FAMOUS WRITERS FROM MASSACHUSETTS

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

Russell Banks

James Boice

John Cheever (1912-1982)

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Robert Francis (1901-1987)

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Madeleine George

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

Ariana Reines

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)

A MUST

This is the only play Jack Kerouac wrote. There was talk about doing the play in the late 1950s, but it never came to fruition. I must purchase this book. 

FAMOUS WRITERS FROM MARYLAND

Sheri Booker

Tom Clancy (1947-2013)

Lucille Clifton (1936-2010)

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Barbara Kingsolver

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Emily Post (1872-1960)

Nora Roberts

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968)

Anne Tyler

Leon Uris (1924-2003)

WORDS OF WISDOM

It's not what you look at that matters, it what you see.

~Henry David Thoreau, Author (1817-1862)

CREATIVE GENIUS?

So many authors had difficult childhoods. Dorothy Parker hated her stepmom. John Berryman never got over his father's suicide. Theodore Roethke took to alcohol after his father's death from cancer and his uncle's suicide.

I have heard it said that the shortcomings may have fueled their creativity. But were they happy? The world may view these three and others as genius. I often wonder what kind of works they would have created if they overcame their struggles.

FAMOUS WRITERS FROM MAINE

Melissa Coleman

Paul Doiron

Tessa Gerritsen

Stephen King 

Tabitha King

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1892)

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

E. B. White (1899-1985)

BANNED BOOKS

These are some of the books that, at one time, were banned for various reasons. With the drive to ban books concerning LGBTQ, race, women, and minorities, a dangerous precedent is unfolding. This is nothing new. At one time slaves would be severely punished if they were caught reading a book. This book-banning scenario is happening all over the world. 

It is up to all of us to see that this doesn't take hold. Authors, teachers, students, parents, and others must stand up and say no to those who only want us to do what they say and not to speak or read for ourselves. Many came to America to escape such restrictions. I'm sure that we don't want something like this to happen again.

FAMOUS WRITERS FROM LOUISIANA

Arna Bontemps (1902-1973)

Ernest J. Gaines (1933-2019)

Tim Gautreaux

Brian Keith Jackson

William Joyce

Patricia Maxwell

Anne Rice (1941-2021)

Cokie Roberts (1943-2019)

James Wilcox

WORDS OF WISDOM

The reading of all hood books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.

~Rene Descartes, Mathematician (1596-1650)

JAZZ AND PROSE

I was listening to Beat writer Jack Kerouac's jazz and prose sessions. Most were recorded in late 1940s and 1950s. I was impressed with how he was incorporated his prose with the rhythm of jazz. Bebop was famous back then and Kerouac was absorbed with it.

Over the years I have seen prose and music incorporated into an artist's act. I have a new found respect for songwriters and consider them as part of the writing community.

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

ENFIELD- Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina

HINSDALE- Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York

FAMOUS WRITERS FROM KENTUCKY

Wendell Berry

Jane Gentry (1941-2014)

Sue Grafton (1940-2017)

Barbara Kingsolver

Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Marsha Norman

Allen Tate (1899-1979)

Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005)

Robert Penn Warren ( 1905-1989)

WORDS OF WISDOM

Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can't be taught.

~Paul Desmond, Musician (1924-1977)

FAMOUS WRITERS FROM KANSAS

Don Colsmith (1926-2009)

Cyrus Console

Paul Dickey

Bunny McBride

Michael McClure (1932-2020)

Max McCoy

Gordon Parks (1912-2006)

Janet Peery

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

INFLUENCES

Before taking a course on William Shakespeare in college, I read Romeo and Juliet. I'm so thankful for the glossary as it helped me negotiate the style of English in Shakespeare's world. I have read thirteen of his plays of which Hamlet is my favorite.

I have always been fascinated by the men and women of the Beat Generation. The spontaneous prose of On the Road was like being on one crazy continuous road trip. Upon reading Kerouac's other books, I better understood his style of writing, and the man himself.

FAMOUS WRITERS FROM IOWA

Jonathan Ames

T. C. Boyle

Eva Carter Buckner

Tom Drury

Susan Engberg

John Irving

W. P. Kinsella (1935-2016)

Lucia Nevai

Z. Z. Packer

Marilynne Robinson

WORDS OF WISDOM

Writing is like sewing together what I call these 'buttons', these bits and pieces.

~Sandra Cisneros

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

OSWEGO- Illinois, New York, Oregon

WILMINGTON- California, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,                                                    Vermont       

FAMOUS WRITERS FROM INDIANA

Booth Tarkington (1869-1946)

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

Meg Cabot

Mary Louise Chitwood (1832-1855)

Amy Welborn 

Etheridge Knight (1931-1991)

Catherine Bowman

CHARACTERS OF MY OWN CREATION

When reading a good book I sometimes envision myself being the protagonist. It's said that by reading, we authors live the lives of many characters.

I wonder how many authors have tried to emulate a particular character? A king. Queen. Superhero/ine. Maybe even a dragon. What I enjoy about writing is to create people however I want them to. This never gets boring. In fact, over time, they can be people we strive to be like.