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...

'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 as well as images.” – Galen Rowell

Born in California on this date in 1940, Rowell was a wilderness photographer, climber and writer who devoted his final 30 years to photographing and writing about the world’s wild places.   In the process, he won the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography and established his own lasting legacy.

 

Also held in high esteem for his writing on photography and on the humanitarian and environmental issues and mountaineering he loved, his remarkable 18 books included In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods about the history of mountaineering on the Himalayan mountain K2, and Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape, one of the bestselling “how-to” photo books of all time.  

 

In addition to his many photo shoots and articles for Life, National Geographic, and Outdoor Photographer, Rowell - who died in August of 2002 - also produced myriad stand-alone shots.  He said recognizing how film sees the world differently than the human eye and adjusting his shooting techniques to fit was probably the secret to his success.  

 

“Sometimes those differences can make a photograph more powerful than what you actually observed,” he said.  “It’s remarkable.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Only emotion endures'

A Writer's Moment: 'Only emotion endures':   “In poetry, only emotion endures.”  – X.J. Kennedy   Born in Dover, NJ on this date in 1929, Kennedy was both a children’s book author...