Flannery O'Connor wrote many short stories of very odd characters in the Deep South

It is the birthday of Southern writer Flannery O'Connor (1925), whose odd characters and themes of theology have won her a passionate following in literary circles. O'Connor was a devout Catholic surrounded by Southern Protestantism in Georgia. She wrote numerous short stories but only two novels, Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960). Her short story collections include A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955), Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965), and The Complete Stories (1971), which won the National Book Award. She died from lupus in 1964 at the age of 39.

French writer Roger Martin du Gard won the Nobel Prize, wrote of middle class family

It is the birthday of French writer Roger Martin du Gard (1881), who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1937. Du Gard's best known work is The World of the Thibaults, the story of two brothers from a well-to-do middle-class French family and their reactions to life in France before and after World War I. It is a multi-volume sweeping saga in the Tolstoy tradition, following the family throughout their lives and deaths.

Louis L'Amour, among the world's most popular writers, wrote of the American West

It is the birthday of writer Louis L'Amour (1908), whose tales of the American West have thrilled readers for generations. Scholars consider him one of the world's most popular writers. Though he was best known for his 89 novels and numerous short story collections, L'Amour also wrote two non-fiction works, Frontier (1984) and Education of a Wondering Man (1989), published after his death.

Norwegian poet Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House more performed than Shakespeare

It is the birthday of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828), who is considered one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. Ibsen's play A Doll's House (1879) is the most performed play in the world, beating out even Shakespeare's works for the distinction. The three-act drama concerns a woman who is leaving her husband to discover herself. Though it has become a favorite in feminist circles, Ibsen claimed no intention to write propaganda. He described his work as a "description of humanity."

Sir Richard Burton translated The Arabian Nights and The Kama Sutra into English

It is the birthday of British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821), who may be best remembered for translating the Arabian Nights stories from Arabic and, with linguist Foster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, the Indian love guides, the Kama Sutra (1883) and the Ananga Ranga (1895) from Sanskrit. Burton also explored East Africa and the Lake Tanganyika region and wrote Lake Regions of Equatorial Africa (1860).

John Updike won the Pulitzer Prize for two of his famous Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom novels

It is the birthday of novelist John Updike (1932), whose series of novels about Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom drew a picture of Protestant, middle class, small-town America. Four novels and a novella told the story of the angst-filled suburban life of a former high school basketball star in modern society. Updike won the Pulitzer Prize for each of the final two novels, Rabbit is Rich (1981) and Rabbit at Rest (1990). The others in the series were Rabbit, Run (1960), Rabbit Redux (1971), and Rabbit Remembered (2001), a novella.

Here's to Ireland's James Joyce, who lived abroad but returned to Dublin in his mind

For St. Patrick's Day, we take note of one of Ireland's greatest writers, James Joyce, whose experimental modernist novel, Ulysses, is considered one of the most important works in the movement. Joyce's character, Leopold Bloom, makes quite an epic day of it in Dublin in an adventure that cleverly mirrors Odysseus' travels in The Odyssey. Joyce spent most of his adult life living elsewhere, but his literary efforts drew on his native Dublin. Hoist one today for James Joyce.

Madame de La Fayette wrote France's first historical novel, about 16-year-old heiress

It is the birthday of French writer Madame de La Fayette (1634), who wrote France's first historical novel, La Princesse de Cléves (1678), a tale set in the court of King Henry II of France from October 1558 to November 1559. It concerns a 16-year-old heiress whose mother seeks a husband for her in the king's court. Scholars consider it to be the first psychological novel, in which the characters' inner thoughts are revealed. Many of the characters are historical figures, though the heroine is fictional. The novel presents a precise picture of life at court in the era.

Lady Augusta Gregory helped establish Ireland's Literary and Abbey theatres

It is the birthday of Lady Augusta Gregory (1852), who co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre with William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, and wrote several collections of stories from Irish mythology. When she was a child, her nanny sparked her interest in Irish folk tales. Poet and playwright Martyn was a neighbor in Galway, and Lady Gregory met Yeats on a visit to Martyn's castle. The three collaborated on founding the Irish Literary Theater in 1899. It lasted only a couple of years and closed because it ran out of money. In 1904, the trio collaborated with John Millington Synge, George William Russell, and others to establish the Irish National Theatre Society, which settled in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and still runs today. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World debuted there in 1907. Among Lady Gregory's books are The Pot of Broth (1903 (with Yeats), The Jackdaw (1902), Spreading the News (1904), The Gaol Gate (1906), The Doctor in Spite of Himself (1906), and Our Irish Theater (1913).

Max Shulman wrote popular novels, plays, and created the TV hit comedy Dobie Gillis

It is the birthday of humorist Max Shulman, who wrote several best-selling novels, Broadway productions, and screenplays but is best remembered for creating the character of the hapless teenager Dobie Gillis. The handsome young Gillis, who aspired to wealth, popularity, and the attention of girls, first appeared in Shulman's short stories in 1951 but also inspired a film, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1951). Shulman wrote about Dobie Gillis in I Was a Teen-Age Dwarf (1959) and wrote the scripts for a CBS sit-com The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963). Dwayne Hickman played Dobie Gillis on television. With Robert Paul Smith, Shulman wrote the script for the Broadway play The Tender Trap (1954). Shulman also wrote the libretto for the Broadway musical How Now, Dow Jones (1968). His books include (Barefoot Boy With Cheek (1943), The Zebra Derby (1946), Sleep Till Noon (1950), Rally Round The Flag, Boys! (1956), and Anyone Got a Match? (1964).

