Victor Hugo, French author, b. 1802. I posted last year on Victor Hugo, one of the finest authors ever. How he could live a life full of illicit sexual affairs and confused politics (he kept changing sides, not difficult to do in France in the 1800’s) and still produce a book like Les Miserables, I do not know. God uses flawed vessels to produce great and true art.
It is my considered opinion that everyone should read Les Miserables at least once. If such a project is not possible, at least watch the musical version, Les Miz.
William Frederic Cody, American frontiersman and showman, b. 1846. Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show was a huge spectacle and a success in the U.S. and in Europe.

Pierre Auguste Renoir, Impressionist painter, b. 1841.

Cynthia Voigt, Newbery Award winning children’s author, b.1942. Author of Homecoming, Dicey’s Song, The Runner, and Seventeen Against the Dealer (among others). Voigt’s characters are so vivid and enjoyable to get to know. Dicey is an independent young lady, a little bit prickly, but fiercely committed to her two younger brothers and her younger sister. James, one of the brothers, is a genius, has great ideas, but he’s not always tuned in to what’s going on in the real world. Maybeth is just the opposite; she has a lot of difficulty learning, but she’s quite artistic and emotionally intelligent. Sammy, the youngest Tillerman, is all boy, somewhat belligerent, but good at heart. These four children come to live with their grandmother, an eccentric character in her own right. And they make friends with other people who have their own quirks and attitudes. These are great books.

Wilhelm Carl Grimm, b. 1786. While he and his brother Jacob were in law school, they began to collect folk tales. They collected, after many years, over 200 folk tales, including such famous ones as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, The Bremen Town Musicians, and Rumpelstiltskin. Both Wilhelm and Jacob were librarians.

True story: I once worked in the reference section of a library in West Texas. We often answered reference questions over the phone. One day a caller asked me, “How do you spell Hansel?” “H-A-N-S-E-L,” I replied. The patron thanked me and hung up. About an hour later, I heard one of the other reference librarians spelling into the phone, “G-R-E-T-E-L.”)

Samuel Lover, Irish humorist, songwriter, and author, b. 1797. I remember this song of his from elementary school choir:

I’m lonesome since I crossed the hill,
And o’er the moor and valley,
Such heavy thoughts my heart do fill,
Since parting with my Sally.
I’ll seek no more the fine and gay,
For each but does remind me,
How swift the hours did pass away,
With the Girl I left behind me.

Steven Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computer Company, b. 1955. For Computer Guru Son.

Samuel Pepys, public servant and diarist, b. 1633. Had he been born in the twentieth century, Pepys might have been a blogger. Then again, maybe not. He kept his famous diary from January 1, 1660 until May 1669 when he was forced to give up his journal because of fears that he was losing his eyesight. He wrote in a code or shorthand, so the very public nature of blogging might not have interested him. Pepys witnessed the coronation of Charles II (1661), the Plague of 1665, and The Great Fire of London (1666). He also mentioned famous people of the time such as Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Christopher Wren, and John Dryden, the playwright and poet.

If you would like to read Pepys Diary, one entry per day, on the internet, it has been made into a blog:

This site is a presentation of the diaries of Samuel Pepys, the renowned 17th century diarist who lived in London, England. A new entry written by Pepys will be published each day; 1 January 1660 was published on 1 January 2003. This site is run by Phil Gyford (who is far from an expert on Pepys) and questions and comments are more than welcome at phil-pepys@gyford.com.