Born on this day – Valerie French:

Valerie French

Actress

March 11, 1928 – November 3, 1990

Credits:

One of the Boys (1982); One Life to Live (1977); The Adams Chronicles (1976); All My Children (1977); Shalako (1968); Armchair Theatre (1968); Champion House (1967); ITV Playhouse (1968); The Prisoner (1967); Love Story (1967); The Nurses (1965); A Flame in the Wind (1964); The Best of the Post (1961); Have Gun - Will Travel (1959–1960); Alcoa Theatre (1958–1960); The Alaskans (1960); Goodyear Theatre (1958–1960); Bold Venture (1959); The Story on Page One (1959); The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959); The Third Man (1959); Ten Little Indians (1959); Schlitz Playhouse (1958); The George Sanders Mystery Theater (1957); The Hard Man (1957); Trackdown (1957); Decision at Sundown (1957); The 27th Day (1957); The Garment Jungle (1957); The Ford Television Theatre (1956); Secret of Treasure Mountain (1956); The Edge of Night (1965); Jubal (1956); Marriage a la Mode (1955); Rheingold Theatre (1954); Tonight's the Night (1954); Maddalena (1954); Strictly Personal (1953).

Born on this day – Peter R. Hunt:

Peter R. Hunt

Director

Editor

Producer

March 11, 1925 – August 14, 2002

Credits:

A Cry from the Streets (1958); Assassination (1987); BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1953–1959); Damn the Defiant! (1962); Deadline Midnight (1961); Death Hunt (1981); Doublecross (1956); Dr. No (1962); Eyes of a Witness (1991); Ferry to Hong Kong (1959); Gold (1974); Goldfinger (1964); Gulliver's Travels (1977); Hell in Korea (1956); Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star (1986); Loss of Innocence (1961); Next to No Time! (1958); Night Games (1980); On the Fiddle (1961); Paradise Lagoon (1957); Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983); Probation Officer (1960); Rough Cut (1980); Salute to Show Business (1957); Shirley's World (1972); Shout at the Devil (1976); Sink the Bismarck! (1960); Strange Portrait (1966); The Beasts Are on the Streets (1978); The Ipcress File (1965); The Last Days of Pompeii (1984); The Persuaders! (1971); The Persuaders! (1971); The Secret Tent (1956); The Six Proud Walkers (1954); The Venusian (1954); There Was a Crooked Man (1960); This Man Craig (1966); This Week (1956–1959); Touch and Go (1955); Wild Geese II (1985).

Born on this day – Raoul Walsh:

Raoul Walsh

Director

Actor

March 11, 1887 – December 31, 1980

Credits:

11:30 P.M. (1915); A Bad Man and Others (1915); A Distant Trumpet (1964); A Lion Is in the Streets (1953); A Man for All That (1915); A Private's Affair (1959); Action in the North Atlantic (1943); Along the Great Divide (1951); Artist and Models (1937); Baby Face Harrington (1935); Background to Danger (1943); Band of Angels (1957); Battle Cry (1955); Betrayed (1917); Big Brown Eyes (1936); Blackbeard, the Pirate (1952); Blue Blood and Red (1916); Camino del infierno (1931); Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951); Carmen (1915); Cheyenne (1947); College Swing (1938); Colorado Territory (1949); Come September (1961); Dangerous Business (1920); Dark Command (1940); Desperate Journey (1942); Die große Fahrt (1931); Distant Drums (1951); East of Suez (1925); Esther and the King (1960); Evangeline (1919); Every Night at Eight (1935); Fighter Squadron (1948); For His Master (1914); From Now On (1920); Gentleman Jim (1942); Glory Alley (1952); Going Hollywood (1933); Gun Fury (1953); Helen of Troy (1956); Hello, Sister! (1933); High Sierra (1940); His Return (1915); Hitting a New High (1937); Home from the Sea (1915); Hot for Paris (1929); I'll Say So (1918); In Old Arizona (1928); In This Our Life (1942); It's a Great Feeling (1949); Kindred of the Dust (1922); Klondike Annie (1936); La femme à abattre (1993); La gran jornada (1931); Lest We Forget (1914); Life in Hollywood No. 4 (1927); Life in Hollywood No. 5 (1927); Lost and Found on a South Sea Island (1923); Manpower (1941); Marines, Let's Go (1961); Me and My Gal (1932); Me, Gangster (1928); Montana (1950); Northern Pursuit (1943); Objective, Burma! (1945); On the Jump (1918); One Sunday Afternoon (1948); Out of the Deputy's Hands (1914); Paid with Interest (1914); Peer Gynt (1915); Pillars of Society (1916); Pursued (1947); Rosita (1923); Sadie Thompson (1928); Sailor's Luck (1933); Salty O'Rourke (1945); San Antonio (1945); Sands of Fate (1914); Saskatchewan (1954); Sea Devils (1953); Serenade (1921); Should a Husband Forgive? (1919); Sierra Jim's Reformation (1914); Silver River (1948); Siren of Hell (1915); Spendthrift (1936); St. Louis Blues (1939); Stallion Road (1947); The Angel of Contention (1914); The Artist's Wife (1915); The Availing Prayer (1914); The Baited Trap (1914); The Banker's Daughter (1914); The Big Trail (1930); The Bowery (1933); The Buried Hand (1915); The Celestial Code (1915); The Cock-Eyed World (1929); The Comeback (1915); The Conqueror (1917); The Death Dice (1915); The Deep Purple (1920); The Delta Factor (1970); The Detective's Stratagem (1913); The Dishonored Medal (1914); The Double Deception (1915); The Double Knot (1914); The Enforcer (1951); The Exposure (1914); The Fatal Black Bean (1915); The Fencing Master (1915); The Final Verdict (1914); The Greaser (1915); The Great Leap: Until Death Do Us Part (1914); The Honor System (1917); The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945); The Innocent Sinner (1917); The King and Four Queens (1956); The Lady of the Harem (1926); The Lawless Breed (1952); The Life of General Villa (1914); The Little Country Mouse (1914); The Lone Cowboy (1915); The Love Pirate (1915); The Loves of Carmen (1927); The Lucky Lady (1926); The Man I Love (1946); The Man Who Came Back (1931); The Monkey Talks (1927); The Mystery of the Hindu Image (1914); The Naked and the Dead (1958); The Oath (1921); The Old Fisherman's Story (1914); The Only Clue (1914); The Outlaw's Revenge (1915); The Pride of New York (1917); The Pseudo Prodigal (1913); The Rebellion of Kitty Belle (1914); The Red Dance (1928); The Regeneration (1915); The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956); The Roaring Twenties (1939); The Second Mrs. Roebuck (1914); The Serpent (1916); The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958); The Silent Lie (1917); The Smuggler (1915); The Spaniard (1925); The Stranger (1913); The Strawberry Blonde (1941); The Strongest (1920); The Tall Men (1955); The Thief of Bagdad (1924); The Unpainted Portrait (1914); The Wanderer (1925); The Woman and the Law (1918); The World in His Arms (1952); The Yellow Ticket (1931); They Died with Their Boots On (1941); They Drive by Night (1940); They Never Knew (1914); This Is the Life (1917); Uncertain Glory (1944); Under Pressure (1935); What Price Glory (1926); When Fate Frowned (1914); When Thief Meets Thief (1937); White Heat (1949); Who Shot Bud Walton? (1914); Wild Girl (1932); Women of All Nations (1931); You're in the Army Now (1937).

