Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850. He was a frail child, who was greatly influenced by his father’s punishments and by his nurse’s horrifying tales of demons.
Stevenson refused to follow the family profession of engineering and chose law when he went to the University of Edinburgh to study. But he soon gave that up and turned to writing, which his poor health could not deter.
After he married an American woman, Stevenson and his devoted wife traveled throughout the world trying to improve his delicate health while he continued his writing. In the four years between 1883 and 1887, Stevenson wrote his four longest and greatest novels: Treasure Island, The Black Arrow, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Kidnapped, and his famous book of poems, A Child’s Garden of Verses.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was born in a nightmare, but Stevenson remembered enough of it when he awoke to get it down on paper. Within three days he had the entire first draft written. He intended this book not only as a “thriller,” but also as a study of good and evil, which are always at war within man.
Stevenson and his family spent his last years on the South Pacific island of Samoa where he continued his writing until he collapsed and died in 1894 at the young age of forty-four.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Love and New Beginnings
The essence of life is renewal. If we are truly alive, we are re-born everyday. We cannot assimilate even the most insignificant thing without being affected by the experience. Every minute offers the potential for newness and discovery, for realization and actualization, for new opportunities to love and be loved.
We spend most of our lives among the same people day in and day out. On the surface, they appear unchanging and it does not occur to us that perhaps beneath their surface a whole world of change may be going on, undetected and unappreciated.
Even if we resist change, it is said that at the moment we are born we are already moving on our inevitable path to death. It is no secret that our bodies undergo dramatic changes. It should be acceptable that our minds, our tastes, our opinions, our beliefs and our dreams are also changing each day.
Lovers know that they can never assume anything about the people they love. They must allow each person, each object, each day, each moment, to tell its own story. They know that their senses may betray them, but that through love they are encouraged toward the acceptance of a lifetime of new beginnings.
Speak about the environment of love, if we are wise, we strive to create our loving environment. We are content where passion does not overshadow fondness; where physical needs are no more important than emotional needs. Differences are celebrated here, not just tolerated, and respect grows instead of being allowed to erode. This is a place where there is real sharing rather than indifference. This loving environment encourages when nothing else does and nourishes like nothing else can.
We spend most of our lives among the same people day in and day out. On the surface, they appear unchanging and it does not occur to us that perhaps beneath their surface a whole world of change may be going on, undetected and unappreciated.
Even if we resist change, it is said that at the moment we are born we are already moving on our inevitable path to death. It is no secret that our bodies undergo dramatic changes. It should be acceptable that our minds, our tastes, our opinions, our beliefs and our dreams are also changing each day.
Lovers know that they can never assume anything about the people they love. They must allow each person, each object, each day, each moment, to tell its own story. They know that their senses may betray them, but that through love they are encouraged toward the acceptance of a lifetime of new beginnings.
Speak about the environment of love, if we are wise, we strive to create our loving environment. We are content where passion does not overshadow fondness; where physical needs are no more important than emotional needs. Differences are celebrated here, not just tolerated, and respect grows instead of being allowed to erode. This is a place where there is real sharing rather than indifference. This loving environment encourages when nothing else does and nourishes like nothing else can.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Classic Authors Johann Rudolf Wyss & Lyman Frank Baum
Johann Rudolf Wyss was born in Bern, Switzerland on March 13, 1781. He was the son of a pastor who entertained young Johann and his brothers at bedtime with adventure tales of a shipwrecked preacher and his family.
Johann had a fine education at several German universities, and in 1806 he became a professor at the University of Bern and also its head librarian. But Professor Wyss never lost his love of literature. This led to his collecting and editing Swiss folk stories and to his writing of the Swiss national anthem. But it wasn’t until 1813 that Johann Wyss gained worldwide fame when he wrote, edited, and published his father’s bedtime stories under the title of The Shipwrecked Preacher and His Family: An Instructional Book for Children and Their Friends in City or Country. This was later to be shortened to the now famous Swiss Family Robinson.
Immediately after its publication, The Swiss Family Robinson was translated into many languages, including English. Over the years, it has become one of the most popular books for generations of European and American children-a popularity which Wyss lived to see and enjoy until his death in 1830.
Lyman Frank Baum was born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York. He began his writing career as a teenage reporter for the New York World. Within two years, he was the publisher of a small town newspaper in Pennsylvania.
As a young man, Baum also acted in road companies and wrote plays. One of his musical comedies was produced in New York. He returned to journalism in 1880. Lyman Baum married and had four sons. He settled in Chicago where he founded a trade journal, which helped him to support his family while he continued writing fiction.
The Wizard of Oz, which was first published in 1900, became so popular among its readers that Baum wrote thirteen sequels to the original story. In addition, he wrote books for girls under the pen name of Edith Van Dyne. L. Frank Baum died in 1919.
Johann had a fine education at several German universities, and in 1806 he became a professor at the University of Bern and also its head librarian. But Professor Wyss never lost his love of literature. This led to his collecting and editing Swiss folk stories and to his writing of the Swiss national anthem. But it wasn’t until 1813 that Johann Wyss gained worldwide fame when he wrote, edited, and published his father’s bedtime stories under the title of The Shipwrecked Preacher and His Family: An Instructional Book for Children and Their Friends in City or Country. This was later to be shortened to the now famous Swiss Family Robinson.
Immediately after its publication, The Swiss Family Robinson was translated into many languages, including English. Over the years, it has become one of the most popular books for generations of European and American children-a popularity which Wyss lived to see and enjoy until his death in 1830.
Lyman Frank Baum was born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York. He began his writing career as a teenage reporter for the New York World. Within two years, he was the publisher of a small town newspaper in Pennsylvania.
As a young man, Baum also acted in road companies and wrote plays. One of his musical comedies was produced in New York. He returned to journalism in 1880. Lyman Baum married and had four sons. He settled in Chicago where he founded a trade journal, which helped him to support his family while he continued writing fiction.
The Wizard of Oz, which was first published in 1900, became so popular among its readers that Baum wrote thirteen sequels to the original story. In addition, he wrote books for girls under the pen name of Edith Van Dyne. L. Frank Baum died in 1919.
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