Stuff that happened on April 17th Today is the birthday of novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder - he would be very old if he had lived.
Elvis was fired in 1952 from Lowe's theater for punching out
another usher who ratted on him because the concession girl was giving Elvis free candy. There is no word on what Elvis may have been giving the concession girl.
Ben Franklin died in Philly and not long after the Philly Cheesesteak was invented.
In 1586 John Ford a British Dramatist wrote "Tis A Pity She's A Whore" - something I'd wish I had written. They probably did not have censors back then, but my guess is they did soon afterward.
Petunia Pig, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd made their movie debuts in 1937. All went on to have big careers, but it was never clear exactly the relationship between the trio, though there were plenty of rumors of off-the-set shenanigans. And in spite of what most believe, Porky was never in the mix.
Larry McMurtry won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for "Lonesome Dove" and no Western has ever been the same since, and every writer of Westerns is still jealous.
The first Ford Mustang was introduced in 1964 and several cowboys were disappointed it was a car and not some new kind of horse.
To pay homage to April being National Poetry Month I've decided to insult all poets with the following:
HOW TO BECOME A POET
The way you become a poet is:
Start writing a novel and realize
A 3rd of the way through, or less,
You don’t have a novel in you,
Or, if it is in you, it won’t come
Out and probably should stay in you.
So then you decide that what you
Really ought to write are short stories
Because they don’t take as long to
Write as a novel, which means you
Can send them off to some editor
Somewhere and learn a lot sooner
If you are a writer of short stories
Or not. And when the rejection
Slips start coming in telling you
To go drive a truck or something,
You decide that short stories really
Aren’t your game after all, that
What you were really destined to
Become is a poet, because writing
Poems takes even less time than
Writing Short Stories. You tell
Yourself that you can write 2 or 3
Poems every day and send them
Off as soon as you finish them and
Thus become a poet practically overnight.
It feels good to write your thoughts
Down so quickly. Yes! Yes! Your
Heart screams. This is it! This is
Really what I was meant to do
All along and you tell everyone
You know that you’re a poet.
Until the poems start coming back
With rejection slips. Then you just
Don’t say anything to anyone when
They ask you what sort of writing you do.
(Because by now you’ve already told
Everyone that you are a writer),
But when pressed, you can always say
I write articles for Redbook and Good
Housekeeping and Ladies Home Journal
Tips and information on how to become
A better mom, lover, cook, person and
After that you just don’t go to the mailbox anymore.
http://www.authorbillbrooks.com/
