My Birthday Shared With Others

To love deeply in one direction makes

us more loving in all others.

~Anne Sophie Swetchine

Before I go on to talk about my trip to New York and, believe me, it was fabulous, I'll list a few others who share my May 3rd birthday:

It's the 91st birthday of folk singer Pete Seeger, born in New York City (1919). The first time he heard the sound of a banjo at the Folk Song and Dance Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, he fell in love with folk music. He dropped out of Harvard and rode the rails across America in the middle of the Great Depression.

When he heard about the collection of folk music recordings at the Library of Congress, Seeger got a job as an assistant there, classifying records. He also spent much of his free time listening to those recordings. He eventually began to tag along with Alan Lomax on expeditions around the country to record folk songs. And then, in 1940, Lomax introduced Seeger to an up-and-coming folk singer named Woody Guthrie. Guthrie invited Seeger to go on the road with him, and they began traveling around, putting on impromptu performances in migrant labor camps and entertaining striking workers in the oil fields of Oklahoma. They became increasingly controversial because they wrote anti-war songs at a time when the country was gearing up to get involved in World War II.


It's the birthday of Niccolò Machiavelli, (books by this author) born in Florence, Italy (1469). He got into politics after Florence formed a semi-democratic government. By the time he was 30, he became the secretary to Florence's governing council, which meant he was the most influential bureaucrat in the city.


It's the birthday of the poet, essayist and novelist May Sarton, (books by this author) born in Wondelgem, Belgium (1912). She spent eight years during the Great Depression struggling to become an actress, and then her theater company went out of business.


She went on to write many books of poetry, as well as many novels, but none of her books were best-sellers, and none got much attention. Then in 1965, she published her novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing (1965), the story of an elderly lesbian poet looking back on her life. She developed a huge cult following.


1898 - Golda Meir, [Meyerson], Kiev Ukraine, 4th Israeli PM (1969-74)
1903 - Bing Crosby, Tacoma Wash, singer (White Christmas, Going My Way)
1906 - Mary Astor, Quincy IL, actress (Maltese Falcon, Dinky)
1907 - Earl Wilson, Rockford Ohio, columnist (Midnight Earl)
1917 - Betty Comden, American lyricist (d. 2006)
1936 - Engelbert Humperdinck, [Arnolde Dorsey], India, singer (EH Show)


1937 - Frankie Valli, [Castelluccio], Newark NJ, singer (Four Seasons-Sherry)
1947 - Doug Henning, Ft Garry Manitoba, magician (Broadway play-Magic)
1951 - Christopher Cross, [Geppert], Texas, singer (Sailing, Arthur's Theme)
1974 - Princess Haya bint Hussein of Jordan

Pretty good company, huh?