Recommended reading - Unknown Man #89, by Elmore Leonard (1977):

Unknown Man #89

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1977.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006218928X

ISBN-13: 978-0062189288

Description:

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – The New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

“No one is Leonard’s equal,” declares the Chicago Tribune – and anyone who might doubt it would only have to read Elmore Leonard’s riveting noir classic, Unknown Man #89, to become a true believer.

Detroit process server Jack Ryan has a reputation for being the best in the business at finding people who don't want to be found. Now he's looking for a missing stockholder known only as "Unknown Man No. 89." But his missing man isn't "unknown" to everyone: a pretty blonde hates his guts and a very nasty dude named Royal wants him dead in the worst way. Which is very unfortunate for Jack Ryan, who is suddenly caught in the crossfire of a lethal triple-cross and as much a target as his nameless prey.

The twisty tale of a Detroit process server whose search for a missing stockholder leads him into more serious peril than he ever imagined possible, Unknown Man #89 is a gourmet stew of mystery, suspense, and double and triple cross, peppered with the razor-sharp dialogue for which Grand Master Leonard is justifiably famous.

Exhilarating old-school crime fiction that the late, great John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker would have been proud to call their own, Unknown Man #89 is a gem – nothing less than we’d expect from the man who created the incomparable U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of the hit TV series Justified.

Harold Ross, on writing:

I asked Ring Lardner the other day how he writes his short stories,

and he said he wrote a few widely separated words or phrases on a piece on paper

and then went back and filled in the spaces.

- Harold Ross.

Inspirational quotes on nature – video 1:

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.

– Audrey Hepburn.

To cultivate a garden is to walk with God.

– Christian Nestell Bovee.

The dandelion's pallid tube

Astonishes the grass,

And winter instantly becomes

An infinite alas.

– Emily Dickinson.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God.

Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.

As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be.

And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.

– Anne Frank.

There is a serene and settled majesty to woodland scenery that enters into the soul and delights and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations.

– Washington Irving.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

– Frank Lloyd Wright.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

– Aristotle.

The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.

– Wendell Berry.

Earth laughs in flowers.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson.

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence ... We need silence to be able to touch souls.

– Mother Teresa.

Make a positive difference.

Conserve nature.

Conserve our world.

Before it’s too late.

April 22 is Earth Day.

Make every day … Earth Day.

Photographs by Jack Kost.

Video by Jack Kost

2025

Music credit:

Birds

By freesound_community

From Pixabay.

On this day in music history:

Landmarks by Clannad (1998)

Soundies: A Musical History (2007)

Landmarks

Album by Clannad,

released March 3, 1998.

Track list: An Gleann; Fado; A Mhuirnin O; Of This Land; Court To Love; The Golden Ball; The Bridge Of Tears; Autumn Leaves Are Falling; Let Me See; Loch Na Cailli.

Soundies: A Musical History

Documentary directed by Chris Lamson.

Written by Chris Lamson and Jennifer Sneider.

Released in the United States on March 3, 2007.

Hosted by Michael Feinstein.

Music by Michael Feinstein.

Cast: Van Alexander, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Mel Blanc, Will Bradley, Les Brown, Cab Calloway, Mark Cantor, Cyd Charisse, Nat ‘King’ Cole, Dorothy Dandridge, Doris Day, Yvonne De Carlo, Jimmy Dorsey, George Duke, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Frances Faye, Michael Feinstein, Irving Fields, Joe Franklin, Hugh Hefner, Spike Jones, Louis Jordan, Gene Krupa, Liberace, Leonard Maltin, Ginny Mancini, Wynton Marsalis, Hugh Martin, The Mills Brothers, Dan Morgenstern, Helen O’Connell, Anita O’Day, Jackie Parton, Les Paul, ‘Snub’ Pollard, Stan Ridgway, Kay Starr, Claude Thornhill, Mel Tormé, Merle Travis, Fats Waller, Ben Webster, Lawrence Welk.