Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American writer, mainly of short stories, most notably the collection Winesburg, Ohio.
He was born in Camden, Ohio, the third child of Erwin M. Anderson and Emma S. Anderson. After his father's business failed, they were forced to move frequently, finally settling down at Clyde, Ohio in 1884. The family difficulties led the father to begin drinking heavily, while the mother died in 1895. Partly because of this, Anderson was eager to take on odd jobs, some of which was to help his family.
He moved to Chicago, Illinois near his brother Clyde's home. He worked as a manual laborer until near the turn of the century, when he enlisted in the US Army and participated in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. After the war, he worked with his brother at a publishing company in Springfield, Ohio. In 1900, Anderson attended the Wittenburg Academy. Eventually, he secured a copywriter job in Chicago, where he was highly successful. In 1904, he married Cornelia Lane, the daughter of a wealthy Ohio family.
He fathered three children, and moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he managed a mail-order business and paint manufacturing firms. However, in November 1912, he went missing, but reappeared four days later after having a mental breakdown. He described this as "escaping from his materialistic existence", which garnered praise from many other writers, who used his "courage" as an example. He moved back to Chicago, working again for the publishing and advertisement company.
In 1914, he divorced Cornelia Lane and married Tennessee Mitchell. That same year, his first novel, Windy McPherson's Son, was published. Three years later, his second major work, Marching Men, was published. However, he is probably most famous for his collection of works, which he began in 1915, known as Winesburg, Ohio. His themes are compared to those of T.S. Eliot and many other such modernists. Although his short stories, especially those mentioned, were very successful, he felt the need to write novels. In 1920, he published Poor White, a rather successful novel. He wrote various novels, before divorcing Mitchell in 1922 and marrying Elizabeth Prall, two years later.
However, this marriage failed, and Anderson married Eleanor Copenhaver in the late 1920s. They traveled and studied often together. In the 1930s, he published Death in the Woods, Puzzled America (a book of essays), and Kit Brandon, which was published in 1936. Although he was much less influential in this final writing period, many of Anderson's more significant lines of prose were present in these works, which were generally considered sub-par (compared to his others). He died in Panama of peritonitis brought on by swallowing a toothpick.
|
Category: Fire Rat - Ping Tzu
Leave comment
here
Shirley Bassey
Known to Americans most for her belting rendition of the theme to Goldfinger, the 1964 edition in the James Bond series (as well as 1971's Diamonds Are Forever and 1979's Moonraker), Shirley Bassey was one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century. Known as Bassey the Belter and also the Tigress of Tiger Bay, her early career in touring shows and cabaret brought her a recording contract with Philips by the late '50s. After reaching the top of the British charts in 1959 with "As I Love You" and later "Reach for the Stars/Climb Every Mountain," Bassey was tapped to swing the theme song to the third James Bond vehicle. Her voice, brassy and sexy, conveyed the James Bond myth perfectly and became a big hit in America. Though later chart placings in the U.S. were few, she continued to do well in Great Britain, France and the Netherlands into the mid-'70s.
Born in January 1937 in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, Shirley Bassey was the youngest of seven children. Her parents, a Nigerian sailor and an English woman, divorced before she was three years old, but they kept the family together for the most part, and Shirley was able to sing duets with her brother at family get-togethers. After finishing school, she found a job at a local factory, and earned extra money singing at men's clubs after-hours. Bassey traveled around the country in revues during the early '50s, and made her big breakout in 1955 at a London Christmas show given by comedian Al Read (though it was promoted by bandleader Jack Hylton, who had caught Bassey's act at the nearby Albany Club). Soon after, Shirley Bassey began appearing in Read's revue, Such Is Life. The show ran for over a year, and gained her a recording contract for Philips Records. "Banana Boat Song" hit the British Top Ten in early 1957, followed by her number one hits, 1959's "As I Love You" and 1961's "Reach for the Stars/Climb Every Mountain." A 1962 pairing with arranger Nelson Riddle increased her prestige in America, and a vaunted live show gained her headlining spots in both New York and Las Vegas during the early '60s. Popular recognition in the United States came in early 1965, when "Goldfinger" hit number eight in the American charts, instantly becoming her signature song across the Atlantic. (Strangely though, it missed even the Top 20 in Great Britain.)
Bassey's hits in the U.K. continued into the mid-'70s, led by Top Ten entries such as "Something," "For All We Know" and "Never Never Never." After the crowning achievement of her career, a 1977 Britannia Award for Best Female Solo Singer in the Last 50 Years, Shirley Bassey gained her own highly rated BBC-TV show in the late '70s, but gradually slowed down her busy schedule during the next decade. Semi-retired to Switzerland by 1981, she nevertheless emerged quite frequently, spurred by the recording of several television specials and LPs, including a 1987 date with the synth-pop group Yello. Bassey became much more visible during the '90s, opening a nightclub in Cardiff, and touring the world several times.
|
Category: Fire Rat - Ping Tzu
Leave comment
here
Silvio Berlusconi
Born September 29, 1936 in Milan, he is the current Prime Minister of Italy and is the leader of the Forza Italia political movement, a party which was established for his entry into politics.
Berlusconi served as Prime Minister for a short term in 1994. In 2001 he was appointed to the office again; the second Berlusconi government is the longest-lasting in Italy's republican history. On April 20 2005 Berlusconi tendered the resignation of his government after recent losses in regional elections and internal problems in his coalition, but on April 23 2005 he formed a new government without many changes.
He is also the owner and founder of an Italian media empire. According to Forbes Magazine, Silvio Berlusconi is Italy's richest person, with personal assets worth in excess of US$10 billion in 2004, at the time making him the world's 30th richest person [1] (#wp-endnote_forbes).
|
Category: Fire Rat - Ping Tzu
Leave comment
here
Sean Penn
Born: 17 August 1960
Birthplace: Burbank, California
Best Known As: Oscar-winning star of Mystic River
Sean Penn's film performances have earned him a reputation for dramatic intensity, but to many filmgoers he will always be remembered as Jeff Spicoli, the teenage stoner from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Penn made his movie debut in 1981's Taps (alongside Tom Cruise) and became known as a serious dramatic actor during the '80s, in films such as Bad Boys (1983) and At Close Range (1986, with Christopher Walken). His marriage to Madonna (1985-89) thrust Penn further into the spotlight, and he went from being known as an intense young actor to being known as an intense young actor who punched photographers (he even spent a brief time in jail for assault in 1987). In the '90s Penn tried to give up acting in favor of writing and directing; he made The Indian Runner (1991) and two films starring Jack Nicholson: The Crossing Guard (1995) and The Pledge (2000). He returned to the screen in 1993 to co-star with Al Pacino in Carlito's Way, then starred in Dead Man Walking (1995) and earned an Oscar nomination. He went on to be nominated again for Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and for I Am Sam (2001, with Dakota Fanning), and in 2004 he won his first Best Actor Oscar for Mystic River (2003, co-starring Tim Robbins).
Sean's younger brother, Christopher Penn, is also a film actor, and his older brother, Michael Penn, is a singer and songwriter... Penn is married to actress Robin Wright Penn.
|
Category: Fire Rat - Ping Tzu
Leave comment
here | | | |
he Sixty-Year Chinese Cycle directory:
