We are stardust, we are golden and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.
Joni Mitchell
November 7, 1943: Happy 70th birthday, Joni Mitchell! The Canadian singer songwriter had polio as a child—the illness weakened her left hand, which made many traditional guitar fingerings difficult to execute. It led Mitchell to develop her own signature tunings.
I was not ladylike, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful.
Michael Cunningham
November 6, 1952: Happy 61st birthday, Michael Cunningham! The novelist’s most popular book is The Hours, which won a Pulitzer. It was inspired by the book that made Cunningham want to be a writer, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.
Charm is the ability to make someone else think that both of you are pretty wonderful.
Kathleen Winsor
October 16, 1919: Kathleen Winsor’s racy 1944 novel, Forever Amber, was banned in 14 states. Despite (or because of!) that, it became a best seller. She was born in Minnesota, 94 years ago today.
I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.
Mario Puzo
October 15, 1920: Italian American author Mario Puzo is best known for writing The Godfather, which popularized mafia literature in America. He also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 version of Superman.
You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying in the road.
Richard Price
October 12, 1949: Happy 64th birthday, Richard Price! The author of Clockers and Lush Life has also written for the acclaimed television series The Wire.
To Be Honest... 