Charles Williams (1886-1945) was born on September 20, 1886. Read Orrin's review of Descent into Hell (1937)

William Golding (1911-1993) was born near Newquay, Cornwall on September 19, 1911. Read Orrin's review of Lord of the Flies (1954) (Grade: C)

Samuel Johnson (1709-84) was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire on September 18, 1709. Brothers Judd recommends his Dictionary of the English Language (1755) and Boswell's Life of Johnson.

Robert B. Parker (1932-) was born in Springfield, MA on September 17, 1932. Read Orrin's review of A Savage Place (1981)(Grade: A)

Ken Kesey (1935-) was born in La Junta, CO on September 17, 1935. Brothers Judd recommends his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962).

The Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, was one of the bloodiest days in American history, with 23,000 casualties. Brothers Judd recommends William Safire's excellent Civil War novel, Freedom.

Hank Williams (1923-53) was born in Georgiana, AL on September 16, 1923. Brothers Judd recommends the biography Your Cheatin' Heart : A Biography of Hank Williams (Chet Flippo) and the album, Forty Greatest Hits of Hank Williams.

John Gay (1685-1732) was born on September 16, 1685. Read Orrin's review of The Beggar's Opera (1728)(Grade: A)

Francis Parkman (1823-1893) America's greatest Historian, was born on September 16, 1823. Read Orrin's review of The Oregon Trail (1847) (Grade: A+)

William Howard Taft (1857-1930), 27th President of the United States, was born in Cincinnati, OH on September 15, 1857.

Bernard MacLaverty (1942-) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on September 14, 1942. Brothers Judd recommends his novel Cal (1983) which was adapted into a very good movie version (1984) starring Helen Mirren.

General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing (1860-1948) was born in Linn County, MN on September 13, 1860.

Bill Monroe (1911-96) was born in Rosine, KY on September 13, 1911. He created the music genre that is named for his band The Blue Grass Boys. Brothers Judd recommends The Music Of Bill Monroe 1936-1994

Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) was born in Camden, OH on September 13, 1876. Read Orrin's review of Winesburg, Ohio (1919)(Grade: C-)

Roald Dahl (1916-90) was born in Llandaff, Wales on September 13, 1916. He is best known for his children's books; read Orrin's review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)(Grade: A)

Claudette Colbert (1903-1996) was born in Paris, FR on September 13, 1903. Brothers Judd recommends her appearance Frank Capra's classic It Happened One Night (1934).

David Herbert "DH" Lawrence (1885-1930) was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, ENG on September 11, 1885. He did as much damage to Anglo-American Literature as anyone this side of Joyce, Freud and Darwin. Read Orrin's review of Sons and Lovers (1913)(Grade: D).

O. Henry [William Sydney Porter] (1862-1910) was born in Greensboro, NC on September 11, 1862. Read Orrin's review of The Gift of the Magi (Grade: A+)

Stephen Jay Gould was born in New York, NY on September 10, 1941. Read Orrin's review of The Mismeasure of Man (1981)

James Hilton (1900-1954) was born in Lancashire, ENG on September 9, 1900. Read Orrin's review of Good-Bye, Mr. Chips (1934)(Grade: A+) and Lost Horizon (1933)(Grade: A)

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was born in Tula Province, Russia on September 9, 1828. Read his Confession online.

William Bligh (1754-1817) was born on September 9, 1754. See Orrin's review of Mr. Bligh's Bad Language: Passion, Power, and Theatre on the Bounty (1992)(Greg Dening) (Grade: A-)

Otis Redding (1941-67) was born in Dawson, GA on September 9, 1941. Brothers Judd recommends Dreams To Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology

Ann Beattie (1947-) was born in Washington, D.C., on September 8, 1947. Read Orrin's review of Love Always (1985)(Grade: A)

Sid Caesar (1922-) was born in Yonkers, NY on September 8, 1922. Brothers Judd recommends his fine autobiography, Where Have I Been?

Jimmie Rodgers "The Singing Brakeman" (1897-1933) was born in Meridian, MS on September 8, 1897. Brothers Judd recommends The Essential Jimmie Rodgers.

Marilyn Durham (1930-) was born in Evansville, IN on September 8, 1930. Read Orrin's review of The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1972) (Marilyn Durham 1930-) (Grade: B+)

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914) was born on September 8, 1828. He was perhaps the greatest non-professional soldier in U.S. history, he won the Congressional Medal of Honor at the Battle of Gettysburg. Read Orrin's review of The Killer Angels (1974)(Michael Shaara) (Grade: A+)

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was born in Greenwich, ENG on September 7, 1533. Daughter of Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn, she ruled from 1558 to 1603.

Grandma "Anna Maria" Moses (1860-1961) was born in Greenwich, NY on September 7, 1860.

Elia Kazan (1909-) was born in Constaninople, Turkey on September 7, 1909. His great movie On the Waterfront (1954) is an allegory for his own decision to fight evil by testifying against fellow communists.

Sonny Rollins (1930-) was born in New York City, NY on September 7, 1930. Dryfoos recommends Saxophone Colossus

Charles Harden "Buddy" Holly (1936-59) was born in Lubbock, TX on September 7, 1936. Of course, February 2, 1959 was "the Day the Music Died". Brothers Judd recommends The Buddy Holly Collection, which has just about everything they ever did.

Joe Klein (1946-) was born in New York, NY on September 7, 1946. Read Orrin's review of Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics (1996)(Anonymous aka Joe Klein) (Grade: A-)

Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), proof that all rules have exceptions, was born in France on September 6, 1757.

On September 6, 1936, Beryl Markham became the first person to fly the Atlantic solo from East to West. Read Orrin's review of her great memoir, West With the Night (1941) (Beryl Markham 1902-1986) (Grade: A+)

On September 6, 1901, PRESIDENT WILLIAM McKINLEY was shot by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency upon McKinley's death 8 days later.

Richard Wright (1908-60) was born in Natchez, MS on September 4, 1908. Read Orrin's review of Native Son (1940)(Grade: C+).

Alan Ladd (1913-64) was born in Hot Springs, AR on September 3, 1913. Of course, his great iconic role was in Shane (1953)(read Orrin's review of the novel), but check out the two films he made with Veronica Lake, The Glass Key (1942) and This Gun for Hire (1942).

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was born in South Berwick, ME on September 3, 1849. Read Orrin's review of The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896)

Allen Drury (1918-98) was born in Houston, TX on September 2, 1918. Read Orrin's review of Advise and Consent (1959) (Grade: A)

Joseph Roth (1894-1939) was born in Brody, Galicia, Austria-Hungary on September 2, 1894. Read Orrin's review of The Radetzky March (1932) and The Emperor's Tomb (1938) (Grade: A+)

Salma Hayek (1968-) was born in Coatzacoalcos, MX on September 2, 1968. See Orrin's review ofThe Road to Serfdom (1944)

SELECTED POETRY OF EUGENE FIELD (1850-95) Eugene Field (1850-95), author of such favorites as Little Boy Blue and Wynken, Blynken and Nod, was born in St. Louis, MO on September 2, 1850.

Blaise Cendrars [Frédéric Louis Sauser] (1887-1961) was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switz on September 1, 1887. Read Orrin's review of Gold: Being the Marvelous History of General John Augustus Sutter (1925)

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) was born on September 1, 1875.Read Orrin's review of Tarzan of the Apes (1912)

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

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+)