The Writer's Almanac

The Writer's Almanac never fails to put a smile on my face. If I miss it on my short drive to work I, on most days, check their website to see what was covered. Here were a couple of nice pieces from today. Of course, without the voice of Garrison Keillor it doesn't to it true justice. 

It's the birthday of Khalil Gibran, (books by this author) born in Bsharri, Lebanon (1883). When Gibran was 12 years old, his mother left her husband and moved her four children to Boston. He grew up, became a popular host, and one day the publisher Alfred A. Knopf came to one of his parties. Knopf was impressed, and he published Gibran's book The Prophet (1924). It became a huge best-seller in the 1960s.

The Prophet contains lines like: "Work is love made visible." And, "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."

It's the birthday of Edgar Lawrence Doctorow, E.L. Doctorow, (books by this author) born in New York City in 1931. He said, "Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."

I hope you enjoyed them. Actually, I hope you heard the pieces live today on NPR.