Jack London was born in San Francisco, California, on January 12, 1876. Even though he quit school at 14, London was a great reader. While still in his teens, he worked as a coal-shoveler, a jute mill worker, and an oyster pirate in America. And then as a seal hunter in Japan and Siberia.
Returning home from this expedition, London became a tramp and was jailed for vagrancy. In 1897, after the Gold Rush started, 21-year-old London went prospecting in Canada and Alaska. There, he learned about the lives of trappers, Indians, gold prospectors-and very importantly-sled-dogs. His experiences in the North formed the basis for many of his adventure books, especially his best-sellers, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf.
During his 17-year writing career, London wrote 50 books, novels, and short stories in addition to newspaper articles and political essays.
By the time he was 40, London had earned a million dollars through his writing, but his own personal suffering led him to leave man’s world, just as it led Buck, his Call of the Wild dog hero. And on November 22, 1916, Jack London committed suicide. He had experienced more of life than most people, and he told the world about it in a fascinating, vigorous, and memorable style.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Hispanic Icon Series 4
Roberto Clemente (1934-1972)
It has been decades since his unfortunate death, but Roberto is still remembered as one of the greatest athletes and humanitarians of all time. Roberto was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. During his 18-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1955-72), he compiled a lifetime batting average of 317 and was considered baseball’s premier defensive outfielder. After he obtained his 3,000th hit in the last game of the 1972 season, his life tragically cut short when he perished in a plane crash. On New Year’s Eve, Roberto’s plane was taking medical, food, and clothing supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. Despite bad weather, an unstable cargo plane, and the advice of his friends and family, Roberto was determined to take off. He was infuriated that the previous supplies had not made it to the victims. Roberto was going to personally see to it that the victims received the much-needed supplies. Unfortunately, the plane went down off the coast of Puerto Rico. Clemente’s body was never found. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.
Raúl Júlia (1944-1994)
Many theatergoers mourned Júlia when he passed away at the early age of 50. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico (1964), where he majored in drama, he moved to New York City to pursue a stage career. In the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared in a number of Broadway productions. He also worked steadily for the New York Shakespeare Festival. He was nominated for a Tony for his proposal of Macheath in Brecht’s The Three-Penny Opera (1978). Mr. Júlia created the role of Valentine in the Broadway musical, Two Gentlemen of Verona. In the 1970s, he began his movie career, which brought him great success in films such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Tequila Sunrise (1988), and The Addams Family I and II (1991 & 1993). In addition to his successful stage career, Júlia frequently appeared as a spokesperson for Puerto Rican tourism.
It has been decades since his unfortunate death, but Roberto is still remembered as one of the greatest athletes and humanitarians of all time. Roberto was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. During his 18-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1955-72), he compiled a lifetime batting average of 317 and was considered baseball’s premier defensive outfielder. After he obtained his 3,000th hit in the last game of the 1972 season, his life tragically cut short when he perished in a plane crash. On New Year’s Eve, Roberto’s plane was taking medical, food, and clothing supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. Despite bad weather, an unstable cargo plane, and the advice of his friends and family, Roberto was determined to take off. He was infuriated that the previous supplies had not made it to the victims. Roberto was going to personally see to it that the victims received the much-needed supplies. Unfortunately, the plane went down off the coast of Puerto Rico. Clemente’s body was never found. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.
