Greetings from the Great Bend Public Library! What do Mary Shelley and her husband, Percy Shelly, have in common with authors like Ray Bradbury, Stieg Larsson, Danielle Steel, and Herman Melville? All of them have August birthdays! Since all of these famous authors were born this month, I thought it would be a good time to share some interesting facts about each one, so welcome to Fun Fact Friday: Author Edition!
Did you know that Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” at age 19? The idea for the story came when she was vacationing in Switzerland with her husband, Percy Shelley, and with Lord Byron and John William Polidori. They decided to have a contest to see who could come up with the scariest story. Mary won with her short story about a monster and a mad scientist. Roughly a year later, “Frankenstein” was brought to life. Percy Shelley was also a famous author of his time. At age 20 he became a vegetarian and wrote essays on the subject of vegetarianism. Unfortunately, he died at age 29, drowning in a boating accident off the coast of Tuscany. He was survived by Mary and their only child, who was named Percy after his father.
Next up we have Ray Bradbury, who you may know as the author of “Fahrenheit 451.” Did you also know that he had an extreme aversion to cars and avoided them as much as possible? In fact, he never got a driver’s license. At age 16 he saw a horrendous car accident that killed six people. From that point on he was terrified of them, even going as far as to say, “The automobile is the most dangerous weapon in our society – cars kill more than wars do.”
Many are familiar with Swedish author Stieg Larsson for his “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” books, but not as many know he actually completed his first novel at age 12. His father found the manuscript and decided to gift the young writer a typewriter to encourage him to keep writing. It worked, because he went on to write several books before his untimely death in 2004 at age 50.
Danielle Steel is currently the best-selling author still alive and the fourth best-selling author of all time. With 179 titles and over 800 million copies sold, it’s not hard to see why, but what is hard to see is how she somehow managed to crank out two to three novels a year while raising nine young children!
Last but not least. we have Herman Melville, whom you no doubt know as the author of the classic tale of “Moby Dick.” But did you know he once jumped ship on his own epic voyage? Melville and the captain of the Acushnet didn’t get along so swimmingly. When the ship reached the extremely remote Marquesas Islands of Polynesia, Melville and a friend, Richard Tobias Greene, got off the ship and hid in the forests until the ship left without them. They then spent a month living with the locals, known as the Pacific Islanders. After bonding with the peaceful and generous native Polynesian people, Melville went on to criticize European attempts to “civilize” the islanders in his first two novels, “Typee” and “Omoo.”
Well now you know a little more about some famous August-born authors to share at your next dinner party. Keep an eye on our Facebook and our website, greatbendpl.info, for upcoming programs and updates. You can also message us on Facebook or email us at gbcirc@gmail.com. We can also be reached via phone at 620-792-2409.
Hannah Grippin is the outreach manager at the Great Bend Public Library.
