What is the 1 Funny Decision That Makes It Difficult to Plan Your Day?

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From Denny: Author E. B. White is best known for his children's books he wrote for his nieces and nephews. One of the most famous is Charlotte's Web.

Do you know much about him other than the books? He was born in New York state in 1899. He went into the Army and after the Army he attended Cornell University. He wrote for the college newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun.

What was his real name? It was Elwyn Brooks White and his nickname was Andy at his college newspaper where people just starting calling him that and the name stuck over the years.

After graduation, White went to work as a reporter in 1927 for The New Yorker Magazine and became quite famous. He also wrote a column for the prestigious Harper's Magazine from 1938 to 1943.

White decided to strike out on an unusual tangent for a newsman of his time period and start writing down tales for his nieces and nephews who kept begging him to tell them stories. He thought it great fun and indulged them. Children and parents today benefit from his pastime of story telling. By 1945 White started publishing these stories as small books. Now the "rest is history" as the saying goes and his stories are considered classic children's literature.

By 1957, he and his wife Katherine picked up and moved to Maine where he continued his writing. He died in 1985 at the ripe old age of 86.

Did you know White was terribly shy about giving a speech, reading aloud or reciting a poem aloud as a child in school? He was embarrassed to speak in public (a phobia most people share). He used to write his speeches for class and then beg someone else to read them aloud for him. Now that's shy! Good thing the man could write. He also shared with us a wonderful sense of humor as indicated by today's quote from him.

Quote

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E. B. White (1899 - 1985)


Oh, and in case you are interested for your children or grandchildren, nieces and nephews, I found several titles of his books, including some for adults on writing style, and placed them in the Beautiful Illustrated Quotations Store. There are so many versions available. I always wonder what an author from another time period - before our current technology - would think of their books recycled in various forms like this... Who knows what tomorrow will bring for the writers of today's blogs? That will prove interesting to see how the future markets our writing of today!