A Writer's Moment: 'Judged by the seeds that you plant'

A Writer's Moment: 'Judged by the seeds that you plant':   “Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson   Born in Edinburgh, Scot...

'Judged by the seeds that you plant'

 

“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland on this date in 1850, Stevenson became one of the world’s most versatile and “translated” authors in his short life (he died of a brain hemorrhage at age 44).  The author of 13 novels, including Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he created a host of great characters like the pirate Long John Silver and Jekyll and Hyde (names that have become part of the world’s vernacular).   

 

Beyond his celebrated novels, the prolific Stevenson wrote 7 collections of short stories, 14 nonfiction books, and several books of poetry for both adults and children.  His A Child’s Garden of Verses remains a regular seller on the worldwide market with lasting poems like My Shadow: “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, and what can be the use of him is more than I can see.”   And, The Swing: “How do you like to go up in a swing, up in the air so blue?  Oh I do think it’s the pleasantest thing, ever a child can do.”

 

And an accomplished pianist, he wrote or arranged more than 120 musical pieces. 

 

Stevenson always seemed to be able to connect with readers from all walks of life and when asked why, he simply said, “The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.”  

A Writer's Moment: 'It's the most astonishing thing'

A Writer's Moment: 'It's the most astonishing thing':   “What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dar...

'It's the most astonishing thing'

 

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you." - Carl Sagan

 

Born in New York City on Nov. 9, 1934 Sagan was an astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist and astrobiologist who also wrote more than 600 articles and was author, co-author or editor of 20 books.  His novel Contact was the basis for a popular movie, and he co-wrote and narrated Cosmos, one of the most widely watched series in the history of American public television.  He died of pneumonia at the young age of 61, but just before his death he spoke the wonderful words above about the power and mystery of books.

 

A graduate of the University of Chicago, where he earned three degrees, he was a longtime professor at Cornell University.  Among his many popular science books were The Dragons of Eden, Broca’s Brain and Pale Blue Dot.  

 

“Writing," Sagan said, "is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other; citizens of distant epochs.  Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic." 

A Writer's Moment: An 'indispensable' writing factor

A Writer's Moment: An 'indispensable' writing factor:   “I could not write my books without the library’s help.   Even with the ease of Internet research, I find books to be indispensable when...

An 'indispensable' writing factor

 

“I could not write my books without the library’s help.  Even with the ease of Internet research, I find books to be indispensable when I am writing.  . . .  Books make me laugh, cry, and think.  . . . They help me make important decisions, and they provide endless entertainment.” – Peg Kehret

 

Born in La Crosse, WI on this date in 1936, Kehret said she always loved to write, and as a child wanted to be either a writer or a veterinarian.  So, she included animals in most of her books.   Now retired from writing, she still volunteers with animal rescue groups and is the recipient of the Henry Bergh Award from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA.)

  

A polio survivor – she beat three types of polio at age 12 – Kehret started writing while still in her teens, writing primarily for children and young adults.  She’s also written plays, radio commercials and magazine stories, winning more than 50 awards throughout her career.  Among her awards are the PEN Center Award in Children’s Literature, and the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.

 "I wasn't inspired so much by a person as by reading many good books," she said of her long and successful career.  "I loved to write and I wondered if I might be able to write material that others would enjoy."  Mission accomplished. 

A Writer's Moment: Fired by 'The wonder of reading'

A Writer's Moment: Fired by 'The wonder of reading':   “I always read poetry before I write, to sensitize me to the rhythms and music of language. . . A novelist can get by on story, but the po...