11,700 stories by "Trav S.D."
Something unprecedented happened this past weekend " I lucked into one of the hottest tickets in town. Also unprecedented: that I would want one the hottest tickets in town. But in this case…
I haven't tons to say about the English literary figure Robert Southey (1774-1843), but the fact that he was born a quarter of a millennium ago on this day seemed worth marking. Southey is i…
It's instructive to measure off anniversaries. Four years ago I wrote a piece noting the 60th anniversary of the "Birth of the Beatles". Brian Epstein began to manage them a year after that.…
This weekend I had an opportunity to catch an exhibition I'd been wanting to see at The Society of Illustrators, and wound up seeing three, two of which I didn't know I wanted to see, but it…
Today a celebration of music hall and vaudeville (and early screen) performer Ena Bertoldi (Beatrice Mary Claxton (1876-1906). Raised in a family of acrobats, Bertoldi made her debut at age …
Okay it's probably unseemly to be doing my third post about Illeana Douglas, the most recent having been about a month ago, but honestly it just shook out that way. And each post had a reaso…
The above depicts my much older first cousin in civvies outside his barracks during his tour of Vietnam, taken in 1972. I didn't ask permission to share it, so I won't name him, but since I …
On this day in 1974 (50 years ago today), Canadian comedian David Steinberg (b. 1942) got an excellent 32nd birthday present " Richard Nixon resigned. Despite having been inspired to become …
Today is opening day of the National Hobo Convention, a.k.a. Britt Hobo Days in the town of Britt, Iowa. The Convention was first held there in 1900, but first became an annual tradition in …
Fifty years ago today, when Philippe Petit made his famous tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center, I find it probable that he didn't do know that another a…
"I believe nothing of my own that I have ever written" " Charles Fort, 1874-1932 Yes, Charles Fort died in 1932. He is only "still living" in the sense that "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa …
August 5 was the birthday of Hollywood actor Robert Taylor (Spangler Brugh, 1911-1969) and, having mentioned him a couple of dozen times on this blog I feel obligated to give him his own ent…
Pin-up model, movie starlet, and golf hustler Jeanne Carmen (1930-2007) sometimes went as a blonde, sometimes as a brunette, but wherever she went, she was all gal! Haha, I made that up all …
August 4 was my late mother's birthday; it also happens to be National Psychics Day, which facts combine to remind me of the occasion when I was in my late teens, during which my mother and …
It's how we define kitsch, isn't it? At least, it's what I always think of to illustrate the concept: a painting of a sad clown on black velvet. It's National Clown Day. I've written 175 pos…
Today marks the 100th birthday of the elusive creature Connie Converse (Elizabeth Converse, b. 1924) and this year also marks many other round anniversaries connected with the woman besides.…
Well, not only were Carol O'Connor and James Baldwin born 100 years ago today, but so was Alan Abel (1924-2018) " that's the emmis. In the age of Trump and QAnon it may be difficult to remem…
James Baldwin (1924-1987) was born in Harlem 100 years ago today. The one-two punch of the films I'm Not Your Negro (2016) and If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) brought Baldwin's genius roar…
August 7, 1974 was the date that French acrobat Philippe Petit made his unthinkable (and quite illegal) tightrope walk across the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center. As I chronic…
Happy International Clown Week, which always falls the first week of August. I'd like to kick it off by referring you back to this recent post plugging the upcoming Coney Island Clown Skool …
The performance that made me curious about Salem Ludwig (1915-2007) was his role as Peter Sellers' father in one of my favorite sixties comedies I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968). That same…
A salute today to the singing McGuire Sisters, all of whom were with us quite recently! The trio was comprised of Christine (1926-2018), Dottie (1928-2012, not to be confused with actress Do…
Yes, I know. Joe Exotic is so 2020. I had contemplated doing a post on him when he first made his big splash that year, but (much like, let's say, a cat) I always resist moving with the herd…
While I do occasionally post about authors and illustrators per se on this blog, there actually is a show biz angle (my more usual beat) to the story of Beatrix Potter (1866-1943). As I post…
Those of us of a certain age are apt to associate Sally Struthers (b. 1947) with a single role, but as you will see, it's an injustice to do so. The prologues and epilogues are substantial c…
