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The Writer's Almanac from Friday, July 5, 2013
"Wing Road" by Eamon Grennan, from What Light There Is and Other Poems. © North Point Press, 1989.
ORIGINAL TEXT AND AUDIO - 2013
It was on this day in 1937 that SPAM came onto the market. The canned meat product from Hormel Foods Corporation was given its name by a contest winner; the prize for his ingenuity was $100. On one occasion, a Hormel spokesperson said the name was short for "Shoulder of Pork and Ham"; on another, a company official said it was a conflation of the words "spice and ham." All sorts of parodic acronyms have circulated over the years, including "Something Posing As Meat."
On this day in 1954, Elvis Presley recorded his first rock and roll song and his first hit, "That's All Right (Mama)."
Today is the birthday of American artist Chuck Close, born in Monroe, Washington (1940). He had a rough childhood: He was dyslexic and didn't do well in school; his father died when Chuck was 11, and his mother developed breast cancer soon after. Their medical bills were so high that the family lost their house, and Close was bedridden for almost a year due to a serious kidney infection. He got through by drawing and painting, and took his first trip to the Seattle Art Museum soon after his father died.
He's become known for his enormous portraits, painted so realistically that they look like photographs. He had been painting them for 20 years before he finally figured out why he was so obsessed with these giant portraits: It's a way to remember them. He has a condition called "face blindness," which means he's unable to recognize individual faces.
In 1988, he was presenting an award in New York City when he began having chest pains. After the ceremony, he walked to the hospital across the street and collapsed in a seizure. An artery in his spine had ruptured, and he woke a quadriplegic. He's confined to a wheelchair, but through extensive physical therapy, he regained the ability to paint.
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It's the birthday of one of the most versatile artists of the 20th century, Jean Cocteau, born in Maisons-Laffitte, just outside Paris (1889). He wrote essays, poetry, and novels. He worked on ballets, operas, and movies as well. He was involved in early stages of surrealism and cubism. He was a friend of Picasso's and a friend of Marcel Proust's.
He said, "Style is a simple way of saying complicated things."
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®
Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80: Why you should keep on getting older by Garrison Keillor
Created just for fans as a keepsake from Garrison and available only in our store this wonderful gem on aging will tickle your funny bone!
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