The Dead Bloggers Society
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0311
I have been thinking about this question for quite some time. I have given some thought to sending it to the powers that be at Xanga and/or LiveJournal, because I think it would be an interesting topic for discussion. (If you're reading this on Xanga, this would be a Featured Question; on LiveJournal, it would be a Writer's Block question.)
Then a few weeks ago, I read something on LiveJournal that mentioned they were preparing for their 10th anniversary, which is today, April 14. (For some reason, I was thinking that the date was April 11, but I discovered my mistake.) So in commemoration of that anniversary, I thought this would be the ideal time to post this question:
What writer (or writers), who died before the concept of the blog came about, do you think would have been an interesting blogger?
I think some of the most interesting blogs I have read have been those of writers. Really not that surprising, though; they're doing what they do best. But which writers of the past would have been equally as interesting?
And since this is LiveJournal's 10th anniversary, for the purpose of this question, let's make it someone who died before LiveJournal first went online. Yes, I know that someone is probably going to tell me that people were doing blogs, or online journals, or whatever else you might want to call them, in some form before then. I want some definite cutoff point, and April 14, 1999 is as good a date as any.
As for me, I can think of six writers who I think would have been interesting bloggers. Well, that's just at this moment. If I thought about it longer, I could give you a much longer list, but I'm not going to do that. I want to start the wheels in your mind to start turning, not hit you with an information overload. So without further ado, I present my version of:
The Dead Bloggers Society
[NOTE: This is my own version of The Dead bloggers Society (hereafter referred to as TDBS), and does not necessarily constitute my idea of the full membership. As always, YMMV.]
1. Dante Aligheri -- If you have ever read The Divine Comedy (or more importantly, the translator's notes accompanying just about any translation), you will know that Dante leveled some pretty scathing comments toward political and religious leaders of his time while travelling through the various levels of the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. And this included some very low opinions of several popes. Somehow, I get the feeling that if Dante were around today, his blog would have a great deal of political commentary in it -- and it would be interesting to see if he would do it in terza rima. And I don't think he would hold anything back.
2. Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain -- As I mentioned in one of my earliest entries, Mr. Clemons was what we would call today an early adopter. As I mentioned in that entry, I rather suspect that he would have embraced the computer in the late 1970s/early 1980s as eagerly as he did the typewriter a century earlier. He was a storyteller at heart, and I would be willing to bet that he would use his blog to spin one yarn after another for his readers. He also had something of a biting, sarcastic sense of humor, which is something that I can appreciate.
3. Will Rogers -- Like Twain, Will Rogers had something of an edge to his sense of humor. At the time of his death in 1935, he was one of the most popular newspaper columnists in the country. Maybe even the most popular columnist. I mean, how can you not like someone who declared that he wasn't a member of any organized political party; he was a Democrat? I haven't read any of his columns, but I'm willing to bet that if he were blogging today, it would probably be similar to his column. But these days, he would probably be saying, "All I know is what I read on the Internet."
4. Damon Runyon -- During my freshman year of college, I was involved in a production of Guys And Dolls. After the show ended, I was curious enough to want to read the source material, and I tracked down a book of his stories in the library. Not only did I find "The Idyll Of Miss Sarah Brown" (the primary basis for Guys And Dolls), but also many other stories full of what can only be described as characters. Make that Characters, with a capital C. And Runyon had such an interesting way with the English language. I really can't describe it; you have to read it to truly experience it.
5. Isaac Asimov -- Dr. Asimov was the first person to have a book in every major classification of the Dewey Decimal System. As far as I know, he is still the only person to have that distinction. He wrote books on topics ranging from slide rules to Shakespeare. If he had a blog, it would be interesting simply because you would never know what he would be writing about next. I suspect that his blog would be much like the editorials he wrote for the magazine that bears his name -- covering whatever struck his fancy at the moment.
6. Mike Royko -- As I have mentioned once or twice, Mike Royko's column is at least a partial inspiration for The Janus Files. I'm guessing that, like Will Rogers, if Royko had a blog, it would not be too different from his column. I have been trying to think what it was about Royko's column that I liked so much. I think what I liked is that Royko came across (at least to me) as a garrulous, sometimes cantankerous uncle figure, always ready with an interesting tale. (Rather similar to Mark Twain, now that I think about it.)
Okay, those are my choices for dead writers who would would probably make interesting bloggers. Who would you want to see in your version of TDBS?
