Herman Melville (1819-91) was born in New York, NY on August 1, 1819. Read Orrin's reviews of Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street (1853) (Grade: A-) & Billy Budd, Foretopman (1891) (Herman Melville 1819 - 1891) (Grade: A)

Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was born in Frederick County, MD on August 1, 1779. He wrote The Star Spangled Banner on September 14, 1814 about the American flag that remained flying over Fort McHenry despite a whithering British bombardment.

William Clark (1770-1838) was born in Caroline County, VA on August 1, 1770. Read Orrin's review of Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (1996)(Stephen E. Ambrose 1936-) (Grade: A-)

Richard Henry Dana (1815-82) was born in Cambridge, MA on August 1, 1815.

Madison Smartt Bell (1957-) was born in Nashville, TN on August 1, 1957. Read Orrin's review of All Soul's Rising (1995)

James Baldwin (1924-87) was born in New York, NY on August 2, 1924. Read Orrin's review of Go Tell it on the Mountain (Grade: B)

Myrna Loy (1905-93), one of the all-time hotties, was born in Raidersburg, MT on August 2, 1905. Brothers Judd particularly recommends The Thin Man (1934), Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) and The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) was born on August 3, 1887. One of the celebrated group of WWI poets, check out his Collected poems. I can't find it off hand, but the poem with "dulce et decorum est pro patria morii" was on our SAT's.

P.D. [Phyllis Dorothy] James (1920-) was born in Oxford, ENG on August 3, 1920. Read Orrin's review of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) (Grade: B+)

Ernie Pyle (1900-45) was born in Dana, IN on August 3, 1900.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was born near Horsham, ENG on August 4, 1792. Brothers Judd particularly recommends Ozymandias.

Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) was born on Garmo, Norway on August 4, 1859. Read Orrin's review of Hunger (1890)

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (1900-1971) was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1900. The most influential figure in the history of Jazz and one of the most significant influences in 20th Century popular music, he was also a pivotal and controversial figure in the fight for Civil Rights. Brothers Judd jazz contributor Glenn Dryfoos recommends The Louis Armstrong Collection, Vol. 4: Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines

Conrad Aiken (1899-1973) was born in Savannah, GA on August 5, 1899.

Guy de Maupassant (1850-93) was born near Dieppe, France on August 5, 1850.

John Huston (1906-1987) was born in Nevada, MO on August 5, 1906. The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Asphalt Jungle and The Man Who Would Be King are just a few of his classic movies.

Neil Armstrong (1930-) was born in Wapakoneta, OH on August 5, 1930. Read Orrin's review of The Right Stuff (1979)(Tom Wolfe 1931-) (Grade: A+)

Unbreakable (2000) (directed by M. Night [Manoj Nelliyattu] Shyamalan 1970-) Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan was born in Pondicherry, India on August 6 1970.

Ann Beattie (1947-) was born on August 7, 1947. Read Orrin's review of Love Always (1985)(Grade: A)

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953), author of the Pulitzer Prize winning classic The Yearling (1938), was born in Washington, DC on August 8, 1896.

August 8 is Benny Carter's birthday. The remarkable multi-instrumentalist/composer/arranger/bandleader/quiet-but-effective civil rights leader was born in NYC in 1907 and died in 2003, so this would have been #98. Until my collection of his music is completed, the following CD's give a good overview of his music:
Further Definitions
Montreux Live - 1977
1929-1940
More about Carter can be found in the definitive biography Benny Carter - A Life in American Music, or in an essay contained in Gary Giddins' "Weather Bird" collection of essays

Izaac Walton (1593-1683), was born in Stafford, ENG on August 9, 1593. He wrote the first great treatise on fishing, The Compleat Angler.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964), 31st President of the United States and the first born west of the Mississippi, was born in West Branch, IA on August 10, 1874.

Alex Haley (1921-92) was born in Ithaca, NY on August 11, 1921. In addition to the bestseller Roots (1976), he was the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)(see Orrin's review; Grade: A+)

Andre Dubus (1936-99) was born in Lake Charles, LA on August 11, 1936. Read Orrin's review of Selected Stories (1988) (Grade: A) & try his online story If They Knew Yvonne.

William Goldman (1931-) was born in Highland Park, IL on August 12, 1931. Read Orrin's review of The Princess Bride : S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure: The 'Good Parts' Version, Abridged (1973)

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) was born in London, ENG on August 13, 1899. By any measure, he is one of the great movie directors of all time, Brothers Judd especially recommends: Vertigo and The 39 Steps, both available at Amazon's Hitchcock Centennial site.

[William] Ben Hogan (1912-97) was born in Stephenville, TX on August 13, 1912. Read Orrin's review of Power Golf (1948)

Steve Martin (1945-) was born in Waco TX on August 14, 1945. Read Orrin's review of Shopgirl: A Novella (2000) (Grade: C)

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was born in Ajaccio, Corsica on August 15, 1769. Brothers Judd recommends the biography Napoleon Bonaparte by Alan Schom.

