Archive for the Birthday Wishes Category

Happy Birthday to Jack London

Posted in American Literature, Birthday Wishes, History, Movie/Film Inspiration with tags , , on January 13, 2011 by dakota1917

For the record, I’m a day late….

Jack London

I have to admit that I often choose author’s birthdays based on my own biases and personal preferences.  As any literary enthusiast can relate, we all have our favorite authors.  But there are certain names that hearken eras of life, often childhood memories, which have had a lasting impact.  This is what happens when I hear the name Jack London.  Traveler, gold prospector, partaker of fine alcoholic beverages, father, London wore many hats in life.  When I mention The Call of the Wild or White Fang, how do you feel?  Cold frosty winds chap my face, the frozen Five Rapids dangerously close to the left side of my dog sled, huskies straining under the weight of prospecting equipment and hardtack, braving the piercing jaws of frozen death for flakes of metal prized above life?  Are we dogs or are we wolves?  If we are dogs, what would cause us to become wolves?  Jack London’s name alone creates this vast landscape of struggle, death and greed that pulsates through my frontal lobe. Read more »

Sir Arthur C. Clarke: A Testament to Time

Posted in Birthday Wishes, Horror/Suspense, Movie/Film Inspiration, Science Fiction, World Literature with tags , , , , on December 17, 2010 by dakota1917

Sir Arthur C. Clarke Dec. 16, 1917-March 19, 2008.

I had every intention of posting this my most recent for my readers yesterday.  Yesterday would have been the 91st birthday of the late great Sir Arthur C. Clarke.  I began writing yesterday and after about 30 minutes of stumbling through my own words of laudation, I waved the white flag of defeat.  Think about this: this is Sir Arthur C. Clark I’m attempting to give reverence.  I felt like I was giving a speech in a crowed room with an ill-researched presentation laden with “ums” and “uhs”, followed by a deluge of tears and toppling over the podium.  To my chagrin, I gave this task up.  As usual, I remain a day late and a dollar short.

Now that I have had a night to sleep on it, I decided that I would instead relay what Sir Arthur C. Clarke and his work meant to me.

I read 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was still in middle school.  I had a copy that I bought at a library book sale that was held together lovingly with Scotch tape. Read more »

Happy Birthday, Shirley Jackson

Posted in American Literature, Birthday Wishes, Etc., Horror/Suspense, Paranormal with tags , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2010 by dakota1917

I was looking through a list of author’s birthdays today to try to write a new birthday wish.  I like to do this everyone once in a while, often for my benefit.  Being a history major, birthdays are just little tidbits of information stored for later use during a heated round of Trivial Pursuit.

Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson (December 14, 1916-August 8, 1965) sounded familiar to me.  Upon a few moments of research, I discovered she was the author of a high school requirement and one of the more terrifying haunted house stories I have read. Read more »

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin!

Posted in Birthday Wishes, History, World Literature with tags , , , on February 12, 2010 by dakota1917

Charles Darwin

So, as I write this, I kind of think that this is a stretch for me. Today is Charles Darwin’s birthday. Now, he did not write literature, but he did rite some of the most controversial nonfiction of all time. Thus, I believe that there is merit in my action.

On this day in 1809, Charles Darwin come into this world in Shrewsbury, England. He was the fifth son to his parents, Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood. Read more »

Happy Birthday Boris Pasternak!

Posted in Birthday Wishes, History, World Literature with tags , , , , , , on February 10, 2010 by dakota1917

Russian literature, much like Russian history, has always been an interest of mine.  Granted, it is not for everyone.  Usually, the books are very thick and equally dense in subject.  Take for example War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.  Incredibly thick, huge and expansive plot plus a lot of French in it owing to the Russians’ idea that speaking French was a way of showing culture, etiquette and nobility.  But the stories are sweeping and enlightening; the number of pages is what seems to frighten people away from them. Read more »

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