Timed for Presidents Day, “C-SPAN released its second Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership, in which ’65 presidential historians ranked the 42 former occupants of the White House on ten attributes of leadership.’ Coming in first was Abraham Lincoln, followed by George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. Finishing last was James Buchanan. George W. Bush came in 36th, just beating out Millard Fillmore, who ranked 37th.” (via Think Progress)
Archive for February 16th, 2009
Better Than Millard Fillmore: Bush 43 Ranked 7th Worst President
Posted in American History, Bush, Politics on February 16, 2009| 1 Comment »
R.I.P. – Alfred A. Knopf Jr. (1918-2009)
Posted in Books, Business, Obituaries, Writers & Writing on February 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »
“Alfred A. Knopf Jr., who left the noted publishing house run by his parents to become one of the founders of Atheneum Publishers in 1959, died on Saturday. He was 90, the last of the surviving founders, and lived in New York City.”
(via NY Times)
Out-of-Print John Cheever Story Serialized Online
Posted in Books, Literature, Writers & Writing on February 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »
John Cheever‘s long out-of-print short story, “Of Love: A Testimony,” one of a dozen Cheever stories not included in the 1978 Pulitzer Prize-winning anthology “The Stories of John Cheever,” is currently being serialized online at FiveChapters.com. (via New York Observer)
[Last week, on his New York Times blog “Talk Show,” Dick Cavett reminisced about the October 14, 1981 edition of “The Dick Cavett Show” when Cheever and John Updike appeared together. In the featured video clips, both writers speak admiringly of the other’s work. (Writers Bloc: When Updike and Cheever Came to Visit)]
Travel Photo of the Day: Central Park, New York (The Gates)
Posted in New York City, Photography, U.S. Travel, Urban Affairs on February 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »
The Gates, an installation along 23 miles of Central Park pathways, by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, February, 2005
The 'Not-So-Rough' Guide 