Today's Page: June 27th
27 Jun 2012 9:00
Lucille Clifton, Gaston Bachelard, and Lafcadio Hearn are the acclaimed authors who were born or died on a day like this.
Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton, born on a day like this in 1936, was an American writer and educator. Common topics in her poetry include the celebration of her African American heritage, and feminist themes, with particular emphasis on the female body. Her first poetry collection "Good Times" was published in 1969, and was listed by The New York Times as one of the year's 10 best books. Her series of Children's books about a young black boy began with 1970's "Some of the Days of Everett Anderson". From the years 1979 to 1985 she was Poet Laureate of the state of Maryland. Clifton passed away on February 13, 2010, aged 73.
Gaston Bachelard
Gaston Bachelard, born on a day like this in 1884, was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. He was an epistemologist and introduced the concepts of epistemological obstacle and epistemological break. In addition to epistemology, Bachelard's work deals with many other topics, including poetry, dreams, psychoanalysis, and the imagination. "The Psychoanalysis of Fire"(1938) and "The Poetics of Space"(1958) are among the most popular of his works. He passed away on October 16, 1962.
Lafcadio Hearn
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was an international writer. He was born on a day like this in 1850 in Lefkada, one of the Greek Ionian Islands. In the United States, Hearn is known for his writings about the city of New Orleans based on his 10-year stay in that city. Hearn's writings for the New Orleans newspapers included impressionistic descriptions of places and characters and many stern, vigorous editorials denouncing political corruption, street crime, violence, intolerance, and the failures of public health and hygiene officials. He also spent two years in Martinique and produced two books: "Two Years in the French West Indies" and "Youma, The Story of a West-Indian Slave", both in 1890. Hearn went to Japan with a commission as a newspaper correspondent, which was quickly terminated. It was in Japan, however, that he found a home and his greatest inspiration. Today, he is best known for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as "Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Thing". He passed away on September 26, 1904, aged 54.
