Richard Wright (1908-60) was born in Natchez, MS on September 4, 1908. Read Orrin's review of Native Son (1940)(Grade: C+).

Alan Ladd (1913-64) was born in Hot Springs, AR on September 3, 1913. Of course, his great iconic role was in Shane (1953)(read Orrin's review of the novel), but check out the two films he made with Veronica Lake, The Glass Key (1942) and This Gun for Hire (1942).

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was born in South Berwick, ME on September 3, 1849. Read Orrin's review of The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896)

Allen Drury (1918-98) was born in Houston, TX on September 2, 1918. Read Orrin's review of Advise and Consent (1959) (Grade: A)

Joseph Roth (1894-1939) was born in Brody, Galicia, Austria-Hungary on September 2, 1894. Read Orrin's review of The Radetzky March (1932) and The Emperor's Tomb (1938) (Grade: A+)

Salma Hayek (1968-) was born in Coatzacoalcos, MX on September 2, 1968. See Orrin's review ofThe Road to Serfdom (1944)

SELECTED POETRY OF EUGENE FIELD (1850-95) Eugene Field (1850-95), author of such favorites as Little Boy Blue and Wynken, Blynken and Nod, was born in St. Louis, MO on September 2, 1850.

Blaise Cendrars [Frédéric Louis Sauser] (1887-1961) was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switz on September 1, 1887. Read Orrin's review of Gold: Being the Marvelous History of General John Augustus Sutter (1925)

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) was born on September 1, 1875.Read Orrin's review of Tarzan of the Apes (1912)

Van Morrison (1945-) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on August 31, 1945. Brothers Judd recommends The Best of Van Morrison

John Gunther (1901-70), one of America's greatest journalists, was born in Chicago, IL on August 30, 1901. Read Orrin's review of Death Be Not Proud: A Memoir (1949)(Grade: A-)

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was born in London, England on August 30, 1797. Read Orrin's review of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818)(Grade: A+)

John Locke (1632-1704) who was the pivotal figure in the development of democratic theory, was born in England on August 27, 1632.

Charles Christopher "Bird" Parker (1920-55) was born in Kansas City, KS on August 29, 1920. Dryfoos recommends Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947) , was born in Hungary on August 27, 1865. Brothers Judd recommends her great novel The Scarlet Pimpernel

[Cecil Scott] C.S. Forester (1899-1966) was born on August 27, 1899. Read Orrin's review of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1948) (Grade: A)

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73), one of the worst men ever to become President of the United States, was born in Stonewall, TX on August 27, 1908. Read Robert Caro's awesome biography The Years of Lyndon Johnson

Earl Derr Biggers (1884-1933) was born on August 26, 1884. Read Orrin's review of the first Charlie Chan mystery, The House Without a Key (1925)(Grade: B)

Christopher Isherwood (1904-) was born in Cheshire, ENG on August 26, 1904.

Brian Moore (1921-99) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on August 25, 1921. Read Orrin's reviews of Black Robe (1985)(Grade: B+) and The Statement (1996) (Grade: A)

Jean Rhys (1894) was born in Roseau, Dominica on August 24, 1894. Read Orrin's review of Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

Malcolm Cowley (1898-1989) was born in Belsano, PA on August 24, 1898.

A.S. Byatt (1936-) was born in Sheffield, ENG on August 24, 1936. Read Orrin's review of Possession: A Romance (1990)(Grade: A+)

Max Beerbohm (1872-1956) was born in London, ENG on August 24, 1872. Read Orrin's review of Zuleika Dobson or An Oxford Love Story (1911)(Grade: A)

Dorothy Parker, American short story writer/poet/critic and wit, Aug. 22, 1893 - 1967

Ray Bradbury (1920-) was bon in Waukegan, IL on August 22, 1920. Read Orrin's reviews of Fahrenheit 451 (1953) (Grade: A-) and Dandelion Wine (1957)(Grade: A+)

E. Annie Proulx (1935-) was born in Norwich, CT on August 22, 1935. Read Orrin's review of The Shipping News (1993)

Peter Weir (1944-) was born in Sydney, Australia on August 21, 1944. Read Orrin's review of The Truman Show.

Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) was born in Brighton, ENG on August 21, 1872.

Isaac Hayes (1942-), the Black Moses of Soul, was born in Covington, TN on August 20, 1942. Brothers Judd especially recommends Live At The Sahara Tahoe.

H. P. (Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was born in Providence, RI on August 20, 1890. Read Orrin's review of At the Mountains of Madness (1931) (Grade: B+)

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) was born in North Bend, OH on August 20, 1833.

Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian poet/critic/translator and winner of Nobel Prize 1959, Aug. 20, 1901 - 1968

Orville Wright (1871-1948) was born in Dayton OH on August 19, 1871. The 19th is celebrated as Aviation Day in his honor.

Ogden Nash (1902-71) was born in Rye, NY on August 19, 1902. Check out a nice page of his verse.

James Gould Cozzens (1903-78) was born in Chicago, IL on August 19, 1903. Brothers Judd recommends his Pulitzer Prize winning novel of WWII, Guard of Honor (1949)

Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was born in Charlottsville, VA on August 18, 1774. Read Orrin's review of Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (1996)(Stephen E. Ambrose) (Grade: A-)

V.S. [Vidiadhar) Surajprasad] Naipaul (1932-) was born in Trinidad on August 17, 1932. Read Orrin's reviews of A House for Mr. Biswas (1961) (Grade: B-) and A Bend in the River (1979) (Grade: C)

Davy Crockett (1786-1836) was born in Eastern TN on August 17, 1786; of course, he died at the Alamo. One of the saddest days of my life was when a kid threw my coonskin cap in our local brook in 2nd Grade.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940), who began the back to Africa movement, was born in St. Ann's Bay , Jamaica on August 17, 1887.

Maureen O'Hara (1920-) was born in Dublin, IRE on August 17, 1920. Hollywood's all time most fabulous babe, she appears in numerous great movies including: The Quiet Man (1952), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) was born in Andernach, GER on August 16, 1920.

Menachem Begin (1913-92) was born in Brest-Litovsk, Russia on August 16, 1913. He and Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.

Ted Hughes (1930-98) was born in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, ENG on August 16, 1930. Read Orrin's review of The Iron Giant: A Story in Five Nights (1968) (Grade: B+)

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was born in Ajaccio, Corsica on August 15, 1769. Brothers Judd recommends the biography Napoleon Bonaparte by Alan Schom.

Robert Bolt (1924-95) was born in Manchester, ENG on August 15, 1924. Read Orrin's review ofA Man for All Seasons (1960)(Grade: A+)