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Here are seven author shoutouts for this week. Find your favorite author or discover an author whose work you’ve not yet read.
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This Week’s Author Shoutouts
Molière
An Author Shoutout to Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, famously known as Molière, This remarkable playwright, born in Paris, France, enjoyed immense popularity during his era. Even now, he is widely regarded as one of the great masters of Western comedy. Molière’s comedic and satirical plays, including Tartuffe and The Misanthrope, continue to be beloved and frequently performed in contemporary theater.
He was a renowned actor who frequently starred in his own theatrical productions. Sadly, he was afflicted with pulmonary tuberculosis. Legend has it that he passed away shortly after experiencing a severe coughing fit and bleeding on stage during his final play, ironically named The Imaginary Invalid. He was 51 years old.
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag, the renowned writer, professor, and political activist, hailing from New York City, deserves an Author Shoutout. She fearlessly delved into various conflict-ridden regions such as Vietnam during the war and the Siege of Sarajevo, expressing her views through both her powerful words and personal experiences. Sontag’s extensive repertoire encompassed literature, photography, media, culture, AIDS, illness, war, human rights, and left-wing politics, all while disregarding the controversies that surrounded her remarkable body of work.
She was the recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award for her work On Photography in 1977 and later received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1990. In 2000, her novel In America won the National Book Award. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2004 at the age of 71 due to acute myelogenous leukemia.
Benjamin Franklin
An Author Shoutout to Benjamin Franklin, born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was an esteemed individual who excelled in a multitude of fields. He served as an author, printer, publisher, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father of the United States. In addition to his notable contributions such as inventing the lightning rod, bifocals, the odometer, and the glass harmonica, he also held lifelong membership in the Freemasons.
Unmarried, yet in a common-law relationship with a woman and having fathered an illegitimate son, he served as an ambassador to France and Sweden, held the esteemed position of the nation’s first postmaster, and assumed the role of President of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, he authored and published the clever Poor Richard’s Almanac, along with various other writings and periodicals. His autobiography, considered a timeless masterpiece, was published posthumously. In 1790, at the age of 84, he succumbed to pleurisy in Philadelphia.
A. A. Milne
An Author Shoutout to Alan Alexander Milne, commonly known as A. A. Milne, who was born in London, England. Despite being the brilliant mind behind the iconic Winnie-the-Pooh stories, Milne found himself frustrated by their overwhelming success, which often overshadowed his extensive body of work consisting of over 50 novels, plays, poetry collections, and various other artistic endeavors.
It is worth noting that he had various literary interactions throughout his life. Notably, during his time in public school, one of his teachers was H. G. Wells. Additionally, as a young man, he had the opportunity to play cricket alongside J. M. Barrie (the author of Peter Pan) and Arthur Conan Doyle (known for creating Sherlock Holmes). Sadly, A.A. Milne passed away at the age of 74 due to a stroke and subsequent brain surgery, which left him incapacitated.
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston, Massachusetts, deserves an Author Shoutout. He was an expert in the macabre, a supporter of short stories, and the creator of detective fiction. Additionally, he had a passion for cryptography and was a patron of the emerging genre of science fiction. His works, including The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Murders in the Rue Morgue, have solidified his position in the annals of literature.
He lost his parents at a young age (being taken in by a family named Allen), never completed his college education, wed his 13-year-old cousin in his twenties (she passed away after 11 years), and became the first prominent American writer to sustain himself solely through his literary work. At the age of 40, he died under unclear (some deem it enigmatic) circumstances.
R.A. Salvatore
R.A. Salvatore, born in Leominster, Massachusetts, deserves an Author Shoutout. This highly productive writer of fantasy and science fiction has a remarkable record of selling over 15 million books in the USA. He gained significant recognition for his renowned Forgotten Realms novels, which are based on the widely popular Dungeons & Dragons campaign. This campaign, in turn, inspired the creation of the online role-playing game franchise with the same name, including beloved titles like Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, and the currently immensely popular Baldur’s Gate.
Salvatore has gained legendary status in the realms of gaming and fantasy literature solely due to his creation of the iconic dark elf character, Drizzt Do’Urden, who embodies the archetype of a heroic drow.
Casey McQuiston
Casey McQuiston, an American author specializing in new adult fiction romance novels, deserves an Author Shoutout. Their debut novel, Red, White & Royal Blue, has gained immense popularity, reaching the New York Times best-seller list. This captivating story revolves around the love affair between the son of the United States’ first female president and a prince from England.
McQuiston identifies as queer and non-binary, and prefers the use of they/them pronouns. They have shared that their motivation for writing romantic comedies featuring queer characters stems from their experience of attending a conservative evangelical Christian school during their formative years. By creating books that would have provided solace and connection during their own adolescence as a queer individual, McQuiston aims to alleviate the sense of isolation.
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