English novelist Sir Hugh Walpole wrote popular British romances in 1920s, 1930s

Hugh Walpole

It is the birthday of English novelist Sir Hugh Walpole (1884), whose  popular historical romance, Rogue Harries (1930), is set in 1730 in Cumberland, and tells the story of Francis Herries and her family who settle in a family estate there. Subsequent novels in the series, Judith Paris (1931), The Fortress (1932), and Vanessa (1933) bring the story of the family into the 20th century. Walpole believed the novels maintained the traditions and vitality of the English novel, though it explored nothing new. Walpole was a celebrated author in the 1920s and 1930s, and was in demand as a speaker in Britain and America. Early in his career, Henry James and Joseph Conrad, among others, encouraged his work. Virginia Woolf praised his attention to detail in his writing. In his novel, Cakes and Ale (1930), Somerset Maugham depicted him as superficial and ambitious. Kenneth Clark, T.S. Eliot and J.B. Priestly were among literary giants who sprung to Walpole's defense.  Two biographies, Walpole, Sir Hugh Seymour (1884-1941) (2004) and Hugh Walpole (1952), were published after his death.

Happy birthday to Beat writer Jack Kerouac: The only people for me are the mad ones ...

Jack Kerouac, Beat poet and author

It is the birthday of writer Jack Kerouac (1922), the iconoclast and Beat poet, whose epic On the Road was hailed as a literary achievement and brought him fame as the voice of a new generation. Kerouac considered himself a Catholic writer. "I'm not a beatnik," he once said. "I'm a Catholic." Biographer Douglas Brinkley said On the Road has been misinterpreted as story of a couple of friends in search of kicks. But, for Kerouac, it was a search for God. Every page of his diary had a prayer or a crucifix or an appeal to God to be forgiven. Kerouac lived with his mother in St. Petersburg when the last book published before his death, Vanity of Duluoz (1968), came out. He frequented such establishments as The Wild Boar in Tampa and The Flamingo in St. Petersburg. He died in St. Anthony's Hospital on October 21, 1969, the result of alcohol abuse. He was 47. A passage from On the Road, though written about others, may describe him best: "I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes Awww!"

Newspaperman Gene Fowler wrote screenplays, biographies, and memoirs

Gene Fowler

It is the birthday of legendary newspaperman Gene Fowler (1890), who worked for The Denver Post and famously interviewed Buffalo Bill Cody, asking impertinent questions about his numerous love affairs. As city editor at the Rocky Mountain News, he allegedly kept a pistol loaded with blanks to help sleepy reporters stay alert. Later, he was a colleague in New York of iconic sports writer Damon Runyon at Hearst newspapers. During his Hollywood years, he wrote 17 screenplays, most of them in the 1930s, including The Mighty Barnum (1934), The Call of the Wild (1934), A Message to Garcia (1936), White Fang (1936) and Nancy Steele is Missing! (1937). He was a close friend of W.C. Fields and John Barrymore, about whom he wrote a biography, Good Night, Sweet Prince: The Life and Times of John Barrymore (1944). He wrote other biographies and memoirs, including The Great Magoo (1933) (with Ben Hecht), Father Goose: The Story of Mac Sennett (1934), Beau James: The Life and Times of Jimmy Walker (1949), and Schnozzola: The Story of Jimmy Durante (1951).

Maurice Ravel's Boléro was originally written for a ballet but was used in three movies

It is the birthday of French composer Maurice Ravel (1875), whose Boléro (1928) was once held in disdain by critics and described as "a piece for orchestra without music." Ravel's Basque heritage (on his mother's side) influenced his music. His father was Swiss. Ravel toured the United States in 1928 and received an enthusiastic reception. He greatly admired jazz and included some elements in his works. He also admired George Gershwin, whom he met in New York. Boléro was originally written as a ballet for Russian ballerina Ida Rubinstein in 1928. It was also featured in Carole Lombard's 1934 film, Bolero, in the 1957 Mexican film, Raquel's Bolero, and in the 1980 Bo Derek film, 10.

One of Ring Lardner's short stories told of a couple's 1920s train trip to St. Petersburg

Ring Lardner, Sr.

It is the birthday of short story writer and sports columnist Ring Lardner (1885), whose use of American vernacular and wry sense of humor continues to endear him to readers 85 years after his death. In his teens, he began work at the South Bend Tribune, in a job he essentially stole from his brother, was also a sports writer. He started writing the nationally syndicated In the Wake of the News column at the Chicago Tribune in 1913, and became a household name. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 changed the way he wrote about sports and, especially, his beloved baseball. He felt betrayed by the Chicago White Sox, some of whom sold out the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. But he is most remembered for his humorous short stories, notably baseball yarns like You Know Me, Al (1914), a series of vernacular letters by a bush league pitcher, and Alibi Ike (1915), about a player, whose skill on the field was exceeded only by his penchant for making up excuses for his performance. One of Lardner's short stories, The Golden Honeymoon (1922), is the amusing tale of a retired couple who makes a trip on the train to St. Petersburg for vacation.