Today we are looking up famous people born on our birthdays. On Wikipedia, it has a lot to say about March 8th. For example, in 1924, the Castle Gate mine disaster here in Utah was on March 8th. I had heard about that but had no idea that it happened on my birthday. Well, since it was before I was born, I suppose it wasn't my birthday yet, but I digress ;).
Notable people born on March 8th:
C.P.E. Bach (son of J.S. Bach), famous pre-Classical composer, born in 1714. Of course I learned a ton about him in my music history class, but it somehow escaped my notice that he was born on my birthday. I also did not know that Georg Telemann (famous Baroque composer) was his godfather, or that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart said of him, "He is the father, we are the children."
Lynn Redgrave, English actress, born in 1943 (the year my parents were born). I had heard before that we shared a birthday, but had forgotten until now. She was in the movie "Shine" (1996) as Gillian, the wife of David Helfgott (Geoffrey Rush, Best Actor Academy Award), a pianist (hey, I wanted to pick another musical connection!) who suffers a mental breakdown and spends years in institutions. I saw the movie and really enjoyed it, but didn't even realize that Lynn Redgrave played Gillian, or that I shared her birthday.
Kenneth Grahame, British writer, born in 1859. He's known for writing "The Wind in the Willows" (1908), a children's classic (which I have never read). Interestingly, his only son Alastair was nicknamed "Mouse", just like Sarah :). Sadly, Alastair, born blind in one eye and with many health problems, committed suicide at age 20. Mr. Toad, one of the principal characters in "The Wind in the Willows", was modeled in part after Alastair. Interestingly, Grahame was a banker for some 30 years, from 1879 to 1908, and a successful one at that, becoming secretary of the Bank of England before his retirement.
That's it --- now I'm going to go read who Sarah chose!
2 comments:
Wind in the Willows is perhaps my favorite children's story. Find an illustrated copy - read aloud to your children. (Be careful, though, it comes from an earlier time and apparently calling someone an a** was OK in those days. You can always substitute jerk in the read aloud.)
Oh, I love Wind in the Willows. I haven't read it since I was a child. It would be fun to revisit with the kids. It's one of those that is also fun for the parent because it works on at least 2 levels...anyway, how neat to know that the author's son was another Mouse. :-) Alex sometimes pretends to be a little mouse and nibbles her food. She makes a good mouse, but prefers to think she is a "bull" because she's so "strong." It's very cute.
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