Turning

In Tew's last day in January 2023 mailbox . . .

… some significant anniversaries recently:

The 1860 birth of Anton Chekhov. The playwright was born 163 years ago Sunday in Taganrog, Russia; in 1845 Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was published in the New York Evening Mirror. Sunday was also the 286th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Paine; the writer (Common Sense) and politician was born in 1737 Thetford, England. And Edward Abbey was born on Sunday's date in 1927; The novelist and essayist was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Abbey's publishing gave us Fire on the Mountain and Desert Solitaire in 1968, and The Monkey Wrench Gang in 1975.

Today marks the births of the Trappist monk and prolific writer Fr. Thomas Merton in 1915 Prades, France; and novelists John O'Hara in 1905 Pottsville, Pennsylvania and Norman Mailer in1923 Long Branch, New Jersey. For another take on Mailer, see The Guardian post.

Yesterday was the 88th anniversary of Richard Brautigan's birth. The poet and novelist was born on this date in 1935 Tacoma, Washington. A prolific writer, he wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. He died by his own will in an apparent suicide in 1984. His novella Trout Fishing in America and a short collection of poems titled Revenge of the Lawn were instrumental in my slow turn from academia toward poetry. I'm still turning.