Posts from Hudson Park Library

Amy Lowell was a poet who lived for a time at 61 Washington Square in New York City. February 9 is her birthday.

Henry Roth was living at 61 Morton Street in New York City while writing his classic novel of the immigrant experience, Call It Sleep, published in 1934. His birthday is February 8.

Sinclair Lewis, like many writers who lived in the Village, came from elsewhere — from Sauk Centre, Minnesota, in fact, whose citizens did not care at all for how they were depicted in his phenomenally popular novel Main Street.

William S. Burroughs was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 5, 1914, but became involved with the Beats in the Village in the 1940s. He lived at 69 Bedford Street in New York City.

Richard Yates, born February 3, 1926, lived at 27 Seventh Avenue South, at the corner of Bedford Street in New York City, just steps from Hudson Park Library.

Norman Mailer, best known for The Naked and the Dead and The Executioner's Song, was born on January 31. He lived at 73 Perry Street in New York City.

Thomas Paine was born 275 years ago on January 29. He died in 1809 at 59 Grove Street in New York City, where a plaque marks his passing.

Paine’s writings, especially Common Sense, helped the American cause in the Revolution, and John Adams credited him with a crucial role in the winning of that war.

Paine was not shy in expressing his opinions, and his writings about religion made him unpopular. Here are some of his words from his most famous works:

Edith Wharton is 150 years old on January 24, 2012, still alive in her consistently popular novels. She lived at 7 Washington Square North in Greenwich Village, as well as other locations in New York City.

Djuna Barnes, born January 12, lived her final 42 years at 5 Patchin Place in New York City, across the street from E. E. Cummings.

A novelist, poet, and playwright, Barnes became friends with Marianne Moore in the 1920s, when both were young and Moore worked at NYPL's Hudson Park Library. I can imagine Barnes visiting Moore in our children’s room.

Khalil Gibran’s book The Prophet is one of the best selling books of all time and was written while Gibran lived in the Village. Gibran may be known as the national poet of Lebanon, but he lived the final 20 years of his life here, at 51 West 10th Street in New York City, among other places. He died at St. Vincent’s Hospital on April 10, 1931. His birthday is January 6.

William Gaddis was born on December 29 and lived at 79 Horatio Street in New York City.

Theodore Dreiser moved around a lot.

I have six addresses for him in New York City's Greenwich Village, including 16 St. Lukes Place, right across the street from NYPL's Hudson Park Library. I hope he dropped in sometimes.

If you are of a certain age, you may be familiar with Edwin Arlington Robinson from a Simon and Garfunkel song, "Richard Cory." The words of the song were changed somewhat from what Robinson wrote but it still ended with the same shocking, brutal conclusion. Here’s the whole poem:

Margaret Mead was something of an anthropology superstar. After all, how many other anthropologists can you name? Her birthday is December 18 and she lived in the Village at 72 Perry Street and 193 Waverly Place.

The story behind Tinkers by Paul Harding is as inspirational as many novels.

Most of the writers who ended up in the Village came from the small towns of America, but some came from overseas. Ford Madox Ford, an Englishman, lived for a time at 10 Fifth Avenue. His birthday is December 17th.

Muriel Rukeyser, poet and activist, was born on December 15, 1913.

She lived in Westbeth at Bethune and West Streets in the West Village.

Her words will tell you more about her than anything I can write:

James Thurber lived in New York City's Greenwich Village on Horatio Street near Ninth Avenue. He even wrote a poem called “Villanelle of Horatio Street, Manhattan,” published in the February 26, 1927 issue of The New Yorker. December 8 is his birthday.

Willa Cather's birthday is December 7th. Although famous for writing about the Midwest, especially Nebraska, Cather spent much of her life and career in New York City's Greenwich Village. She took up residence at several locations in the Village including 60 Washington Square, 82 Washington Place, 5 Bank Street, and the Hotel Grosvenor.