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0311
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0311A
ADDENDUM
A few days ago, I suggested to the people who run Catpooish that this might be something they would want to feature on their site. They agreed with me, and it's currently being featured there:
http://catpooish.xanga.com
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0311A
I have been thinking about this question for quite some time. I have given some thought to sending it to the powers that be at Xanga and/or LiveJournal, because I think it would be an interesting topic for discussion. (If you're reading this on Xanga, this would be a Featured Question; on LiveJournal, it would be a Writer's Block question.)
Then a few weeks ago, I read something on LiveJournal that mentioned they were preparing for their 10th anniversary, which is today, April 14. (For some reason, I was thinking that the date was April 11, but I discovered my mistake.) So in commemoration of that anniversary, I thought this would be the ideal time to post this question:
What writer (or writers), who died before the concept of the blog came about, do you think would have been an interesting blogger?
I think some of the most interesting blogs I have read have been those of writers. Really not that surprising, though; they're doing what they do best. But which writers of the past would have been equally as interesting?
And since this is LiveJournal's 10th anniversary, for the purpose of this question, let's make it someone who died before LiveJournal first went online. Yes, I know that someone is probably going to tell me that people were doing blogs, or online journals, or whatever else you might want to call them, in some form before then. I want some definite cutoff point, and April 14, 1999 is as good a date as any.
As for me, I can think of six writers who I think would have been interesting bloggers. Well, that's just at this moment. If I thought about it longer, I could give you a much longer list, but I'm not going to do that. I want to start the wheels in your mind to start turning, not hit you with an information overload. So without further ado, I present my version of:
The Dead Bloggers Society
[NOTE: This is my own version of The Dead bloggers Society (hereafter referred to as TDBS), and does not necessarily constitute my idea of the full membership. As always, YMMV.]
1. Dante Aligheri -- If you have ever read The Divine Comedy (or more importantly, the translator's notes accompanying just about any translation), you will know that Dante leveled some pretty scathing comments toward political and religious leaders of his time while travelling through the various levels of the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. And this included some very low opinions of several popes. Somehow, I get the feeling that if Dante were around today, his blog would have a great deal of political commentary in it -- and it would be interesting to see if he would do it in terza rima. And I don't think he would hold anything back.
2. Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain -- As I mentioned in one of my earliest entries, Mr. Clemons was what we would call today an early adopter. As I mentioned in that entry, I rather suspect that he would have embraced the computer in the late 1970s/early 1980s as eagerly as he did the typewriter a century earlier. He was a storyteller at heart, and I would be willing to bet that he would use his blog to spin one yarn after another for his readers. He also had something of a biting, sarcastic sense of humor, which is something that I can appreciate.
3. Will Rogers -- Like Twain, Will Rogers had something of an edge to his sense of humor. At the time of his death in 1935, he was one of the most popular newspaper columnists in the country. Maybe even the most popular columnist. I mean, how can you not like someone who declared that he wasn't a member of any organized political party; he was a Democrat? I haven't read any of his columns, but I'm willing to bet that if he were blogging today, it would probably be similar to his column. But these days, he would probably be saying, "All I know is what I read on the Internet."
4. Damon Runyon -- During my freshman year of college, I was involved in a production of Guys And Dolls. After the show ended, I was curious enough to want to read the source material, and I tracked down a book of his stories in the library. Not only did I find "The Idyll Of Miss Sarah Brown" (the primary basis for Guys And Dolls), but also many other stories full of what can only be described as characters. Make that Characters, with a capital C. And Runyon had such an interesting way with the English language. I really can't describe it; you have to read it to truly experience it.
5. Isaac Asimov -- Dr. Asimov was the first person to have a book in every major classification of the Dewey Decimal System. As far as I know, he is still the only person to have that distinction. He wrote books on topics ranging from slide rules to Shakespeare. If he had a blog, it would be interesting simply because you would never know what he would be writing about next. I suspect that his blog would be much like the editorials he wrote for the magazine that bears his name -- covering whatever struck his fancy at the moment.
6. Mike Royko -- As I have mentioned once or twice, Mike Royko's column is at least a partial inspiration for The Janus Files. I'm guessing that, like Will Rogers, if Royko had a blog, it would not be too different from his column. I have been trying to think what it was about Royko's column that I liked so much. I think what I liked is that Royko came across (at least to me) as a garrulous, sometimes cantankerous uncle figure, always ready with an interesting tale. (Rather similar to Mark Twain, now that I think about it.)
Okay, those are my choices for dead writers who would would probably make interesting bloggers. Who would you want to see in your version of TDBS?
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0311
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0311A
ADDENDUM
A few days ago, I suggested to the people who run Catpooish that this might be something they would want to feature on their site. They agreed with me, and it's currently being featured there:
http://catpooish.xanga.com
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0311A