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Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
It’s no great surprise that Carole King has become the first woman to win the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song– what a talent. She was co-writing hits that got huge airplay when she was still a teen in bobby sox: “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
It’s the year 1933. There’s a 13-year-old kid in the front row at the movie palace. He’s watching “King Kong,” completely transfixed. And there, in the flickering light of the screen, in the roar of the soundtrack, a famous career is born – as a youngster named Ray, already obsessed with dinosaurs, tells himself “Wow. …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Film, Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Authors and poets Margaret Atwood, Marie Arana, Taylor Branch, Don DeLillo, Khaled Hosseini, Barbara Kingsolver, Brad Meltzer, Joyce Carol Oates, Katherine Paterson and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey will be among more than 100 writers speaking at the 13th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, on Saturday, Sept. 21 and Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Events, LC Web site, National Book Festival, Podcasts, Poetry, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Duke Ellington has been famously quoted as saying: “If it sounds good, it is good.” Which brings us to Topic A of today: What’s the greatest scream in rock ‘n’ roll history? In my own mind, it’s a tossup which of these is No. 1 — Janis Joplin’s soul-scraping vocalization at the end of “Piece …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
On Thursday evening, a very nice gift was given, and received, in an ornate room at the U.S. Department of State. Afghan President Hamid Karzai was the recipient – on behalf of several libraries and research institutions in his nation – of a trove of digitized treasures from the Library of Congress and its associated …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Collections, Film, Libraries, Manuscripts, Maps, News, Photos, Poetry, Preservation, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Today marks 19 years since the passing of one of the world’s great management thinkers—W. Edwards Deming. After World War II, the U.S. did something remarkable in the history of war – it helped its friends and even its former foes get back on their feet economically. In Europe, that was accomplished through the Marshall …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Education, History, Libraries, Manuscripts, Science, Technology, Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Pianist Dave Brubeck, one of America’s all-time greats in the field of jazz — and a seminal force in making jazz popular in the U.S. and throughout the world — died today, just shy of his 92nd birthday. The Librarian of Congress bestowed the Library’s “Living Legend” award on Brubeck in 2003, and it …
Posted in: Concerts, Curators, Events, Music, Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
The 2012 Library of Congress National Book Festival closed up shop Sunday evening – leaving more than 200,000 delighted book-lovers thrilled to have heard from and met their favorite authors, stoked up with new titles to read, and exhilarated by two days of gorgeous fall weather there on the National Mall. One couple even got …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Education, Events, History, LC Web site, Libraries, National Book Festival, Photos, Podcasts, Poetry, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Author Bob Woodward will join the lineup for the Library of Congress National Book Festival, speaking at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23 in the History & Biography Pavilion about his new book “The Price of Politics.” More about the two-day, free-and-open-to-the-public National Book Festival at www.loc.gov/bookfest. .
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Education, Events, History, National Book Festival, Uncategorized, Washington DC