September 20, 2024

Let’s come together with the character that we are so proud of about who we are.  ~ Kamala Harris

 

A double-barrel of literary birthdays today, dear reader!  Today, we celebrate the birthdays of Upton Sinclair, who entered the stage in 1878, and George R.R. Martin, who graced us with his presence in 1948.  Both men gave us stories that linger in our minds, albeit for very different reasons.

We’ll start Upton Sinclair, shit-disturber extraordinaire.  His most famous work, “The Jungle,” published in 1906, shone (shined?) a light on the meatpacking industry that would lead to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

Fun fact: Sinclair ran for governor in California, promising to “End Poverty in California.”  He didn’t win.  As an apparently permanent resident of this shithole, I kinda wish he had.

But never mind that.  Fast forward several decades, and we have the man who brought White Walkers and political intrigue to our living rooms: George R.R. Martin.  Born in 1948, Martin is obviously best known for “A Song of Ice and Fire,” which, I don’t need to tell you, informed reader, inspired HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

Where Sinclair showed us the gritty reality of industrial American, Martin introduced us to the equally cutthroat world of Westeros, where winter is always coming and weddings are never boring.

Happy birthday, gentlemen.

N.P.: “Walkin’ Shoes” – Tora Tora

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