advent journal: you say it’s your birthday

I’m minutes away from completing my fiftieth year on the planet. I would like to anticipate that moment by paying homage to those with whom I share a birthday:

• 1673 Ahmed III 23rd sultan (Turkey, 1703-30)
• 1745 John Jay diplomat (NY-Governor)
• 1792 Alexandros Ypsilanti Greek resistance fighter
• 1805 Henry Wells founder (American Express Company & Wells Fargo & Company)
• 1805 William Lloyd Garrison abolitionist publisher (The Liberator)
• 1821 Gustave Flaubert Rouen Normandy France, novelist (Madame Bovary)
• 1835 Georges Jean Pfeiffer composer
• 1863 Edvard Munch Norway, painter/print maker (The Scream)
• 1913 Jesse Owens US, track star (4 golds 1936), spoiled Hitler’s Olympics
• 1914 Patrick O’ Brian, England, novelist (Master and Commander)
• 1915 Frank Sinatra Hoboken NJ, singer/actor (old blue eyes/chairman of board)
• 1923 Bob Barker Darrington WA, game show emcee (Price is Right)
• 1924 Edward I Koch New York NY, (Mayor-D-NY, 1977-89)/judge (People’s Court)
• 1925 Cora Lee Johnson social activist for rural poor
• 1928 Helen Frankenthaler New York NY, abstract expressionist artist (Arden)
• 1938 Connie Francis Newark NJ, singer/actress (Where the Boys Are)
• 1940 Dionne Warwick East Orange NJ, singer (Solid Gold, Way to San Jose)
• 1942 Mike Pinder Birmingham England, rocker (Moody Blues)
• 1943 Grover Washington Jr jazz artist (Mr Magic)
• 1943 Dickey Betts West Palm Beach FL, guitarist (Allman Brothers-Ramblin’ Man)
• 1946 Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil, Indy-car racer (over 10 wins)
• 1952 Cathy Rigby McCoy Los Alamitos CA, gymnast (Olympics-4th-1968, 1972)
• 1957 Sheila E. San Franciso CA, disco drummer (Krushgrove, Holly Rock)
• 1962 Tracy Austin Rolling Hills CA, tennis pro (US Open 1979, 81)
• 1970 Jennifer Connelly Brooklyn Heights NY, actress (Labyrinth, Rocketeer)
• 1970 Madchen Amick Reno NV, actress (Shelly Johnson-Twin Peaks)

From depressed artists to race car drivers to lounge lizards to psychic friends. Go figure.

Peace,
Milton