20 November marks the death of Lev Tolstoy in 1910. Tolstoy authored sweeping novels, perhaps most notable, ‘War and Peace’ as well as short stories, many inspired by his military service, including, ‘A Prisoner in …
Arts
The March King
6 November marks the birthday of John Phillips Sousa in 1854. Sousa would gain world-wide acclaim for his mastery of march composition. Sousa’s father was of Portuguese and Spanish descent and his mother of Hessian …
100 years of Injustice
This week in November marks 100 years since the execution of labor organizer, Joe Hill in 1915. Convicted of an unsolved murder, for which it has been widely acknowledged he was framed, he was executed …
Musical Son of Germany
4 November marks the death of composer Felix Mendelssohn in 1847. A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family. Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart before him, Mendelssohn was …
A Good Listener
31 October marks the anniversary of the death in 2008, of Studs Terkel, American author, broadcaster and historian. Born in New York City, Terkel’s family arrived in Chicago when he was 8 years old. Terkel would …
Correspondents with a Cause
22 October marks the birthday of John Reed, an American journalist best known for his chronicle of the Russian Revolution, ’10 Days that Shook the World’. A native of Portland, Oregon, Reed would graduate from …
100 Years of Genius
It was on 10 October, 1985, that Orson Welles died. Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1915. He attended Madison Public Schools for a time and lived at the Baskerville on S. Hamilton St. …
A Voice that Soared
12 October marks the birthday of Luciano Pavarotti, one of the best known tenors in the modern era. Born in Italy in 1935, Pavarotti’s father was a baker and his mother worked in a cigar …
The Leaves Change, The Poetry Remains
In honor of the first day of Autumn we share with you this poem by Lu Xun (1881 – 1936), who was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. Writing in Vernacular Chinese as well …
The Underbelly of the Gilded Age
This week marks the birthday of author Upton Sinclair in 1878. A Pulitzer Prize winning author, he was perhaps best known for his novel, The Jungle, which depicted the working conditions of immigrant workers in …