This Week in Literary History: September 6 - September 12

Pulitzer prize-winning American poet Mary Oliver was born September 10, 1935, in Maple Heights, Ohio. Throughout her long career, her most common poetic landscape has been the natural world. Her process often consists of taking long walks through the wilderness surrounding her house, while jotting down notes and impressions of what she sees. In an interview she noted that on one of these walks she felt inspired and wished she had brought a pencil, so later on she went and hid pencils in various trees and nooks throughout her stomping grounds so that she would never be found without a writing utensil again.

It was on Septembe 6, 1992, that the 67-pound body of Christopher McCandless was found in Alaska, two weeks after he had passed away. McCandless died of starvation, after giving away most of his money and seeking out a solitary, self-reliant existence in the great outdoors. The tragedy became a book from the controversial Northwest writer Jon Krakauer, "Into the Wild," and then into a hugely popular movie of the same name.

The first song played on MTV was the aptly titled “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. The film and television industry hasn’t done much for the publishing industry either. But still we celebrate September 7, 1927, as it marks the date that Philo T. Farnsworth (what a great name) was able to get the first ever electronic picture to show up on a television screen. The medium reaches a new highpoint every fall Saturday, when the University of Washington Huskies take the football field, making Farnsworth's invention look so, so good.

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