Raúl Júlia (1944-1994)
Many theatergoers mourned Júlia when he passed away at the early age of 50. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico (1964), where he majored in drama, he moved to New York City to pursue a stage career. In the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared in a number of Broadway productions. He also worked steadily for the New York Shakespeare Festival. He was nominated for a Tony for his proposal of Macheath in Brecht’s The Three-Penny Opera (1978). Mr. Júlia created the role of Valentine in the Broadway musical, Two Gentlemen of Verona. In the 1970s, he began his movie career, which brought him great success in films such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Tequila Sunrise (1988), and The Addams Family I and II (1991 & 1993). In addition to his successful stage career, Júlia frequently appeared as a spokesperson for Puerto Rican tourism.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Hispanic Icon Series 3
Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero is one of the most influential contemporary artists in the world. Botero comes from a humble background in Medellín, Columbia. He has received numerous awards and his works have been exhibited in many of the major galleries and museums around the world. Botero is famous for his characteristic rotund figures. His manner is satirical, reflecting social commentary with a political overtone. In 1956, he taught at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Bogotá and traveled to Mexico to study the work of Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. In 1969, the Inflated Images exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York established him as one of the Masters of the Twentieth Century. Although at first impression his signature style seems purely esthetic, a deeper interpretation of his work suggests a mockery of the excesses of militarists, people of power and the morals and manners of the bourgeoisie.
Pedro Almodóvar
In 1988, Pedro Almodóvar received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film for his film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In 1999, Almodóvar took the film world by storm with his critical smash, All About My Mother. That year, he was awarded with a coveted Oscar and with the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Almodóvar’s outrageous films have no problems breaking taboos. A provocative director known for his compassionate portrayal of women and outcasts, he started his career as an amateur director while working at the Spanish telephone company in Madrid.
Fernando Botero is one of the most influential contemporary artists in the world. Botero comes from a humble background in Medellín, Columbia. He has received numerous awards and his works have been exhibited in many of the major galleries and museums around the world. Botero is famous for his characteristic rotund figures. His manner is satirical, reflecting social commentary with a political overtone. In 1956, he taught at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Bogotá and traveled to Mexico to study the work of Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. In 1969, the Inflated Images exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York established him as one of the Masters of the Twentieth Century. Although at first impression his signature style seems purely esthetic, a deeper interpretation of his work suggests a mockery of the excesses of militarists, people of power and the morals and manners of the bourgeoisie.
Pedro Almodóvar
In 1988, Pedro Almodóvar received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film for his film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In 1999, Almodóvar took the film world by storm with his critical smash, All About My Mother. That year, he was awarded with a coveted Oscar and with the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Almodóvar’s outrageous films have no problems breaking taboos. A provocative director known for his compassionate portrayal of women and outcasts, he started his career as an amateur director while working at the Spanish telephone company in Madrid.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Hispanic Icon Series 2
Desi Arnaz (1917-1986)
Desi Arnaz was instrumental in the creation and the production of one of the most beloved TV sitcoms ever made. Soon after Arnaz arrived in America at the age of 16, he joined the Siboney Septet and later put together his own rumba band. In 1940, Desi appeared in both the stage and movie versions of Too Many Girls. It was on the set of this movie where he met his future wife, Lucille Ball. Later that year, Desi and Lucille got married. When the couple came up with the idea for a TV Series, they fought to do it together in spite of the reluctance of the network’s executives: They didn’t think the TV series would work because Desi was Cuban. In the summer of 1950, they went on tour, performing for live audiences to prove that the show savings of $5,000. In no time, he and Lucy became the most famous couple in TV history. He convinced the show’s sponsor that Lucy having a baby on the show would give them great publicity. He was right. The Birth of Little Ricky drew 44 million viewers. As a successful executive at DesiLu productions, he also produced many other shows for television.
Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)
Buñuel was one of the greatest European directors of the 20th century. He was the founder of surrealist cinema, a man who enjoyed a career as diverse and contradictory as his films. He was a master of both silent and sound cinema, of documentaries as well as features. His greatest work was produced in the two decades after his 60th year, a time when most directors have either retired or gone into decline. Although frequently characterized as surrealist, many of his films were dramas and farces in the realist or neorealist mode. Yet despite all the innovations and permutations of his work, Buñuel remained surprisingly consistent and limited in the targets of his social satire: the Catholic Church, bourgeois culture, and fascism. His friends included several of Spain’s great artists and writers, including Salvador Dalí and Federico García Lorca. Some of his famous films are Un Chien Andalou 91928), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), That Obscure Object of Desire (1977), and Belle De Jour (19670, starring Catherine Deneuve.
