Mr. Daniels was principal of Wellwood Elementary school, in Pikesville, Maryland, when I was a 5th grade student there on September 28, 1960. Baseball fans will remember that day as the day of Ted Williams' historic last at bat (which, as you pointed out, is artfully recorded in that piece from John Updike in the New Yorker: "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu - Ted Williams’s last game at Fenway Park.") Mr. Daniels was a strict disciplinarian, who ran the school somewhat like a military operation. (A severely bald man in his 40s, we called him "Old Marblehead" behind his back.) We were not permitted to talk in the hallways and had to march in a straight single file while exiting at the end of the school day. But it was near the end of the school day when - incredibly - over the school intercom - the radio broadcast of Ted Williams' historic last at bat in Boston (versus my beloved Orioles) was piped live into every classroom! And of course Williams homered. Even we stunned Baltimore Orioles fans had to applaud. Thanks, Mr. Daniels, for allowing us to witness an unforgettable, heroic event.
TWA has been part of my morning ritual since the 1990s, and I'd hate to see it go. And I would especially hate to see it go before it finally saw the light and announced on July 26 that "It's the birthday of writer Norman Zierold." You see, every year for the past, what?, thirteen years, I've submitted this wonderful author for consideration of mention on TWA, but to no avail. He is no longer with us, but was an award winning author. Read his book "That Reminds Me" and see if you agree he should be cited along with the other birthday celebrants such as G.B. Shaw, Aldous Huxley and Jean Shepard.
Oh no, please don’t stop the Almanac. I read the daily poems out loud every day….it’s helped me learn to love and appreciate poetry.
Mr. Daniels was principal of Wellwood Elementary school, in Pikesville, Maryland, when I was a 5th grade student there on September 28, 1960. Baseball fans will remember that day as the day of Ted Williams' historic last at bat (which, as you pointed out, is artfully recorded in that piece from John Updike in the New Yorker: "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu - Ted Williams’s last game at Fenway Park.") Mr. Daniels was a strict disciplinarian, who ran the school somewhat like a military operation. (A severely bald man in his 40s, we called him "Old Marblehead" behind his back.) We were not permitted to talk in the hallways and had to march in a straight single file while exiting at the end of the school day. But it was near the end of the school day when - incredibly - over the school intercom - the radio broadcast of Ted Williams' historic last at bat in Boston (versus my beloved Orioles) was piped live into every classroom! And of course Williams homered. Even we stunned Baltimore Orioles fans had to applaud. Thanks, Mr. Daniels, for allowing us to witness an unforgettable, heroic event.
TWA has been part of my morning ritual since the 1990s, and I'd hate to see it go. And I would especially hate to see it go before it finally saw the light and announced on July 26 that "It's the birthday of writer Norman Zierold." You see, every year for the past, what?, thirteen years, I've submitted this wonderful author for consideration of mention on TWA, but to no avail. He is no longer with us, but was an award winning author. Read his book "That Reminds Me" and see if you agree he should be cited along with the other birthday celebrants such as G.B. Shaw, Aldous Huxley and Jean Shepard.
I am a great lover of Writer's Almanac. Perhaps I am reading it for the past 15 years. I discovered many a great poem through Almanac only.