Birthdays: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749), Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (1864), Robert Duvoison (1904), Sir John Betjeman (1906), Robertson Davies (1913), Tasha Tudor (1915), Jack Vance (1916), Jack Kirby (1917), Janet Frame (1924), Allan Say (1937), Leo Tolstoy (1828), Vonda McIntyre (1948), Rita Dove (1952),

John Betjeman was the British Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984.

J.W. von Goethe was most known for his work “Faust”

Mark Howe won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for “Barrett Wendell and his Letters”

Jack Vance won his first Hugo Award in 1963 and his most recent in 2010.

Jack Kirby was the co-creator of the Captain America character.

Allen Say won the Caldecott Award for “Grandfather’s Journey”

Vonda McIntyre won the Nebula Award in 1997 for “The Moon and the Sun”

Rita Dove was the US Poet Laureate from 1993-1995 and won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Quote: “The less a writer discusses his work and himself the better. The master chef slaughters no chickens in the dining room; the doctor writes prescriptions in Latin; the magician hides his hinges, mirrors, and trapdoors with the utmost care.” – Jack Vance

Tip: Learn what a contraction is and how to use apostrophes with them: it’s (for it is) vs. its (possessive form – belonging to it).

Jumpstart: If you think this place is all happiness and smiles, you’re so wrong… so, so wrong. Appearances can be very deceiving. Let me tell you…