“If you practice an art, be proud of it and make it proud of you It may break your heart, but it will fill your heart before it breaks it; it will make you a person in your own right.”-Maxwell Anderson (born 15 December 1888)
Charles Laughton (died 15 December 1962) by Carl Van Vechten. 1940.
Frances Marion in Photoplay, 1918:
Frances Marion, “caught” in the act of writing.
“Life is a disease, and death begins already at birth. Every breath, every heartbeat, is a moment of dying-a little shove toward the end.”-Erich Maria Remarque (died on 25 September 1970)
Stars of the Photoplay, 1924: Mary Astor (died on 25 September 1987)
This is the reading nook in my mother’s jewel-box apartment:
A spot of Sunday reading: cocktail mandatory.
Isn’t it a slice of lovely bohemianism? I’m borrowing it for the evening, along with a delectable city view and cooling wind. See you tomorrow!
My morning read:
Change Lobsters-and Dance by Lilli Palmer
Today is the talented, gracious, lovely Maureen O’Hara’s 94th birthday. Her fabulous memoir, ‘Tis Herself, was published in 2004. (See–this is sort of book-related.) It is a must-read for any fans of Classic Hollywood.
Maureen O’Hara, 1940s. She never gave a bad or false performance.
Enchanting Irish actress Maureen O’Hara in The Black Swan, 1942.
“Being an Irishwoman means many things to me. An Irishwoman is strong and feisty. She has guts and stands up for what she believes in. She believes she is the best at whatever she does and proceeds through life with that knowledge. She can face any hazard that life throws her way and stay with it until she wins. She is loyal to her kinsmen and accepting of others. She’s not above a sock in the jaw if you have it coming. She is only on her knees before God. Yes, I am most definitely an Irishwoman.”-Maureen O’Hara, ‘Tis Herself
This week keeps getting worse, celebrity-wise.
Lauren Bacall: 16 September, 1924-12 August 2014.
“Imagination is the highest kite that can fly.”-Lauren Bacall, By Myself and Then Some
Billie Burke (born 7 August 1884) in Overland Monthly, February 1909
“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.”-Rabindranath Tagore (died 7 August 1941)
Please welcome the newest member of my book family. A Western with a lovely cover, it’s at least mildly appropriate that I bought it at the State Fair. Note: The Antique Barn is next to the building where they display chickens, ducks, turkeys, and rabbits.
The Winning of Barbara Worth by Harold Bell Wright. It was first published in 1911.
Fifteen years later, it was turned into a silent film starring Vilma Banky, Ronald Colman, and a fresh upstart named Gary Cooper in his first substantive role (but more on that another day).
“Not a line of Jefferson Worth’s countenance changed as the tall surveyor, pushing his way through the crowd about the new arrivals, greeted him. But Abe Lee felt the man from behind his gray mask reaching out to grasp his innermost thoughts and emotions.”-The Winning of Barbara Worth, Harold Bell Wright
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”-Oscar Wilde
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 