---------- Today: "On His Blindness" by John Milton
[image: The Writer's Almanac] <http://writersalmanac.org?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=19f52479ea564d4fa146956f093ca030> [image: American Public Media] <http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=8cfe97b4c37741a8a30e15fef01d6c02> *Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015* [image: Facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/writersalmanac?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=4c2a86b414a6432cb36905277019a854> [image: Twitter] <https://twitter.com/WritersAlmanac?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=8b0378b696104c669938449b74e1e230> *On His Blindness* by John Milton <http://writersalmanac.org/poem_author/john-milton/?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=8180c7c14023405ebc2665b87f60abc7> Listen Online <http://writersalmanac.org/episodes/20151209/?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=3fb88cbd3bf749cfab6bc4e247bb90c0> When I consider how my light is spent, Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide, ‘Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?’ I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies: ‘God doth not need Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.’ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ *It was on this date in 1793 that Noah Webster established New York City's first daily newspaper*. He called it *The American Minerva* <http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/12/09/new-yorks-first-daily-newspaper/?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=74b2613810e9460fae2c3ae9d8c29f61> and added a subtitle to the masthead, which read "Patroness of Peace, Commerce, and the Liberal Arts." The paper was produced on Wall Street, near the Tontine Coffee-House, which was the birthplace of the New York Stock Exchange. Noah Webster was a Yale-educated veteran of the Revolutionary War. After the war, he taught at a private school in Goshen, New York. He wasn't satisfied with the textbooks that were available to his pupils, so he produced a few of his own, including a reader, a grammar handbook, and a spelling book - the "Blue-backed Speller" - the royalties from which supported him for the rest of his life. The spelling book remained so popular in the 19th century that it outsold every other book save the Bible. Of Webster's numerous books, we remember him best for his *American Dictionary of the English Language*, which came to be known as "Webster's Dictionary." Webster was a Federalist and a staunch supporter of the Constitution. He was alarmed by the French-backed clubs and societies that had made inroads in American politics and that were critical of George Washington. He urged his fellow Federalists to band together to counteract the clubs' influence by starving them of any publicity. With that aim in mind, he started *The American Minerva*. He requested that editors "all agree to let the clubs alone - publish nothing for or against them. They are a plant of exotic and forced birth: the sunshine of peace will destroy them." There wasn't much of what we would call "news" in the newspaper's first issue. Most of its column inches were devoted to President George Washington's address to Congress on December 3, and other news about the Senate and the House of Representatives. As the paper's editor - and its proofreader and bookkeeper - Webster took up most of the front page with his "Editor's Address to the Public." He opened with the words, "It is the singular felicity of the Americans, and a circumstance that distinguishes this Country from all others, that the means of information are accessible to all descriptions of people." He also wrote: "In no Country on earth, not even Great Britain, are Newspapers so generally circulated among the body of the people, as in America. To this facility of spreading knowledge over our Country, may, in a great degree, be attributed, that civility of manners, that love of peace and good order, and that propriety of public conduct, which characterize the substantial body of Citizens of the United States." He added, "It is an important fact in the United States that the best-informed people are the least subject to faction, intrigue, and a corrupt administration." He stated that his paper would be a friend to the government, and criticized the notion of political parties, writing: "A party spirit is as great a curse to society as can befall it; it makes honest men hate each other, and destroys a good neighborhood." The *American Minerva* ran for 744 issues, from 1793 until 1796. Webster changed the name to *The Commercial Advertiser* in 1797. He sold the paper in 1803 and moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he began work on his first dictionary. He published *A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language* in 1806, and then labored for two decades to produce his fully comprehensive dictionary (1828). Published in two volumes, it included scientific and technical terms, and words that were unique to American English, like *squash*, *prairie*, and *skunk*. As for *The American Minerva*, the paper continued under a series of titles, eventually becoming *The New York Sun*, which ceased publication in 1950. *It's the birthday* of one of the people who helped invent the modern computer: *Grace Hopper <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/btmurr.html?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=f911c34df40842f6b64c8c7c0324dcc0>*, born in New York City (1906). She began tinkering around with machines when she was seven years old, dismantling several alarm clocks around the house to see how they worked. She was especially good at math in school. She studied math and physics in college, and eventually got a Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale. Then World War II broke out, and Hopper wanted to serve her country. Her father had been an admiral in the Navy, so she applied to a division of the Navy called WAVES, which stood for Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service. She was assigned to work on a machine that might help calculate the trajectory of bombs and rockets. She learned how to program that early computing machine, and wrote the first instruction manual for its use. She went on to work on several more versions of the same machine. In 1952, Hopper noticed that most computer errors were the result of humans making mistakes in writing programs. So she attempted to solve that problem by writing a new computer language that used ordinary words instead of just numbers. It was one of the first computer languages, and the first designed to help ordinary people write computer programs, and she went on to help develop it into the computer language known as COBOL, or "Common Business-Oriented Language." *It's the birthday* of the man who created Babar, the beloved elephant of children's literature. *Jean de Brunhoff <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_Brunhoff?