Posts Tagged ‘author birthday party’
Happy Birthday, Henry!
By Kenny Luck
On July 4, 1845, when Henry David Thoreau moved into his cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, he was probably unaware that his abode in the woods, and the impact and influence of that endeavor, would forever echo through time. Thoreau was an uncompromising idealist; an ardent maverick who criticized his fellow man. He urged that man and women ought to live more simply, and more deliberately. “The mass of men,” he famously wrote, “lead lives of quiet desperation.”
Yet the scope of Thoreau’s message is much wider than social criticism. He speaks of spiritual transcendence in Nature and the unbounded potential of the individual. Thoreau is a dreamer and he speaks to dreamers. In a word, shun dogmatism and demagoguery; see beyond the immediate conventional religious explanations to reap a higher understanding. In our comodified contemporary American society, with the rise of religious intolerance and fundamentalism, materialism and mass consumerism, Thoreau’s message is needed now more than ever.
Approaching Thoreau from a devotional, rather than an academic point of view, I began collecting short quotes from his works for my own purposes. Most of the quote collecting occurred in the winter months of 2006, when I was a third year undergraduate student. I spent countless hours in my university library between classes pouring over thousands of pages. I cherished each quote and in a short time was able to recite long passages from memory. Commenting on society, nature, government, spirituality and love, there seemed to be a Thoreau quote for every season. After roughly one month my list had expanded into a plethora of pages. Then, I got an idea: Why not share these treasures with others? And so it began.
Choosing which quotes to include and which quotes to ignore is tricky. With the aim of trying to preserve Thoreau’s original intentions, I was careful to not take any passage out of context. No precedent can dictate the proper course of action. However, Thoreau’s lyrical writing style makes it easy to find short, memorable truisms. Much of his best work lay not in the familiar, but in the unfamiliar. As dedicated diarist, he wrote incessantly nearly every day. I found that the wisdom contained in his journal entries rivaled the most complex systems of thought laid out by any philosopher before or since. His correspondences, particularly with Harrison Blake, are even more exceptional. As the two men swapped letters between one another, Thoreau always found new ways to transform even the most mundane subjects into brilliant pieces of insight.
Thumbing Through Thoreau, appropriate for the beginner or devotee, is my attempt to bring together the best pieces of Thoreau’s writings in one collection. It is the result of long hours of hard work by several people, and a determination constantly fueled by one inspiring idea: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,” Thoreau wrote in the closing of Walden, “he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” In the end, we could all use a dose of Thoreau from time to time.
______________________
Kenny Luck is a graduate student at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History/Political Science from the same institution. He writes for The Weekender – an arts and entertainment weekly – and The Independent. He is currently working on his second book. He enjoys recording music, book browsing, and travel.
ISBN: 978-0-9822565-4-1
It’s Harper Lee’s FFF Birthday Celebration!
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a masterpiece worthy of its Pulitzer-prize winning acclaim. It’s been called “one of the best-loved stories of all time.” I’m right there with all of the other lovers of this novel. I first read it when I was in seventh grade, and have picked it up so many times since, I can’t count. Thank you Harper Lee for writing such a beautiful story.
This week’s Fodder for Fiction Author Birthday Bash celebration is for – you guessed it – Harper Lee!
In honor of her special day, I’m sharing a where-babies-come-from excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbird.
Enjoy!
“Dill’s voice was his own again: “Oh, they ain’t mean. They kiss you and hug you god night and good mornin’ and goodbye and tell you they love you—Scout, let’s get us a baby.”
“Where?”
There was a man Dill had heard of who had a boat that he rowed across to a foggy island where all theses babies were; you could order one—
“That’s a lie. Aunty said God drops ‘em down the chimney. At least that’s what I think she said.” For once, Aunty’s diction had not been too clear.
