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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Norman Vaughan, a dog handler and driver in Adm. Richard Byrd's 1928 expedition to the South Pole, has died.

Vaughan died at Providence Alaska Medical Center just a few days after turning 100 years old.

He was well enough six days before his death to enjoy a birthday celebration at the hospital attended by more than 100 friends and hospital workers.

Vaughan's motto was "Dream big and dare to fail."

"Vaughan with Byrd at Pole." Omaha World-Herald (Sunday, January 8, 2006): 8A.

Posted by Art Diamond at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My sixth grade daughter's teacher asked that the students have their parents write a paragraph about some memorable event that occurred during the year the parent was a sixth-grader. Here is what I wrote:

I was in sixth grade during the fall of 1964 and the spring of 1965. My main memory of that year was the election for president in 1964. My family strongly supported Barry Goldwater. We thought he spoke honestly and believed in freedom. My family became very discouraged as the polls showed that Goldwater was losing very badly. In the end, he lost 49 states and only won his home state of Arizona. I remember us all sitting in front of the TV a few days before the election, watching a short speech by a former actor, who said that freedom was worth fighting for, and that we should not give up hope. His name was Ronald Reagan.

Posted by Art Diamond at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

. . . energy in the service of ignorance is no virtue. (p. 132)

Evans, Harold. They Made America: Two Centuries of Innovators from the Steam Engine to the Search Engine. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2004.

Posted by Art Diamond at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

. . ., you are free to choose your way, quite free to turn your back on the prophecy!

Dumbledore speaking to Harry in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, p. 512.

Posted by Art Diamond at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)