18 February 1931. Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio, USA. Her most celebrated work, Beloved, gained a Pulitzer Prize, and was made into a 1998 film. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. In 2012, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. pic.twitter.com/ziaDOWsnhs

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 18, 2023

19 February 1958. Helen Fielding was born in Morley. She’s best known as the creator of the fictional character, Bridget Jones, a thirty something singleton in London who featured in the novels and films Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. pic.twitter.com/0gNaXrc07x

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 19, 2023

19 February 2016. Leading Italian novelist, Umberto Eco, died (aged 84). He’s best known for his popular novel, The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory. pic.twitter.com/fmaSzoYPgu

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 19, 2023

19 February 2016. American novelist, Harper Lee, died (aged 89). She’s best known for her classic anti-racist novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, which became a successful Hollywood film. Lee only published one other book, but was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. pic.twitter.com/W6wRvSHEeC

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 19, 2023

#RIP #OTD in 1895, social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman Frederick Douglass died from a heart attack at his home in Washington D. C., at the age of 77. Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York https://t.co/WNc9P7MHHJ pic.twitter.com/dPg7shydP9

— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) February 20, 2023

#RIP #OTD in 2005, journalist and author (Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) Hunter S. Thompson died from a gunshot at his home, Owl Farm near Woody Creek, Colorado, at the age of 67. Cremated remains fired from a cannon at Owl Farm https://t.co/WNc9P7MHHJ pic.twitter.com/K4nmzc54sM

— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) February 20, 2023

21 February 1907. Acclaimed poet, Wystan Hugh (“WH”) Auden, was born in York. Poetry specialists have usually ranked him third behind WB Yeats and TS Eliot in lists of the greatest poets of the 20th century, but in recent years some have ranked him as the highest of those three. pic.twitter.com/tzTdF84sG0

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 21, 2023

#RIP #OTD in 2012 journalist, foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper The Sunday Times, Marie Colvin died while covering the siege of Homs in Syria, aged 56. Cremated remains scattered in Oyster Bay, New York and Thames river in England https://t.co/mQnPZ3EoxW pic.twitter.com/LvaSOb7IZo

— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) February 22, 2023

#RIP #OTD in 2021 poet (A Coney Island of the Mind), translator, painter, social activist, co-founder of City Lights Booksellers, Lawrence Ferlinghetti died; interstitial lung disease; his San Francisco home, aged 101. Bolinas Cemetery, California https://t.co/mQnPZ3EoxW pic.twitter.com/cuMJbhZQv6

— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) February 22, 2023

23 February 1821. The Romantic poet, John Keats, died (aged 25). His poems were not generally well received by critics during his lifetime, but his reputation grew after his death, and by the end of the 19th century, he was one of the most admired of all English poets. pic.twitter.com/uTY14es2vL

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 23, 2023

#RIP #OTD epitaph John Keats
This Grave
contains all that was Mortal
of a
Young English Poet
Who
on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart
at the Malicious Power of his Enemies
Desired
these Words to be
engraven on his Tomb Stone:
Here lies One
Whose Name was writ in Water pic.twitter.com/2zzgIAjLkW

— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) February 23, 2023

23 February 1898. Emile Zola was sentenced to a jail sentence, for writing and publishing his letter, “J'accuse”. It claimed the French government had wrongly jailed army officer, Alfred Dreyfus, and was motivated in doing so by antisemitism. Zola escaped to England. pic.twitter.com/mSIVdY75r3

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 23, 2023

23 February 1904. Journalist and Historian, William Shirer, was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He’s best known for The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, published in 1961. The book was a best seller, but received criticism from academic historians due to its moralistic tone. pic.twitter.com/WJoi1H4pgx

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 23, 2023

24 February 1786. Wilhelm Grimm, was born in Hanau, Germany. He’s the author, along with his brother, Jakob, of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” which included such classic children’s stories as Snow White and The Sleeping Beauty. pic.twitter.com/WChSXLn8c5

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 24, 2023

“In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.”

✒️ Remembering #OctaviaEButler, African American author and educator, who passed away #OTD 24 February 2006. #SciFi #Literature pic.twitter.com/4jcnj82IRF

— Nathan Francis (@NathanFrancis__) February 24, 2023

25 February 1917. Anthony Burgess was born in Manchester. His best known novel was, A Clockwork Orange. In 1971, it was adapted into a controversial film by Stanley Kubrick. Burgess said the film was responsible for the popularity of the book which was first published in 1962. pic.twitter.com/kvgZP9VKZS

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 25, 2023

#RIP #OTD in 1983, playwright (A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Rose Tattoo, The Glass Menagerie, The Night of the Iguana), Tennessee Williams died; overdose of Seconal; Hotel Elysée, New York City, aged 71. Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis https://t.co/t5UvJ5xIBk pic.twitter.com/9y2SHe4uhu

— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) February 25, 2023

#RIP #OTD in 1852, poet, singer, songwriter (Irish Melodies, "The Minstrel Boy", "The Last Rose of Summer"), entertainer, Ireland's national bard, Thomas Moore died; Sloperton Cottage, Bromham, Wiltshire, England, aged 72. St. Nicholas churchyard, Bromham https://t.co/t5UvJ5xIBk pic.twitter.com/H3DaCaqBTH

— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) February 25, 2023

26 February 1802. Victor Hugo was born in Besançon, France. His most famous novels were Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. In France, he is also renowned for his poetry collections, such as, The Contemplation and The Legend of the Ages. pic.twitter.com/1OZkaMoIHe

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 26, 2023

27 February 1902. John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, USA. He was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his realistic and imaginative writings”. Many of his novels are considered classics of Western literature, most notably, The Grapes of Wrath. pic.twitter.com/kkAwjydxGc

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) February 27, 2023