Monday, August 24, 2015

Sci-fi writer’s double life

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The American science fiction writer, Alice B. Sheldon, aka James Tiptree, Jr., was born a century ago today. She is revered among sci-fi fan...

Calhoun in the Black Hills

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James or Jimmi Calhoun, soldier in the US Army, was born 170 years ago today. He married George Custer’s sister, and was transferred to Cust...
Sunday, August 23, 2015

Happy Birthday Roy

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Roy Strong, 80 today, was once such a precocious and brilliant arts administrator that he was appointed the youngest ever director of, first...
Saturday, August 15, 2015

My imagination flies

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‘I just said - “My imagination flies, like Noah’s dove, from the ark of my mind . . . and finds no place on which to rest the sole of her fo...
Friday, August 14, 2015

Shooting with Antonioni

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‘I fall into bed exhausted. I dream that Jeanne Moreau wants to come out of the painting too, but for some reason I can’t do it for her. I k...
Thursday, August 13, 2015

Missing Tom and Kate

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Today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of the British mountain climber, Alison Hargreaves. Having scaled Everest without the aid of s...
Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The Hookers of Kew

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Sir William Jackson Hooker, one of the most important British botanists of the 19th century, died 150 years ago today. The anniversary is be...
Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Along the Rocky river

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Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edward John Eyre, a rather extraordinary character who travelled to Australia when still a...
Saturday, August 1, 2015

The slurs of vessel owners

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‘The trial comes on this week. I am to defend the mate; and that I can do with a clear conscience, for I believe him innocent even of an unj...