Edwin Newman, Jan. 25, 1919

His older brother was M. W. Newman, a longtime reporter for the Chicago Daily News. Newman married Rigel Grell on August 14, 1944. They had one daughter, Nancy, who was born on October 6, 1945.

After graduating from George Washington High School, Newman attended the University of Wisconsin, earning a bachelor's degree in political science in 1940. He was also on the staff of The Daily Cardinal. He briefly did graduate studies in American government at Louisiana State University prior to entering the journalism profession.

           

   

Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jan. 22, 1937

Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. is a bestselling American writer known for his fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States. Several of his first novels were set in Los Angeles, California, and the surrounding area, and featured Los Angeles police officers as protagonists.  Wambaugh's unique perspective on police work led to his first novel, The New Centurions, which was published early in 1971 to critical acclaim and popular success. The success of the early books happened while Wambaugh was still working in the detective division. He reportedly remarked, "I would have guys in handcuffs asking me for autographs."

Thesaurus Day

Thesaurus Day celebrates the birthday of the author of Roget's Thesaurus. Peter Roget was born on this day in 1779.The Thesaurus has been an invaluable reference book for hundreds of years. Students and writers use it to improve the quality of their literary work. Do you remember how the book works? After High School, many of us forget. So, you're in good company. The Thesaurus lists synonyms (words with the same or similar meaning) for words. It allows you to avoid repetition in writing and speeches.  It also lists antonyms...words with opposite meaning.Enjoy today appreciating the value of the Thesaurus. If you haven't seen it in a while, take a moment to browse through it.

William Joseph Kennedy, Jan. 16, 1928

William Joseph Kennedy is an American writer and journalist born and raised in Albany, New York. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional Irish-American Phelan family, and make use of incidents of Albany's history and the supernatural. Kennedy's works include The Ink Truck (1969), Legs (1975), Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (1978), Ironweed (1983, winner of 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; film, 1987), and Roscoe (2002).

Ernest J. Gaines, Jan. 15, 1933

Ernest J. Gaines was born on the River Lake plantation in Pointe Coupe Parish, Louisiana, the setting for most of his fiction; he was the fifth generation in his family to be born there. At the age of nine he was picking cotton in the plantation fields; the black quarter's school held classes only five or six months a year.When he was fifteen, Gaines moved to California to join his parents, who had left Louisiana during World War II. There he attended San Francisco State University and later won a writing fellowship to Stanford University. 

Gaines published his first short story in 1956. Since then he has written eight books of fiction, including Catherine Carmier, Of Love and Dust, Bloodline, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Long Day in November, In My Father's House, and A Gathering of Old Men, most of which are available in Vintage paperback editions. A Lesson Before Dying, his most recent novel, won the 1993 National Book Critics Circle Award. He has also been awarded a MacArthur Foundation grant, for writings of "rare historical resonance."

Dress Up Your Pet Day

Dress Up Your Pet Day gives you the opportunity to .... you guessed it......dress up your pet!

Some pets like to get dressed up. Others, want nothing to do with it. This day is an opportunity to really dress up your pet(s). Make something for them to wear.  Or, go to a pet store and buy an outfit. It's winter, so something warm is best.Sorry, we don't have any ideas on how to dress up goldfish.

International Skeptics Day

International Skeptics Day is the perfect day for you...the "doubting Thomas".

Perhaps the earth isn't really round!? Maybe, the sky isn't truely blue!? Does he(she) really love me!? ........These are the words and questions of the classical skeptic.


By definition, a skeptic is a person who questions or doubts facts and theories. He, or she, is a mis-believer. A skeptic does not accept the "Given". If you are inclined to doubt things that you see or hear, then International Skeptics Day is for you.


If you practice a little, I'm sure we can make a good skeptic out of you. Go ahead, give it a try. And, what better day to practice skepticism, than  International Skeptics Day?

 

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, Jan. 12, 1951

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in conservative politics and conservatism in the United States. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United States. Limbaugh signed an 8 year, $400 million contract extension with Clear Channel in 2008 that pays him $50 million a year.

Jim Hightower Birthday Jan. 11, 1943

Born in Denison, Texas, Hightower came from a working class background. He worked his way through college as assistant general manager of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and later landed a spot as a management trainee for the State Department. He received a bachelor of arts in government from the University of North Texas in Denton, where he served as student body president. He later did graduate work at Columbia University in New York City in international affairs.