It’s time to go back to school! I always feel a little nostalgic as September rolls along. I miss going in to school, as a teacher, and getting bulletin boards ready for a new year. One year I filled the classroom with lots of early American flags–it looked great. Another year, when I wanted to stress writing and reading, I made a long, long banner that circled the room that said, “Reading is Writing is Reading is Writing is Reading . . . “.
When I was getting ready to do the September literary birthday post, I wondered what kind of education the featured birthday boys and girls had had. So—this month I’ve selected only eight writers, but have furnished a note about their educational backgrounds.
(Click on photos to enlarge . . .)
September 3 Sarah Orne Jewett went to Miss Olive Rayne’s School and then Berwick Academy:
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September 9 Leo Tolstoy attended Kazan University, left before graduation. Interestingly, later in life he founded thirteen schools for his serfs’ children, thereby making him a pioneer in the theory of democratic education.
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September 15 Agatha Christie had no formal schooling, learned at home, and had a French nanny and took piano and dance lessons.
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September 24 F. Scott Fitzgerald went to private high schools, attended Princeton and left in his junior year.
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September 25 William Faulkner did not graduate from high school, but attended the University of Mississippi for three semesters.
September 26 T.S. Eliot went to private schools, then Harvard, the Sorbonne and Oxford
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September 29 Elizabeth Gaskell went to Miss Byerly’s School and Avonbank School.
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September 30 Truman Capote went to private high schools.
Most of this information was lifted from Wikipedia. It’s interesting to read the biographies of the writers. And it gives you new ideas for your reading list . . .