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=2f80a156ef374e4b9d3b4600cb8f6d50>* (books by this author <http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Jean%20de%20Brunhoff&tag=writal-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325&elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=3df2e358647e4360ad8122d478003c9d>) was born in Paris, France (1899). He joined the French army at the tail end of World War I and became a professional artist and illustrator when his service ended. The character of Babar was created by de Brunhoff's wife, Cécile. Her sons were ill and to distract them, she made up the story of a young elephant who is orphaned when his mother is killed by hunters. The elephant travels to a city much like Paris and meets an old woman he calls "The Old Lady," who takes care of him. Cecile called the elephant "bébé éléphant." The two boys loved the elephant so much, they begged de Brunhoff to draw him. He did, and became enchanted with the possibilities. Babar is known for his natty green suit, his sporty red roadster, and for practicing a strict regimen of calisthenics. The first book was published in France (1931) as *Histoire de Babar (The Story of Babar)*, an oversize volume that featured text in cursive, with de Brunhoff's exquisitely economical watercolor and line paintings spread over double-pages. It was an immediate success. A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, introduced an English-language version in the U.K. and U.S. in 1933. Milne was in awe of de Brunhoff's artistry and said, "I salute M. de Brunhoff. I am at his feet." In later books, such as *The Travels of Babar* (1934) and *Babar and His Children* (1938), de Brunhoff introduced the characters of Zephir the Monkey and Babar's cousin, Celeste, whom he eventually marries. *It's the birthday* of writer and folklorist *Joel Chandler Harris <http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/harrisj/bio.html?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=3b8fcef403384b1fbb33b8ab38a59e22>* (books by this author <http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Joel%20Chandler%20Harris&tag=writal-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325&elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=a1953b5b16cf45fcaef87b364754deb7>), born in Eatonton, Georgia (1845). He was a shy, stammering boy, the son of an unwed single mother. Harris was a good student but his mother couldn't afford to keep him in school, so he dropped out to help make money. Harris was hired by a rich plantation owner who also published a local newspaper, and Harris spent his days helping with the newspaper and his evenings with the slaves, listening to their stories. After he moved on from the plantation, Harris worked as a reporter for a handful of newspapers across Georgia. Eventually, he was hired by *The Atlanta Constitution*, where he first wrote down the stories he had heard from the slaves as a young man - they were narrated by a fictional character named Uncle Remus. Much to Harris's surprise, his stories were popular, and he was approached about publishing a book. *Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings *(1880) was a best-seller. But Harris was uncomfortable with the limelight. He remained shy, and frequently referred to himself as "an accidental author" or "a cornfield journalist." In a letter to Mark Twain, he wrote: "I am perfectly well aware that my book has no basis of literary art to stand upon. I understand that my relations toward Uncle Remus are similar to those that exist between an almanac-maker and the calendar." *Today is the birthday* of *John Milton <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-milton?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=b5f6d18da3164b03b7b15afc287387f6>* (books by this author <http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=John%20Milton&tag=writal-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325&elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=0319e905d5bc49e6a0680a21b8d0d2b9>), born in London (1608). He studied at Christ's College at Cambridge University, where he was nicknamed "the lady of Christ's" for his good looks and delicate mannerisms. He described his lifestyle as "aloof from vice, and approved by all the good." After graduation, he lived for six years at his father's country estate in a small village called Horton, where he spent his days reading Greek and Roman writers, learning foreign languages, and writing poetry. After these years of self-directed study and some traveling in France and Italy, he wrote: "I began thus far to assent [...] to an inward prompting which now grew daily upon me, that by labour and intent study (which I take to be my portion in this life) joyn'd with the strong propensity of nature, I might perhaps leave something so written to aftertimes, as they should not willingly let it die." In the meantime, he served as a civil servant; wrote inflammatory pamphlets about politics, divorce, and freedom of the press; and supported the cause of the Commonwealth during the English Civil War, which eventually got him arrested. He lost his eyesight, and he spent the end of his life blind, living in seclusion in the countryside, where he dictated his epic poem *Paradise Lost *to his assistants, line by line. He said, "What in me is dark / Illumine, what is low raise and support, / That to the height of this great argument / I may assert eternal Providence, / And justify the ways of God to men." ------------------------------ ------------------------------ *Bookshelf* *Read highlighted interviews of poets heard on the show*. *Jane Hirshfield* <http://writersalmanac.org/bookshelf/jane-hirshfield/?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=26008b6b3deb47249d1f6e578fdd3334> Jane Hirshfield's two newest books are *The Beauty* and *Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World*, both Knopf 2015. Her honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations, NEA, and Academy of American Poets; the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry; the Poetry Center Book Award; finalist selection for the National Book Critics Circle Award and England's T.S. Eliot Award; and eight selections in *The Best American Poetry*. A current chancellor of The Academy of American Poets, Hirshfield's work appears in *The New Yorker*, *The Atlantic*, *The New Republic*, *Harper's*, *The Paris Review*, and *Poetry*. Read more <http://writersalmanac.org/bookshelf/jane-hirshfield/?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=55071a13d6734b04ae00f77822413f95> ------------------------------ *Shop* Although he has edited several anthologies of his favorite poems, O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound forges a new path for Garrison Keillor, as a poet of light verse. Purchase O, What a Luxury <http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/books/o_what_a_luxury/?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=6d25a3d571a84489a282bccc3169350c> ------------------------------ The Writer's Almanac is produced by Prairie Home Productions and presented by American Public Media <http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=a78bb6f5b5014681800bcddea0543ac7>. ------------------------------ If you have a question or comment please visit our online contact page <http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/contact/?elq=5a9b0b992d93406498d26f65d8d8ffa7&elqCampaignId=16492&elqaid=19194&elqat=1&elqTrackId=c564034cfcc54c0793a47c0840165b2f>, or send us an email at t...@mpr.org. Copyright 2015 American Public Media 480 Cedar Street, Saint Paul, MN 55101 -- -- USE INCREDIMAIL ONLY IN THIS GROUP NO NUDITY ALLOWED --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "fiftiesoldiesmusicgroup" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to fiftiesoldiesmusicgroup+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
