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Michael McDowell (author)
Michael McEachern McDowell (June 1, 1950 – December 27, 1999) was an American novelist and screenwriter described by author Stephen King as "the finest writer of paperback originals in America today". His best-known work is the screenplay for the Tim Burton film ''Beetlejuice''. Personal life McDowell was born in 1950 in Enterprise, Alabama, and graduated from T.R. Miller High in Brewton, Alabama. He received a B.A. and an M.A. from Harvard College, and a Ph.D in English from Brandeis University in 1978, based on a dissertation entitled "American Attitudes Toward Death, 1825–1865". McDowell lived in Medford, Massachusetts, and maintained a residence in Hollywood with his sister Ann and the filmmaker Peter Lake. He also had one brother, James. McDowell's partner was theatre historian and director Laurence Senelick, whom he met in 1969 when McDowell was a cast member of the Senelick-directed play, ''Bartholomew Fair (play), Bartholomew Fair''. McDowell and Senelick remained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enterprise, Alabama
Enterprise is a city in the southeastern part of Coffee County and the southwestern part of Dale County in Southeastern Alabama, United States. Its population was 28,711 at the 2020 census. Enterprise is the primary city of the Enterprise micropolitan statistical area (with the portion of the city in Dale County part of the Ozark micropolitan statistical area). It was originally a part of Enterprise–Ozark micropolitan area before being split; for a longer while it was originally part of the Dothan-Enterprise-Ozark combined statistical area but is now its own separate primary statistical area in later censuses. Enterprise is famous for the Boll Weevil Monument, a large monument of a woman holding a boll weevil, in the middle of Main Street. The city erected the statue because the destruction of the cotton crop by the boll weevil had led to agricultural diversity, starting with peanuts and more prosperity than had ever come from cotton alone. It is the only statue to an insect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Phoenix (newspaper)
''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' and the now-defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', ''Providence Phoenix'' and ''Worcester Phoenix''. These publications emphasized local arts and entertainment coverage as well as lifestyle and political coverage. The ''Portland Phoenix'', although it is still publishing, is now owned by another company, New Portland Publishing. The papers, like most alternative weeklies, are somewhat similar in format and editorial content to the ''Village Voice''. History Origin ''The Phoenix'' was founded in 1965 by Joe Hanlon, a former editor at MIT's student newspaper, '' The Tech''. Since many Boston-area college newspapers were printed at the same printing firm, Hanlon's idea was to do a four-page single-sheet insert with arts coverage and ads. He began with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Thin Man (film)
''The Thin Man'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code comedy-mystery directed by W. S. Van Dyke and based on the 1934 The Thin Man, novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a leisure-class couple who enjoy copious drinking and flirtatious banter. Nick is a retired private detective who left his very successful career when he married Nora, a wealthy heiress accustomed to high society. Their Fox Terrier (Wire), wire-haired fox terrier Asta was played by canine actor Skippy (dog), Skippy. In 1997, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film's screenplay was written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, a married couple. In 1934, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The titular "Thin Man" is not Nick Charles, but the man Charles is initially hired to find – Clyde Wynan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's original logo was a pair of mirrored letter Bs back to back, while its current logo is two Bs stacked to form an elaborate gate. The firm's early editors were Stanley Kauffmann and Bernard Shir-Cliff. History Following Fawcett Publications' controversial 1950 introduction of Gold Medal paperback originals rather than reprints, Lion Books, Avon and Ace also decided to publish originals. In 1952, Ian Ballantine, a founder of Bantam Books, announced that he would "offer trade publishers a plan for simultaneous publishing of original titles in two editions, a hardcover 'regular' edition for bookstore sale, and a paper-cover, 'newsstand' size, low-priced edition for mass market sale." When the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy ''The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer'' (1947), which earned him an Oscar in 1948. He went on to work in television, where his works spanned a 20-year period during which he created ''The Patty Duke Show'' (1963–66), '' I Dream of Jeannie'' (1965–70), and ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–84). After turning 50, he began writing best-selling romantic suspense novels, such as '' Master of the Game'' (1982), ''The Other Side of Midnight'' (1973), and ''Rage of Angels'' (1980). Sheldon's 18 novels have sold over 300 million copies in 51 languages. Sheldon is consistently cited as one of the top-10 best-selling fiction writers of all time. Early life Sheldon was born Sidney Schechtel in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, of Russian Jewish ancestry, were Ascher "Otto" Schechtel (1894†... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion began around September and led to the Wall Street stock market crash of October 24 (Black Thursday). It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. Devastating effects were seen in both rich and poor countries with falling personal income, prices, tax revenues, and profits. International trade fell by more than 50%, unemployment in the U.S. rose to 23% and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Western United States. As American wages grew much higher than those in Europe, especially for skilled workers, and industrialization demanded an ever-increasing unskilled labor force, the period saw an influx of millions of European immigrants. The rapid expansion of industrialization led to real wage growth of 60% between 1860 and 1890, and spread across the ever-increasing labor force. The average annual wage per industrial worker (including men, women, and children) rose from $380 in 1880, to $564 in 1890, a gain of 48%. Conversely, the Gilded Age was also an era of abject poverty and inequality, as millions of immigrants—many from impoverished regions—poured into the United States, and the high concentration of wealth became more vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bangor Daily News
The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and Courier'' in 1900. Also known as ''the News'' or ''the BDN'', the paper is published by Bangor Publishing Company, a local family-owned company. It has been owned by the Towle-Warren family for four generations; current publisher Richard J. Warren is the great-grandson of J. Norman Towle, who bought the paper in 1895. Since 2018, it has been the only independently owned daily newspaper in the state. History The ''Bangor Daily News''s first issue was June 18, 1889; the main stockholder in the publishing company was Bangor shipping and logging businessman Thomas J. Stewart. Upon Stewart's death in 1890, his sons took control of the paper, which was originally a tabloid with "some news, but also plenty of gossip, lurid stories and scandals. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tabitha King
Tabitha Jane King ( Spruce, born March 24, 1949) is an American author. Early life Tabitha King is the third eldest daughter of Sarah Jane Spruce (née White; December 7, 1923 – April 14, 2007) and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014). King attended college at the University of Maine, where she met her husband Stephen King through her work-study job in the Raymond H. Fogler Library. Career As of 2006, King had published eight novels and two works of non-fiction. She published her first novel, ''Small World'', through Signet Books in 1981, and in 2006, ''Candles Burning'' was published through Berkley Books. The paperback rights for ''Small World'' were bought by New American Library for $165,000. ''Candles Burning'' was written predominantly by Michael McDowell, who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work. Social activism King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine, such as the Bangor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. Tufts remained a small New England liberal arts college until the 1970s, when it transformed into a large research university offering several doctorates;Its corporate name is still "The Trustees of Tufts College" it is classified as a "Research I university", denoting the highest level of research activity. Tufts is a member of the Association of American Universities, a selective group of 64 leading research universities in North America. The university is known for its internationalism, study abroad programs, and promoting active citizenship and public service across all disciplines. Tufts offers over 90 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs across ten schools in the greater Boston area and Talloires, France. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campus in Newbury, Vermont, before moving to Boston in 1867. The university now has more than 4,000 faculty members and nearly 34,000 students, and is one of Boston's largest employers. It offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, doctorates, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through 17 schools and colleges on three urban campuses. The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Boston's Fenway-Kenmore and Allston, Massachusetts, Allston neighborhoods, while the Boston University Medical Campus is located in Boston's South End, Boston, South End neighborhood. The Fenway campus houses the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, formerly Wheelock College, which merged with BU in 2018. BU is a member of the Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
