William Hazlitt, b. 1778. Journalist, essayist, Shakespearean scholar. He wrote many books, Characters of Shakespeare and A View of the English Stage.

Matthew Calbraith Perry, b. 1794. US Navy commodore who negotiated the first treaty between the United States and Japan in 1854. The 1986 Newbery Honor book, Commodore Perry in the land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg, is a great introduction to this historical episode.

Lew Wallace, b. 1827. Civil War general, Governor of New Mexico Territory, Ambassador to Turkey, and author of Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. We’ve never done it, but wouldn’t Ben Hur be a great family read aloud book for the Easter season? We have watched Ben Hur with Charlton Heston at Easter time before. Long, but worth the time.

William Booth, b. 1829. He and his wife Catherine founded the Salvation Army, a Christian ministry to feed, clothe, and evangelize the poor.

Joseph Pulitzer, b. 1847, d.1911. Hungarian American journalist and newspaper publisher. He left in his will an endowment to create the Columbia School of Journalism, and Columbia began in 1917 to award annual prizes for journalism, letters, fiction, drama, and education. I looked at this list of Pulitzer-prize winning novels and counted the ones I’ve read: 12 out of 80. (8 years say No Award. I wonder why.) My reading looks fairly shabby when compared to this particular list. Which of the books on the list have you read and which would you recommend? I would say that from my list of twelve, I enjoyed all but two. (Neither Hemingway nor Steinbeck is my cup of tea.)

1921 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton
1925 So Big Edna Ferber
1928 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder
1932 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck
1937 Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
1939 The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 The Grapes Of Wrath John Steinbeck
1952 The Caine Mutiny Herman B. Wouk
1953 The Old Man And The Sea Ernest Hemingway
1961 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee
1975 The Killer Angels Michael Shaara
2005 Gilead Marilynne Robinson