Category Archives: Authors

Authors, Poetry

Today, Francis Turner Palgrave, Born 1824

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Another poet’s birthday today. This time we have Francis Turner Palgrave, born in 1824. A friend of Tennyson and teacher of poor children, he may not have written much to remember today. Here’s the start of his poem, “Pro Mortuis.”

What should a man desire to leave?

A flawless work; a noble life:

Some music harmoniz’d from strife,

Some finish’d thing, ere the slack hands at eve

Drop, should be his to leave.

He’s rhyming of life with strife has become so popular, every beginning poet or songwriter does it at least a hundred times, calling for more English words ending in ife. (wife, knife, endrife, trife, shife, and other useful words.) Here are some of his other poems.

Authors, Poetry

T.S. Eliot

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Here’s to T.S. Eliot, born on this date in 1888.

Eliot is said to have said, “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.” I suspect most of us don’t really know what poetry is. The right words in the right order sound like poetry to us to the extend we can hear them.

Authors, Fiction

Is Wodehouse Like the Energizer Bunny?

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The Scott Stein, who teaches a course on humorous writing at University of Pennsylvania, said that he read P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters before any other Bertie and Jeeves novel. “It was one of the funniest, most entertaining novels I’d ever read,” he said. He read three more and “each has been less entertaining than the previous one. The last one I read, just recently (Jeeves and the Tie that Binds), was even a bit tedious.”

Frank Wilson pointed out Scott’s post and has yet to say whether he agrees with Scott. Not that it really matters, but hey, it’s a detail to point out, and Scott–that is, The Scott Stein–discussed his thoughts further on Frank’s blog.

I haven’t read the books Scott read. Of the Bertie and Jeeves stories, I’ve read Carry On, Jeeves, Very Good, Jeeves, Right-Ho, Jeeves, and The Inimitable Jeeves (I think). Each were hilarious. The story of Aunt Agatha and the Pearls was ripping funny, in part, because we knew about Bertie’s relationship with his aunt, “the one who chews broken bottles and kills rats with her teeth.” I haven’t gotten to The Code yet, but what do you think of Scott’s premise? Do these stories get old after a while?

Authors

In which I preen just a bit

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I got an e-mail today from Dr. Tim Furnish, author of Holiest Wars, an expert on Islam (particularly the messianic variety). He said some extremely flattering things about my article at The American Spectator Online yesterday. I checked out his web site and think it well worth sharing with you. (And he’s a Lutheran.)

Authors

Madeleine L’Engle, 1918-2007

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Thanks to Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard for alerting us to the fact that Madeleine L’Engle, the influential fantasist, has passed away.

I’ve never read any of Ms. L’Engle’s books, since I missed them as a kid, and as an adult I made the mistake of finding out about her theology, which made me chary of them. But she is much beloved of many readers, including many Christian readers. So R.I.P.

Authors

D. James Kennedy, with the Lord at Age 76

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Dr. D. James Kennedy, influential author and long-time pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, died this morning in his sleep. The Lord used him to expand his kingdom in ways I think would surprise some believers who emphasize sound doctrine over prayerful practice. May the Lord of All Creation raise up ten men just like Dr. Kennedy.

Authors, Publishing

Sci-Fi Writers of America Flails About on Copyright Complaints

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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America seems to have overstepped its bounds. Earlier this month, it sent a notice of violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Scribd, a text file sharing site. The noticed intended to name pirated works by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, but included several non-pirated works including Cory Doctorow’s “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.” Doctorow explains the mess they made.

More importantly, many of the works that were listed in the takedown were written by the people who’d posted them to Scribd — these people have been maligned and harmed by SFWA, who have accused them of being copyright violators and have caused their material to be taken offline. These people made the mistake of talking about and promoting science fiction — by compiling a bibliography of good works to turn kids onto science fiction, by writing critical or personal essays that quoted science fiction novels, or by discussing science fiction. SFWA — whose business is to promote science fiction reading — has turned readers into collateral damage in a campaign to make Scribd change its upload procedures.

The SFWA President has apologized. “Unfortunately, this list was flawed,” he said, “and the results were not checked.” I can understand making a mistake, but not checked a complaint like this seems irresponsible very much like forwarding urban legends to all your friends. [via Paul Jessup]

Authors

Anne Rice Endorses Clinton, Takes Flak

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Author Anne Rice apparently has stirred up her readers by posting a letter of endorsement for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign on her website. I heard her talk about it with Alan Colmes, giving her reasons for making this political statement when she had sworn off those statements before. You can hear that conversation on her site. She also talks about her books, how she wouldn’t have used the word vampire had she to write them over again, and her Christian faith.

On the political matter, Rice said many people were telling her they would not vote for a president this time around. I hope that isn’t you. I understand being disappointed in our choices and in the sorry discourse we call debate, but we are a government of the people who are responsible for our own representation. We need to access the men and women who have stepped forward to serve or abuse political office and vote for the best one. The government will not respect your freedoms if you ignore it. So stop whining that Reagan or George Washington isn’t running and plan to vote in your primary and general elections.