April 12th, 2007 Brian Herzog
I was saddened to learn today that Kurt Vonnegut has died.
He has been one of my favorite writers since I was old enough to have a favorite writer. Very rightly, Indianapolis had declared 2007 as the Year of Vonnegut, and I consider myself lucky to have lived in his time.
One of my favorite quotes is something I read in one of his books, but is not something he wrote. In the preface to one of his novels, he told of a letter he received from a young boy. The boy talked about how he noticed that all of Vonnegut’s stories seemed to distill down to a single six-word theme: “love may fail, but courtesy prevails.” If I live my life by any motto, that comes close, and Vonnegut played a large part in shaping it.
4/12/07, kurt vonnegut, vonnegut
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Posted under Personal | 2 Comments »
January 9th, 2007 Brian Herzog
I was born in 1974, the Year of the Tiger. Kids lucky enough to be born in 2007 get to be born in The Year of Vonnegut - at least, if they’re from Indianapolis, IN.
A friend of mine there told me a while ago that Indianapolis was honoring one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, in this way (and, knowing me well, she also reminded me again last week - thanks, Lisa).
Indianapolis’ local free paper, NUVO, is covering the year’s events, sponsored in part by them, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, and many other community groups.
Not only do I think this is a heck of way for a city to celebrate a native son, but it’s great that the local library and cultural newspaper are so involved. Talk about encouraging reading through positive publicity. However, I can’t help note the similarity to the plot of Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions.
Here are some more Vonnegut resources on the internet:
Indiana, Indianapolis, Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, Kurt Vonnegut, NUVO, the year of vonnegut, Vonnegut, year of vonnegut
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Posted under Books, Library, Programs, Resources | 1 Comment »
