A Writer's Moment: 'The cathedrals of the imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The cathedrals of the imagination':   “Writing a novel is not merely going on a shopping expedition across the border to an unreal land: it is hours and years spent in the fact...

'The cathedrals of the imagination'

 

“Writing a novel is not merely going on a shopping expedition across the border to an unreal land: it is hours and years spent in the factories, the streets, the cathedrals of the imagination.” – Janet Frame

 

Born in New Zealand in August of 1924, Nene Janet Paterson Clutha, who published under the name Janet Frame, authored novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, essays and several bestselling nonfiction books.

 

Hospitalized for depression and anxiety as a young adult, Frame decided to start anew by traveling abroad.  In London, she began therapy with London doctor Robert Hugh Cawley, who encouraged her to pursue what would become a great writing career.  She dedicated 7 of her novels to Cawley.   

 

During her lifetime (she died in 2004), Frame's work garnered numerous literary prizes including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for The Carpathians.  She also was one of the most widely published essayists of the late 20^th Century and two of her nonfiction books, An Angel at My Table, and The Envoy from Mirror City, earned Book of the Year Awards in several nations.

 

Noted for her hard-hitting realism, she noted, “I like to see life with its teeth out.”

A Writer's Moment: A really 'great' book!

A Writer's Moment: A really 'great' book!:   “Don’t judge me by my cover, ’cause I’m a real good book.” – Dolly Parton   Born in Locust Ridge, Tenn, in 1946, Parton – whose deat...

A really 'great' book!

 

“Don’t judge me by my cover, ’cause I’m a real good book.” – Dolly Parton

 

Born in Locust Ridge, Tenn, in 1946, Parton – whose death Tuesday made worldwide news – grew up in The Smoky Mountains surrounded by church singing, front-porch harmonies, old ballads, and an ear for writing music and stories.

 

Starting her career as a songwriter for her uncle Bill Owens she wrote songs for other singers before trying some for herself with such hits as Jolene; Coat of Many Colors; and I Will Always Love You.   Always interested in books as well, she used her music as the foundation for writing memoirs like My Life and Other Unfinished Business and Star of the Show.  Then she wrote a series of children's books and co-wrote a bestselling thriller Run, Rose, Run with James Patterson.

 

Despite it being a secondary career for her, books were never a side project for Parton.

 

Her books for children included the bestsellers Coat of Many Colors (also made into a TV movie) and I Am a Rainbow, giving young readers a guide on how to talk about feelings. Her Billy the Kid series feature a music-loving French bulldog in a string of Nashville-sized adventures, and she wrote a cookbook with her sister Rachel titled Good Lookin' Cookin'.

 

But perhaps her biggest “writing based impact” came with the founding of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, inspired by her father's inability to read or write. What began as a local effort grew into an international book-gifting program, and millions of children knew her as 'The Book Lady' before they knew about her music.  

“I didn’t have books at home when I was a kid, so I did all my reading at school,” Parton said.  “I love books and I believe that helping kids to read gives them a great start in life.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The catalyst for opening your mind'

A Writer's Moment: 'The catalyst for opening your mind':   “The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, folk sayings and q...

'The catalyst for opening your mind'

 

“The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, folk sayings and quotations.” –  William Feather 

 

Born in Jamestown, NY on this date in 1889, Feather became a Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher and author who built a publishing empire and shared dozens of quotes and fables through his writings.

 

Feather moved to Cleveland in 1903 and after earning a degree from Western Reserve University in 1910 began working as a reporter for the Cleveland Press. In 1916, he established the William Feather Magazine while continuing to write for other magazines like H.L. Mencken's The American Mercury.  His successful printing business produced several of his own books, including the highly sought-after How to Get Ahead.

 

He also wrote the best-selling The Business of Life and one of the first “How-To" guides, How To Set Up a Family Budget.   A spokesman and advocate for books of all kinds, he espoused thrift, industry, promptness, perseverance, and dependability through his writings. 

  

“Books,” he said, “open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can.  Finishing a good book is like leaving a good friend.”

A Writer's Moment: 'More powerful than observed'

A Writer's Moment: 'More powerful than observed':   The reason that I keep writing is that all my most powerful messages about the fates of wild places that I care about need to have words a...