Desi Arnaz was instrumental in the creation and the production of one of the most beloved TV sitcoms ever made. Soon after Arnaz arrived in America at the age of 16, he joined the Siboney Septet and later put together his own rumba band. In 1940, Desi appeared in both the stage and movie versions of Too Many Girls. It was on the set of this movie where he met his future wife, Lucille Ball. Later that year, Desi and Lucille got married. When the couple came up with the idea for a TV Series, they fought to do it together in spite of the reluctance of the network’s executives: They didn’t think the TV series would work because Desi was Cuban. In the summer of 1950, they went on tour, performing for live audiences to prove that the show savings of $5,000. In no time, he and Lucy became the most famous couple in TV history. He convinced the show’s sponsor that Lucy having a baby on the show would give them great publicity. He was right. The Birth of Little Ricky drew 44 million viewers. As a successful executive at DesiLu productions, he also produced many other shows for television.
Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)
Buñuel was one of the greatest European directors of the 20th century. He was the founder of surrealist cinema, a man who enjoyed a career as diverse and contradictory as his films. He was a master of both silent and sound cinema, of documentaries as well as features. His greatest work was produced in the two decades after his 60th year, a time when most directors have either retired or gone into decline. Although frequently characterized as surrealist, many of his films were dramas and farces in the realist or neorealist mode. Yet despite all the innovations and permutations of his work, Buñuel remained surprisingly consistent and limited in the targets of his social satire: the Catholic Church, bourgeois culture, and fascism. His friends included several of Spain’s great artists and writers, including Salvador Dalí and Federico García Lorca. Some of his famous films are Un Chien Andalou 91928), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), That Obscure Object of Desire (1977), and Belle De Jour (19670, starring Catherine Deneuve.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Hispanic Icon Series 1
Antonio Gaudí (1852-1926)
Gaudí was one of the world’s greatest architects. No trip to Barcelona is complete without visiting his majestic buildings, parks, and monuments. He studied at the School of Architecture in Barcelona, and became the most famous exponent of Catalán “modernism”, one of the branches of the Art Nouveau movement. He is best known for the extravagant and ornate Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona, which occupied him from 1884 until his death. The Sagrada Familia Church is a work in progress; it will take many years before Gaudí’s masterful and detailed designs come to fruition.
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
Federico García Lorca is Spain’s most deeply appreciated and highly revered poet and dramatist. His murder by the Nationalists at the start of the Spanish Civil War brought sudden international fame. He must now be bracketed with Machado as one of the two greatest poets Spain produced in the 20th century, and he is certainly Spain’s greatest dramatist since the 16th century. His reputation as a playwright rests mainly on the three “folk tragedies”: Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda Alba. The setting of this trilogy recalls some of his poetry, deeply associated with earth, blood, sex, water, fertility, death, and the moon. These plays are richly poetic, with an almost ritualized primitivism. They have captivated audiences around the world for decades.
Gaudí was one of the world’s greatest architects. No trip to Barcelona is complete without visiting his majestic buildings, parks, and monuments. He studied at the School of Architecture in Barcelona, and became the most famous exponent of Catalán “modernism”, one of the branches of the Art Nouveau movement. He is best known for the extravagant and ornate Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona, which occupied him from 1884 until his death. The Sagrada Familia Church is a work in progress; it will take many years before Gaudí’s masterful and detailed designs come to fruition.
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
Federico García Lorca is Spain’s most deeply appreciated and highly revered poet and dramatist. His murder by the Nationalists at the start of the Spanish Civil War brought sudden international fame. He must now be bracketed with Machado as one of the two greatest poets Spain produced in the 20th century, and he is certainly Spain’s greatest dramatist since the 16th century. His reputation as a playwright rests mainly on the three “folk tragedies”: Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda Alba. The setting of this trilogy recalls some of his poetry, deeply associated with earth, blood, sex, water, fertility, death, and the moon. These plays are richly poetic, with an almost ritualized primitivism. They have captivated audiences around the world for decades.
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