Tag Archives: The Coolest People in Books

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Work

From Bruce Anecdotes Work • Sylvia Plath worked hard to be a writer. She once spoke about wearing out the roller of her typewriter in only one year. This astonished David Ross, who was a friend of Ms. Plath’s husband, Ted … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Funny | Tagged , | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Work

Work • When young-people’s author Richard Peck was drafted to serve as a soldier during the Korean War (although he actually served in what was then West Germany), he soon discovered the value of literacy. He had a college degree, and … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books, Funny | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — War, Work

War • David Thomson, the historian and critic and author of the New Biographical Dictionary of Film, was a child during World War II. He lived in London, but his mother tried to take him to live in the country because … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books, Funny | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Travel, Typewriters, Valentine’s Day, War

Travel • Noah Webster is famous for his spelling book and for his dictionary. Because during and for a while after the American Revolutionary War, the British were the bad guys, he changed some English spellings to create American spellings. For … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Problem-Solving, Public Speaking, Religion

Problem-Solving • When novelist Walter Tevis (author of The Hustler, The Color of Money, and The Man Who Fell to Earth) was in the United States Navy, the sailors would wash their jeans by tying them to a rope, then dragging … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books, Funny | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving • When Andrea Levy was very close to finishing her novel Small Island, she worried about losing the document, although she carried three copies of it in her handbag and kept a copy in her car as well as kept … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Funny | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Practical Jokes, Prejudice, Problem-Solving

Practical Jokes • Screenwriter and playwright Charles MacArthur was a good chess player, and he often played chess at his club. When he met someone new there, he would pretend to be chess grandmaster José Capablanca, affect a Spanish accent, then … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Politics, Practical Jokes

Politics • In France (at least until recently), politicians and civil-service workers were expected to be well read. In 2006, French President Nicholas Sarkozy got book lovers angry at him when he suggested that civil service entrance exams should not … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books, Funny | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Nobel Prize, Old Age, Poetry

Nobel Prize • Through a fight, Pablo Neruda learned that his poetry was becoming popular. Two young men were arguing on a dance floor, so Mr. Neruda told them to stop arguing and let the other people enjoy themselves. As the … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books, Funny | Tagged | Leave a comment

David Bruce: The Coolest People in Books — Names

Names • Elliot S! Maggin wrote many stories featuring Superman and Green Arrow. How did he get the exclamation point in his name? The first time it was a typo, but an editor named Julius Schwartz saw and liked the typo, … Continue reading

Posted in Anecdotes, Books, Funny | Tagged | Leave a comment