Posted
on August 22, 2015
Today
I want to talk a bit about two American writers.
The
older of the two, Dorothy Parker, was on this date in 1893. She grew
up (in New York City!) to write poems, short stories, and
screenplays. She was also a critic and was well known for her satire
and other witty writing.
Parker
was a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table – a group of
writers and guests who met almost daily for lunch at the Algonquin
Hotel. She won two Academy Awards – one for writing the screenplay
for A Star Is Born – and she won the prestigious O. Henry
Award for one of her short stories.
So,
she was successful.
But
she is perhaps even more famous for getting involved with political
movements, and she promoted cicil liberties and civil rights
movements. She helped to start up the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League
before World War II, and she worked against Fascism in Spain, too,
heading the Spanish Children's Relief and Project Rescue Ship.
Actually, I cannot list all of the causes she worked on and leant her
name to – there were a lot!
All
that political action made her suspect to some. The FBI started
watching her, and Parker was considered to be a Communist by some
conservative forces in the U.S. We're talking the McCarthy era, here:
a time when people could just accuse you – without evidence! – of
being a “Commie” and end up ruining your career. Dorothy Parker
ended up being on the Hollywood blacklist for her political views.
When
Parker died, at age 73, she left all her money to Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. When he died, her money was passed on to the NAACP, an
organization that works for civil rights for people of color.
 |
| I bet, when Parker wrote that, she was thinking of ugliness as racism, misogyny, and other forms of bigotry! |
Bradbury
was born several decades after Parker, on this date in 1920, in
Illinois. Bradbury also lived in Tucson, Arizona, and Los Angeles,
California – reaching L.A. when Bradbury was 14 years old.
Bradbury
was excited to live in L.A., because he adored Hollywood. He joined
drama club at high school, and he often roller-skated through
Hollywood, hoping to meet celebrities.
Well,
young Bradbury-on-skates DID see stars! He even got to meet a few.
One was George Burns, who was a famous comedian and entertainer who
did vaudeville, movies, radio, and TV, working steadily for more than
75 years! As a matter of fact, Bradbury's first job as a writer was
working for Burns – and Bradbury got that job right away, at age
14!
Wow-za!
But
Bradbury's fame didn't come from comedy writing, but instead from
writing science fiction and horror. He's considered of the greatest
of the greats (although, I have to admit, his fiction is too weird
and even his sci-fi is too tinged with horror for my taste).
Some of Bradbury's most famous books are Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man.
I
found it interesting that Bradbury wrote every single day from age 12
on. Every. Single. Day! When he made that claim, he had already
written every single day for 69 years – and he died at age 91, so
I'm not sure, but it is possible that he wrote almost 29 THOUSAND
days in a row!!!
Wow-za
again!!
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