Birthdays: Hendrik Van Loon (1882), Hugh Lofting (1886), John dos Passos (1896), Emily Hahn (1905), Tillie Olsen (1913), Dudley Randall (1914), John Killens (1916), Kenneth Bulmer (1921), Yukio Mishima (1925), Thomas Tryon (1926), Taylor Branch (1947), Eric Maisel (1947), John Lescroart (1948), Mary Robison (1949), Arthur Cover (1950), Maureen Dowd (1952), Anchee Min (1957), David Beren (1957)

Quote: “I make no claim to be an authority on writing or illustrating for children. The fact that I have been successful merely means that I can write and illustrate in my own way.” – Hugh Lofting (creator of Doctor Dolittle)

Hendrik Van Loon won the first Newbery Award in 1922 for his children’s book “The Story of Mankind”
John Dos Passos is best known for his USA Trilogy

Taylor Branch won the Pulitzer Prize for History for “Parting the Waters: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement 1954-63”

A lot of new-to-me authors in this batch today. I’ve heard of Lofting and Dos Passos, but not many of the others. I find it interesting, though, looking at “famous” authors and learning about them.