“Well that ain’t so. You get babies from each other. But there’s this man, too—he has all these babies just waitin’ to wake up, he breathes life into ‘em. …”
Dill was off again. Beautiful things floated around in his dreamy head. He could read two books to my one, but he preferred the magic of his own inventions. He could add and subtract faster than lightning, but he preferred his own twilight world, a world where babies slept, waiting to be gathered like morning lilies. He was slowly talking himself to sleep and taking me with him, but in the quietness of his foggy island there rose the faded image of a gray house with sad brown doors.
“Dill?”
“Mm?”
“Why do you recon Boo Radley’s never run off?”
Dill sighed a long sigh and turned away from me.
“Maybe he doesn’t have anywhere to run off to. . . .”
Excerpt, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Share what you love about Harper Lee. I’d love to hear it. Come back again next Wednesday for another Fodder for Fiction Author Birthday Bash!
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
Author Birthday Bash for Toni Morrison!
This week at Fodder for Fiction I’m celebrating Toni Morrison’s birthday! Happy Birthday! To honor her, I’m sharing an excerpt from her work that made me think of how a birthday means something different to a mother than it does for a child. Enjoy!
“The good news, however, was that Halle got married and had a baby coming. She fixed on that and her own brand of preaching, having made up her mind about what to do with the heart that started beating the minute she crossed the Ohio River. And it worked out, worked out just fine, until she got proud and let herself be overwhelmed by the sight of her daughter-in-law and Halle’s children—one of whom was born on the way—and have a celebration of blackberries that put Christmas to shame. Now she stood in the garden smelling disapproval, feeling a dark and coming thing, and seeing high-topped shoes that she didn’t like the look of at all. At all.” Beloved by Toni Morrison
Show Toni Morrison some love for her special day! Tell us about your favorite Toni Morrison read!
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALICE WALKER!
I’m thrilled to honor Alice Walker! I hope she has a wonderful birthday this week! I am a great fan of The Color Purple. The novel, written in letters is a masterpiece. It’s translation to film and even to the musical stage only served to strengthen my bond with this work of art. The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy also touched my soul. However, to celebrate her birthday, I decided to share an excerpt from a recent book of poetry. I think it captures the wonderful way we connect with those who came before us as we age.
I am connected
To all
Of this
By
My great
Grandmother’s Native
Name
Tallulah, i.e.,
Basket maker,
Which
Turning fifty
I began claiming As
My own
As I claim My kinswoman
Spider &
The brilliant
Ancestral
Body
Of Her art.
End of Excerpt the Moment I Saw Her, a poem in Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth: New Poems by Alice Walker.
Thank you for the wonderful gifts you have given to all of us with your prose and poetry, Alice! Many happy returns of the day!
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYN RAND
The insights Ayn Rand provides into human nature through her characters’ innermost thoughts and behavior is incredible to me. I’m guessing she may have been suspicious of my celebrating her birthday with a party. And the excerpt below illustrates just how putting on heirs might have ulterior motives. However, I assure you. I’m merely honoring Ayn Rand as one of the great masters whose work has earned the claim of modern classic. Happy Birthday Ayn Rand!
“Here. … Boy, you look fine! Better than ever. How do you do it, you lucky bastard? I have so many things to tell you! How did it go down in Washington? Everything all right?” And before Keating could answer, Francon rushed on: “Something dreadful’s happened to me. Most disappointing. Do you remember Lili Landau? I thought I was ll set with her, but last time I saw her, did I get the cold shoulder! Do you know who’s got her? You’ll be surprised. Gail Wynand, no less! The girl’s flying high. You should see her pictures and her legs all over his newspapers. Will it help her show or won’t it! What can I offer against that? And do you know what he’s done? Remember how she always said that nobody could give her what she wanted most—her childhood home, the dear little Austrian village where she was born? Well, Wynand bought it!—and had it assembled again down on the Hudson, and there it stands now, cobbles, church, apple trees, pigsties and all! Then he springs it on Lili, two weeks ago. Wouldn’t you just know it? If the King of Babylon could get hanging gardens for his homesick lady, why not Gail Wynand? Lili’s all smiles and gratitude—but the poor girl was really miserable. She’d have much preferred a mink coat. She never wanted the damn village. And Wynand knew it, too. But there it stands, on the Hudson. Last week, he gave a party for her, right there, in that village—a costume party, with Mr. Wynand dressed as Cesare Borgia—wouldn’t he, though?—and what a party!—if you can believe what you hear, but you know how it is, you can never prove anything on Wynand. Then what does he do the next day but pose up there himself with little schoolchildren who’d never seen an Austrian village—the philanthropist!—and plasters the photos all over his papers with plenty of sob stuff about educational values, and gets mush notes from women’s clubs! I’d like to know what he’ll do with the village when he gets rid of Lili! He will, you know, they never last long with him. Do you think I’ll have a chance with her then?”
