|
The American Heritage Dictionary
''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (''AHD'') is an American English, American dictionary of English published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. Its creation was spurred by the controversy over the perceived permissiveness of the ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary''. The third edition included over 350,000 entries and meanings. History James Parton (1912–2001) was a grandson of the English-born American biographer James Parton (1822–1891). He was the founder, publisher and co-owner of the magazines ''American Heritage (magazine), American Heritage'' and ''Horizon (U.S. magazine), Horizon'', and was appalled by the Webster's Third New International Dictionary#Reception and criticisms, permissiveness of ''Webster's Third'', published in 1961. (Webster's Third presented all entries without labeling them correct or incorrect.) Parton tried to buy the Merriam-Webster, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rita Dove
Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position (1937–86). Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020 she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing. Early life Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio, to Ray Dove, one of the first African-American chemists to work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calvert Watkins
Calvert Watkins ( /ˈwɒtkɪnz/; March 13, 1933 – March 20, 2013) was an American linguist and philologist, known for his book ''How to Kill a Dragon''. He was a professor of linguistics and the classics at Harvard University and after retirement went to serve as professor-in-residence at UCLA. Early life Family Calvert Watkins was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 13, 1933 to Ralph James Watkins, an economist and government advisor, and Willye Ward, a Spanish teacher who translated the personal memoirs of former Mexican president Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Much of Watkins's childhood was spent in New York City, and he graduated from Friends Seminary in Manhattan before beginning his career at Harvard University. Watkins's early exposure to Latin and Greek inspired him at the age of fifteen to decide to become an Indo-Europeanist. Education Watkins received his initial undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1954, graduating summa cum laude, and hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Pinker
Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and his academic specializations are visual cognition and developmental linguistics. His experimental subjects include mental imagery, shape recognition, visual attention, children's language development, regular and irregular phenomena in language, the neural bases of words and grammar, as well as the psychology of cooperation and communication, including euphemism, innuendo, emotional expression, and common knowledge. He has written two technical books that proposed a general theory of language acquisition and applied it to children's learning of verbs. In particular, his work with Alan Prince published in 1989 critiqued the connectionist model of how children ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Curzan
Anne Curzan is a professor of English at the University of Michigan since 2012 and dean of its College of Literature, Science, and the Arts since 2019. Biography Curzan received a bachelor of arts in linguistics ''summa cum laude'' from Yale University in 1991. She received a Master of Arts, master of arts and a Doctor of Philosophy, doctor of philosophy in English language and literature from the University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ... in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Curzan is a member of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel and the American Dialect Society, which votes on the Word of the Year. She writes regularly for The Chronicle of Higher Education's language blog, ''Lingua Franca'', and is a co-host of the program ''That's What they S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert J
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe it entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Scots, Danish, and Icelandic. It can be use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William F
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the given name ''Wilhelm'' (cf. Proto-Germanic ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''*Wiljahelmaz'' > German ''Wilhelm'' and Old Norse ᚢᛁᛚᛋᛅᚼᛅᛚᛘᛅᛋ, ''Vilhjálmr''). By regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name shoul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." Following the publication of his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and a novel. During his lifetime, he edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. Bloom was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995. Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literary departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" ( multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Stamberg
Susan Stamberg (born September 7, 1938) is an American radio journalist. Stamberg was co-host of NPR's flagship program ''All Things Considered.'' In that role Stamberg was the first female host of a national news broadcast. She's considered one of NPR's "Founding Mothers" along with Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer and the late Cokie Roberts. After nearly 50 years at the network, Stamberg is currently a Special Correspondent and her reports appear weekly on NPR's ''Morning Edition.'' Early life Susan Stamberg was born Susan Levitt in Newark, New Jersey. She graduated Barnard College in 1959. Career For 14 years, beginning in 1972, Stamberg served as co-host of ''All Things Considered'', the evening news magazine. She was the first woman to hold a full-time position as anchor of a national nightly news broadcast in the United States. She was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Award (CPB). She was the host of Weekend Edition Sunday from 1987 to 1989. In 1994, Stamberg was inducted int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liane Hansen
Liane Hansen (; born September 29, 1951,) is an American journalist and radio personality. She was the host of the National Public Radio (NPR) newsmagazine ''Weekend Edition Sunday'' from 1989 until her retirement in May 2011. Her experience in broadcast journalism includes working as a reporter, producer, and host for local and national programs. Biography Hansen was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her first participation in public broadcasting was in 1976, when she became a production assistant and substitute host for then then-local public radio show ''Fresh Air'' in Philadelphia. In 1979, she joined NPR as a production assistant for ''All Things Considered''. She later hosted '' Weekend All Things Considered'', ''Performance Today'' and guest-hosted the ''Fresh Air'' after that program was in national syndication through NPR. In November 1989, Hansen joined ''Weekend Edition Sunday''. Hansen is the daughter of Edwin Hansen and Lois Hansen. The spelling of Hansen's first na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as ''The Secret Garden'', for which she won a Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, and '' The Red Shoes'', as well as the libretto for the musical ''The Color Purple'' and the book for the musical ''The Bridges of Madison County''. She is co-chair of the playwriting department at The Juilliard School. Biography Early years Norman was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the oldest of four children of Billie and Bertha Williams. As a child, she read and played the piano. She later began attending productions by the newly founded Actors Theatre of Louisville. She received a bachelor's degree from Agnes Scott College and a master's degree from the University of Louisville. She worked as a journalist for ''The Louisville Tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," McNally was the recipient of five Tony Awards. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for ''Love! Valour! Compassion!'' and '' Master Class'' and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' and ''Ragtime,'' and received the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1996, and he also received the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the highest recognition of artistic merit in the United States. His other accolades included an Emmy Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, four Drama Desk Awards, two Luci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
