The Writer's Life 7/30 - Dropouts & Blue Dogs

Here are people, gleaned from an article at listverse.com, who were hugely successful despite a lack of formal education. I eliminated several (Camus, Faulkner, Einstein) who returned to different types of schooling. The following are true dropouts: Born in Leningrad in 1940, Joseph Brodsky left school and took various jobs, taught himself Polish and English, and began writing poetry. He was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1972 and moved to the United States. He had nine volumes of poetry published and became a professor at Columbia University and Mount Holyoke College. In 1987 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature... Born in Glasgow in 1863, Arthur Henderson was forced to drop out of school to support his family upon the death of his father. He joined the Ironfounders’ Union at 18 and eventually was elected secretary of Newcastle lodge. In 1892 he co-founded the Labor Party. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1934... Like Henderson, Leon Jouhaux dropped out of school to help support his family and also went on to a career as a labor leader and winner of a Nobel Prize, 1951... Sweden's Harry Edmund Martinson was born in 1904. His parents died when he was very young. At 16 he ran away from an orphanage and went to sea. He spent six years aboard several ships, and as a laborer in foreign lands. He wrote about his experiences and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974... George Bernard Shaw left school and started working at 15. He wrote for a decade before finally making a breakthrough. The rest is history... Jose Saramago was born in Portugal in 1922. Despite academic excellence, he dropped out of school due to financial reasons. He worked as a translator and journalist for a newspaper. He gained literary acclaim in his mid-fifties with the publication of his novel Baltasar and Blimunda. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988... While looking for a picture to accompany the post, I saw this alarming stat: 82% of prison inmates are dropouts.

I don't recall having ever heard the term Blue Dogs in reference to Democrats. According to Salena Zito's op-ed piece in today's NY Post, the term originated in 1995. It describes those who may be pro-life, pro-gun, fiscally responsible, concerned about national security, or all of the above. I knew there were a few Democrats who held such views. I'm surprised there were that many. In 2005 there were 54 in the House of Representatives. Caught in the tidal wave engendered by the party's swing to the extreme left, that figure is down to 18. I doubt there are any in the Senate, as no Democrat crossed lines on any of the votes to repeal the ACA. Then again, maybe the Blue Dogs merely paid lip service to their views, as those Republicans who voted to keep Obamacare in place seem to have done. I'm so cynical about politicians that I find it hard to believe any vote their conscience and not what's best for their chances of re-election.

My thanks to young Brandon and his lovely tattooed girlfriend, who bought Billionths of a Lifetime, and also to Mr. Conspiracy, who purchased a Spanish-English dictionary. One of my regulars, Monsey, resurfaced. Apparently she had a medical issue she was reluctant to discuss. I didn't press. She bought A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle, which she had been seeking for a while. She is now able to use the work book she has for it.

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