Posts Tagged ‘Ohio’
Lowell Thomas: Born in Darke County, Ohio, April 6, 1892
Today is the birthday of Lowell Thomas, a writer, broadcaster, traveler, and publicist who became famous helping to boost the legendary T.E. Lawrence–“Lawrence of Arabia”– into the limelight. Thomas was born in the town of Woodington in Darke County, Ohio, the same county that sharpshooting legend Annie Oakley hailed from. When Thomas was eight the…
Read MoreAn Evening With Rick Sowash
It’s been a long, cold winter here in southwestern Ohio, just like so much of the United States. I didn’t venture out much when I didn’t have to, but I certainly enjoyed one evening in late January. On January 23, storyteller, musician, author and filmmaker Rick Sowash visited the Wyoming Historical Society in Wyoming,…
Read MoreVirginia Hamilton: Out of the Heartland.
“Everything I write comes out of Ohio.” –Virginia Hamilton in a talk to Fairborn, Ohio teachers on February 24, 1995. Virginia Hamilton (March 12, 1936–February 19, 2002). Children’s book author, folklorist, anthologist, biographer, born in Yellow Springs, Ohio on a family farm dating back to the 1850s. Many readers know her from her books The…
Read MoreWorks by Ohio Valley writers adapted into Oscar-nominated films.
In honor of the Academy Awards this evening, I’ve got an overview here of some of the Academy Award-nominated movies based on books by Ohio valley authors. All of these writers will eventually be profiled here at Buckeyemuse. The man who dominates the list here with two film adaptations is Indiana novelist Booth Tarkington. What…
Read MoreBorn March 1, 1837: William Dean Howells of Martin’s Ferry, Ohio.
Today is a big day here at Buckeyemuse. In addition to being the first day of the month when spring arrives in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s also William Dean Howells’ birthday. Howells is one of the most important of Ohio’s literary lights. Novelist, editor, poet, short story writer, dramatist, promoter of realism in literature, Howells…
Read MoreRemembering Erma Bombeck: 1927-1996
Erma Bombeck was born on this date–February 21–in 1927 in Bellbrook, Ohio. She was a best-selling author, humorist, and newspaper columnist whose syndicated columns were popular throughout the United States. She wrote about the challenges of daily life, family, and motherhood with wit and compassion in a straightforward and low-key style that resonated with readers…
Read MoreHappy 83rd Birthday to Toni Morrison!
Happy Birthday to Toni Morrison, born in Lorain, Ohio on February 18, 1931, and one of only six Americans to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Toni Morrison will be profiled on the pages of this blog in the coming week along with Thomas Merton and Erma Bombeck. Please stay tuned!
Read MoreZane Grey and the Western Dream
Zane Grey. The name itself can conjure images of dusty arroyos, gunfighter villains, square-jawed cowboys and frontier heroines. And yet one of the most prolific and financially successful American writers of western novels—in fact, one of the creators of the western as we know it—was born in Zanesville, Ohio on January 31, 1872. His works…
Read MorePolar Vortex, Winesburg, Ohio-style
“By nine o’ clock of that evening snow lay deep in the streets and the weather had become bitter cold. It was difficult to walk about. The stores were dark and the people had crawled away to their houses. The evening train from Cleveland was very late but nobody was interested in its arrival. By…
Read MoreLouis Bromfield: The Land and The Man Were One
December 27 marks the birthday of Louis Bromfield, renowned Ohio author and conservationist. Louis Bromfield was born near Mansfield, Ohio on December 27, 1896. In his life he was not only a successful novelist, but also an agrarian spokesman who owned Malabar Farm, an experimental farm in Richland County now part of the Ohio park…
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