Excerpt, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Help me celebrate Ayn Rand’s birthday by leaving a comment! I can’t wait to hear from you.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
Fodder for Fiction Author Birthday Bash: JACK LONDON (January 12)
This week on the Fodder for Fiction Author Birthday Bash, we’re celebrating the birthday of Jack London (1876-1916). Spending the winter of 1897 in the Yukon provided the fodder for his first fiction in 1899. From then on, he produced over fifty volumes of stories, novels, and essays. His most famous novel is The Call of the Wild (1903). London’s passage (1907-09) across the Pacific in a small boat provided more fodder for fiction about Polynesian and Melanesian cultures. London’s writing on the subject helped to break the taboo over leprosy and popularized Hawaii as a tourist spot.
London wrote during a time when a new movie industry was born. And he was among the first novelists to see a number of his work made into films.
To celebrate the birthday of the great Jack London, I’ve chosen two quotes attributed to the him that attest to his way with words when it comes to the idea of aging and the fleeting nature of live.
“Darn the wheel of the world! Why must it continually turn over? Where is the reverse gear?” Jack London
“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.” Jack London
Happy Birthday, Jack!
Until tomorrow, best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILIPPA GREGORY!
This is the start of a new feature on Fodder For Fiction. Each week, on Wednesdays, we’ll honor the birthday of an author whose birthday falls during the current week. I’ll kick off the celebration by sharing an excerpt from the author’s work portraying a celebration, party, or festive occasion. I figure we should celebrate each of these great writers’ birthdays with a bash they created!
Our first honored author birthday of 2010, is Philippa Gregory, author so many great works of historical fiction, including The Virgin’s Lover, and The Other Boleyn Girl. I love Philippa Gregory’s ability to bring new readers into the historical fiction genre. What I mean by that is, she uses a delightful prose style and bawdy scenes to make her novels page turners – and the kind of historical fiction that even readers who don’t normally read historical fiction will enjoy.
Happy Birthday, Philippa Gregory! Enjoy the excerpt from a masquerade ball scene she wrote.
It was a great romp in the end, far more fun than I had expected, much more of a play-fight than a dance. George flung rose petals at me and I drenched him with a shower of rosewater. The choristers were just little boys and they got overexcited and attacked the knights and were swing off their feet and spun around and dumped, dizzy and giggly, on the ground. When we ladies came out from the castle and danced with the mystery knights it was the tallest knight who came to dance with me, the king himself, and I, still breathless from my battle with George, and with rose petals in my headdress and my hair, and sugared fruit tumbling out of the folds of my gown, found that I was laughing and giving my hand to him, and dancing with him as if he were an ordinary man and I little more than a kitchen maid at a country romp.
When the signal for the unmasking should have come the king cried out: “Play on! Let’s dance some more!” and instead of turning and taking another partner he led me out again, a country dance when we went had to hand and I could see his eyes gleaming at me through the slits in his golden mask. Reckless and laughing, I smiled back up at him and let that sunny approbation sink into my skin.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Feel free to post your own warm wishes to Philippa on her special day.
Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction