Born on this day – Winchell Smith:

Winchell Smith

Writer

April 5, 1871 – June 10, 1933

Credits:

Three on a Spree (1961); Broadway Television Theatre (1952); Kraft Theatre (1949–1951); The Hurricane at Pilgrim Hill (1950); Brewster's Millions (1945); Brewster's Millions (1935); Lightnin' (1930); The Love Doctor (1929); The Fortune Hunter (1927); Going Crooked (1926); Miss Brewster's Millions (1926); Thank You (1925); The Wheel (1925); Lightnin' (1925); The Boomerang (1925); The Bandolero (1924); The Saphead (1920); The Lambs' All-Star Gambol (1914).

Recommended reading - The Blue Hammer, by Ross Macdonald (1976):

The Blue Hammer

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

First published 1976.

ISBN-10: 0307279065

ISBN-13: 978-0307279064

Description:

The desert air is hot with sex and betrayal, death and madness and only Detective Lew Archer can make sense of a killer who makes murder a work of art.

Finding a purloined portrait of a leggy blonde was supposed to be an easy paycheck for Archer, but that was before the bodies began piling up. Suddenly, Archer find himself smack in the middle of a decades-long mystery of a brilliant artist who walked into the desert and simply disappeared. He left behind a bevy of muses, molls, dolls, and dames-each one scrambling for what they thought was rightfully theirs.

Anne Lamott, on writing and reading:

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation.

It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea.

You can't stop the raging storm,

but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.

- Anne Lamott.

On this day in music history - Songs of Ned Rorem, by Susan Graham (2000):

Songs of Ned Rorem

Album by Susan Graham,

released April 4, 2000.

Track list:

The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: Santa Fe Songs: No. 4, S; Clouds, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Paul Goodman'); Early in the Morning, for voice & piano; The Serpent, for voice & piano (from 'Three Poems of Theodore Roethke'); Now sleeps the crimson petal, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Tennyson'); The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: Santa Fe Songs: No. 2, O; I Strolled Across an Open Field, for voice & piano; To a Young Girl, for voice & piano; Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, for voice & piano; Poèms pour la paix, for medium voice & strings: Ode; For Poulenc, for voice & piano; Little Elegy, for voice & piano; Alleluia, song for voice & piano; Look Down Fair Moon, for voice & piano; O you whom I often and silently come, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Walt Whitman'); I will always love you, for voice, string trio & piano; The Tulip Tree, for voice & piano; The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: Santa Fe Songs: No. 8, T; The Lordly Hudson, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Paul Goodman'); O Do Not Love Too Long, for voice & piano; Far-Far-Away, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Tennyson'); For Susan, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Paul Goodman'); A Journey, for voice & piano; Sometimes with One I Love, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Walt Whitman'); Love, for voice & piano; Orchids, for voice & piano; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, for voice & piano; Poems of Love and the Rain, song cycle for mezzo-soprano & piano: Do I love you more than a day?; Nantucket Songs, song cycle for voice & piano: Ferry Me Across the Water; The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: The Sowers (Santa Fe Song); Whitman Cantata, for men's chorus, 12 brass & timpani: The Shadow, My Likeness.

On this day in music history - Slick Chick, by Lee Aaron and the Swingin’ Barflies (2000):

Slick Chick

Album by Lee Aaron and the Swingin’ Barflies,

released April 4, 2000.

European album cover:

Track list:

He Ain't Got Rhythm; Evil Gal Blues; I'd Love To; Why Don't You Do Right?; Chaser for the Blues; Doodlin'; Slick Chick; TV Is the Thing This Year; In the Dark; Twisted; Teach Me Tonight; Samll Day Tomorrow; Tell Him I Said Hello.

On this day in movie history - The Black Cat (1981):

The Black Cat

directed by Lucio Fulci,

written by Biagio Proietti, Lucio Fulci and Biagio Proietti,

based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe,

was released in Italy on April 4, 1981.
Music by Pino Donaggio.

Cast:

Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck, Al Cliver, Dagmar Lassander, Bruno Corazzari, Geoffrey Copleston, Daniela Doria, Lucio Fulci, Vito Passeri.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1958):

M Squad

Season 1. Episode 28.

Episode entitled: Shot in the Dark.

Released April 4, 1958.

Directed by James Neilson.

Written by Merwin Gerard and Leonard Lee.

Music by Stanley Wilson.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Karin Booth, Raymond Greenleaf, Clarke Gordon, Paul Newlan, John Beradino, Bartlett Robinson, Jeanne Baird, Ken Lynch, John Zaremba, David McMahon.