Monday, December 31, 2007
[1869 - Henri Matisse, impressionist painter, born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France]
[1880 - George C. Marshall, General, designer of Marshall Plan as U.S. Secretary of State, born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania]
[1908 - Simon Wiesenthal, architectural engineer, Nazi hunter, born in Butschatsch, Galicia]
[1943 - John Denver (Deutschendorf), singer, songwriter, born in Roswell, New Mexico]
[1967 - Green Bay Packers win NFL championship over Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 in Ice Bowl]
Strike Stricken
For most of the past two months William has declined to publish new material in solidarity with his brothers and sisters in the Writers Guild of America. This has not been an easy task. Writers write, and although we like to pretend that we do not care if anyone reads our stuff, that is just whistling in the dark. Not writing at all is unthinkable. Writing without publishing takes more discipline than William possesses.
Following the recent announcement that Letterman had reached agreement with the writers in his own production company to create new material, it occurred to William that since he was his own production company, publisher, editor, marketing director, financial backer, chief cook, and bottle washer, he might follow the same path. As a consequence of this insight, William is pleased to announce that as a result of an all-night negotiating session, he also has reached agreement to resume publication of new (and improved) Almanack entries. For those of you who were holding your breath, please feel free to exhale.