Cuppa Joe
Cuppa Joe
It’s the birthday of poet and playwright Ben Jonson, born in London (1572). He didn’t want to be a bricklayer like his father, so he got a job as an actor and then began to write plays. He had a notoriously bad temper, and once killed another actor in a duel. He was put on trial, but right around the same time his first important play, Every Man in His Humour (1598), premiered, with William Shakespeare as one of the actors. Even though he was a convicted felon, and spent time in prison, his work was popular enough for him to become a court poet.
From the Writer’s Almanac by Garrison Keillor
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Available by e-mail daily.
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