Robert Bolt (1924-95) was born in Manchester, ENG on August 15, 1924. Read Orrin's review ofA Man for All Seasons (1960)(Grade: A+)

Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) was born in Andernach, GER on August 16, 1920.

Menachem Begin (1913-92) was born in Brest-Litovsk, Russia on August 16, 1913. He and Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.

Ted Hughes (1930-98) was born in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, ENG on August 16, 1930. Read Orrin's review of The Iron Giant: A Story in Five Nights (1968) (Grade: B+)

V.S. [Vidiadhar) Surajprasad] Naipaul (1932-) was born in Trinidad on August 17, 1932. Read Orrin's reviews of A House for Mr. Biswas (1961) (Grade: B-) and A Bend in the River (1979) (Grade: C)

Davy Crockett (1786-1836) was born in Eastern TN on August 17, 1786; of course, he died at the Alamo. One of the saddest days of my life was when a kid threw my coonskin cap in our local brook in 2nd Grade.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940), who began the back to Africa movement, was born in St. Ann's Bay , Jamaica on August 17, 1887.

Maureen O'Hara (1920-) was born in Dublin, IRE on August 17, 1920. Hollywood's all time most fabulous babe, she appears in numerous great movies including: The Quiet Man (1952), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was born in Charlottsville, VA on August 18, 1774. Read Orrin's review of Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (1996)(Stephen E. Ambrose) (Grade: A-)

Orville Wright (1871-1948) was born in Dayton OH on August 19, 1871. The 19th is celebrated as Aviation Day in his honor.

Ogden Nash (1902-71) was born in Rye, NY on August 19, 1902. Check out a nice page of his verse.

James Gould Cozzens (1903-78) was born in Chicago, IL on August 19, 1903. Brothers Judd recommends his Pulitzer Prize winning novel of WWII, Guard of Honor (1949)

Isaac Hayes (1942-), the Black Moses of Soul, was born in Covington, TN on August 20, 1942. Brothers Judd especially recommends Live At The Sahara Tahoe.

H. P. (Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was born in Providence, RI on August 20, 1890. Read Orrin's review of At the Mountains of Madness (1931) (Grade: B+)

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) was born in North Bend, OH on August 20, 1833.

Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian poet/critic/translator and winner of Nobel Prize 1959, Aug. 20, 1901 - 1968

Peter Weir (1944-) was born in Sydney, Australia on August 21, 1944. Read Orrin's review of The Truman Show.

Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) was born in Brighton, ENG on August 21, 1872.

Dorothy Parker, American short story writer/poet/critic and wit, Aug. 22, 1893 - 1967

Ray Bradbury (1920-) was bon in Waukegan, IL on August 22, 1920. Read Orrin's reviews of Fahrenheit 451 (1953) (Grade: A-) and Dandelion Wine (1957)(Grade: A+)

E. Annie Proulx (1935-) was born in Norwich, CT on August 22, 1935. Read Orrin's review of The Shipping News (1993)

Jean Rhys (1894) was born in Roseau, Dominica on August 24, 1894. Read Orrin's review of Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

Malcolm Cowley (1898-1989) was born in Belsano, PA on August 24, 1898.

A.S. Byatt (1936-) was born in Sheffield, ENG on August 24, 1936. Read Orrin's review of Possession: A Romance (1990)(Grade: A+)

Max Beerbohm (1872-1956) was born in London, ENG on August 24, 1872. Read Orrin's review of Zuleika Dobson or An Oxford Love Story (1911)(Grade: A)

Brian Moore (1921-99) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on August 25, 1921. Read Orrin's reviews of Black Robe (1985)(Grade: B+) and The Statement (1996) (Grade: A)

Earl Derr Biggers (1884-1933) was born on August 26, 1884. Read Orrin's review of the first Charlie Chan mystery, The House Without a Key (1925)(Grade: B)

Christopher Isherwood (1904-) was born in Cheshire, ENG on August 26, 1904.

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947) , was born in Hungary on August 27, 1865. Brothers Judd recommends her great novel The Scarlet Pimpernel

[Cecil Scott] C.S. Forester (1899-1966) was born on August 27, 1899. Read Orrin's review of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1948) (Grade: A)

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73), one of the worst men ever to become President of the United States, was born in Stonewall, TX on August 27, 1908. Read Robert Caro's awesome biography The Years of Lyndon Johnson

John Locke (1632-1704) who was the pivotal figure in the development of democratic theory, was born in England on August 27, 1632.

Charles Christopher "Bird" Parker (1920-55) was born in Kansas City, KS on August 29, 1920. Dryfoos recommends Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker

John Gunther (1901-70), one of America's greatest journalists, was born in Chicago, IL on August 30, 1901. Read Orrin's review of Death Be Not Proud: A Memoir (1949)(Grade: A-)

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was born in London, England on August 30, 1797. Read Orrin's review of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818)(Grade: A+)

Van Morrison (1945-) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on August 31, 1945. Brothers Judd recommends The Best of Van Morrison