Over the weekend, a historic date slipped by, but not unnoticed, the anniversary of the first published issue of Life Magazine, at least the Life Magazine that most of us Baby Boomers, and pre-Boomers are familiar with.  I love coming across old Life Magazines when I attend historic book and paper auctions, and can imagine how many early photographers also loved the publication, because it was all about presenting news and entertainment in a photographic context.

Take a moment to imagine what it must have been like…we’re talking November of 1936, there were no televisions, and if you wanted to see news, you may have been able to view a brief newsreel before a feature presentation at the movies, but there was nothing like Life Magazine to bring visual images from around the world, and in the USA, into the living room.  Life was immensely popular, at it’s height, had a readership of 8+million readers.  At that time, the magazine gave you a visual of what you were hearing about on the radio.  So different than our present time, when we are on “information overload” if that is possible.

Google has recently started an archive of popular Life Magazine photographs categorized by year, a wonderful resource.

Here’s to LIFE!

72 years ago today one of the most loved novels of all time was published, “Gone With the Wind”. The book was my favorite kind of book, many pages with a story that I never wanted to end. I have watched the movie more times than I can count, living vicariously the trials faced by Scarlett O’Hara during the Civil War era on her Plantation in the beautiful south.

I remember thinking her statement, repeated often throughout the movie and book when flustered by a problem she could not solve. “oh, I’ll think about this tomorrow” such a wise thing…perhaps this is why I am a master procrastinator - LOL! Of course there were her self-serving relationships with men, and her famous romantic relationship with Rhett Butler, played by the dashing Clark Gable in the movie. Even as I type this, I’m wanting to pull out my old video cassettes (no, haven’t purchased it on DVD yet) or better yet, my old copy of the book, and read it again.

Margaret Mitchell started the book while she was recovering from an injury and had little else to occupy her time, except to be inspired by the stories she had heard while growing up, so she began typing, and the rest is history. I’m sure that is one injury that she was thankful for in the end!

The book and DVD are available below. The DVD set is the more economical 2 DVD set, there is also a deluxe edition with 4 DVD’s, just do a search for Gone With the Wind in the DVD category, and you’ll find it if you want the more expensive edition.

Am I the only girl that dreamed of the day when she would one day own a horse? I loved horses and reading any book I could get my hands on that had anything to do with horses, so reading “Black Beauty” was a natural for me.

So, may I just say thanks to the wonderful author, Anna Sewell, born this day in 1820, for capturing the imagination of a girl like me, and yes, I did realize my dream and did own a beautiful horse for a few years after graduating from High School.

Today is Dr. Seuss’ birthday, he was born in 1904, and I remember well many of his books, including The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and so many other books that made learning to read a fun experience for young…and old!

January is National Braille Literacy Month. Authors and writers, you have Louis Braille to thank for this wonderful system of reading with fingertips that he designed. He was born on the 4th of January in 1809, so this month is set aside to honor his achievement.

He sustained an eye injury that left him blind, which lead to his desire to discover a method of reading for the blind. You will find more information about this great man, and other things related to Braille at the Louis Braille School site.