boy pushing a
baby carriage while his buddies set off to play ball.
It's the birthday of actor Jimmy Stewart (James Maitland
Stewart), born in a town called Indiana, Pennsylvania (1908). He
went to Princeton and majored in architecture, but left more
interested in theater. After college he acted in summer stock,
and, after three years in New York, went to Hollywood. Within
five years he'd acted in 24 movies, become a major star, and won
an Academy Award for Best Actor in The Philadelphia Story
(1940). When the Second World War started, the army rejected him
for being underweight. He stuffed himself, passed his weight
test by one ounce, and became a bomber pilot, flying 25 combat
missions.
It's the birthday of Norwegian novelist Sigurd Undset, born in
Kalundborg, Denmark (1882). Her masterpiece was the Kristin
Lavransdatter trilogy (1920-1922).
On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the
Homestead Act, by which a citizen could stake out a claim to a
160- acre tract of government land, and, after cultivating it
for five years, take full possession of it.
It's the birthday of John Stuart Mill, born in London (1806).
He's the author of a humane philosophy influenced by Coleridge.
In Mill's view, actions are right if they bring about happiness,
wrong if they bring about unhappiness.
It's the birthday of Honore de Balzac, born in Tours, France
(1799). His major work, The Human Comedy, came out in 80
volumes. The series included Eugenie Grandet (1833), and Le Pere
Goriot (1834).
It's the birthday of Dolly Madison, born in Guilford County,
North Carolina (1768), the wife of James Madison, the fourth
President of the United States. Legendary as a hostess during
the early presidencies, she was one of America's best loved
first ladies. In 1814, before the British burned the White
House, she ignored her husband's instructions to leave
immediately and saved the Gilbert Stuart Portrait of Washington
that now hangs in the East Room.
TIME: 5:00
Broadcast date: SUNDAY, 21 May 2000
Poem: Applying for a Loan with the Help of the Dictionary of
Occupational Titles, by David Wagoner from Traveling Light (U.
of Illinois Press).
It's the birthday of the greatest Italian poet, Dante Alighieri,
born in Florence (1265) to a nobleman money-lender. The first
time he saw his lifelong love, Beatrice Portinari, they were
both 9 years old. There's no evidence that she ever returned his
passion, and she married another man. His boyish, unrequited
passion for her is recounted in La Vita Nuova, or, The New Life
(1293), a collection of lyric poems. At 35 he entered politics,
and for several years was a leader in Florence, but within a
decade (1309), while away on a diplomatic mission, he was
accused of opposing the pope, and was sentenced to death. He
lived the rest of his life in exile, rambling around Italy,
reduced nearly to begging, until the last 3 years of his life,
spent in Ravenna (1318-1321). It was during his banishment from
Florence that he wrote his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy:
Inferno, Purgatorio, and Parasdiso. Dante died of malaria, at
55, shortly after completing Paradiso.
It's the birthday of poet and satirist Alexander Pope, born in
London (1688). He's the author of The Rape of the Lock (1714),
andAn Essay on Criticism (1711). In his thirties he issued
translations of Homer's Illiad (1720) and Odyssey (1726).
Alexander Pope wrote, "Know then thyself, presume not God to
scan; The proper study of mankind is Man." And, "A little
learning is a dangerous thing."
It's the birthday of American ethnologist Frances Densmore, born
in Red Wing, Minnesota (1867). For 60 years--she lived to be 90-
-she traveled from village to village, collecting songs of the
Sioux Indians.
On this day in 1881, the American Red Cross was founded by Clara
Barton. She was a nurse during the American Civil War, and also
in Europe during the Franco-Prussian War. It was in Europe that
she learned about the International Red Cross, and when she came
back to the States, she started the American organization.
It's the birthday of songwriter, singer and pianist (Thomas
Wright) "Fats" Waller, born in Harlem, New York City (1904). He
wrote "Ain't Misbehavin," "Honeysuckle Rose,""Keeping out of
Mischief," and many other songs.
It's the birthday of popular novelist Harold Robbins, born in
New York City (1916). The name on his birth certificate was
Francis Kane, but he never knew who his parents were. When he
was adopted by a family named Rubins, and took their name.
It's the birthday of poet Robert Creely, born in Arlington,
Massachusetts (1926), founder of the Black Mountain movement in
poetry in the 1950s.
TIME: 5:00