Tom Clancy, author of The Hunt for Red October, has died on October 1, 2013 at 66.  Too young.  :(

In an article by Julie Bosman on today’s New York Times, here is a quote from the master of the military thriller:

After “The Hunt for Red October” was published, Mr. Clancy’s fame was fairly instant. Frequently posing for photographs in darkened aviator sunglasses, jeans and holding a cigarette, Mr. Clancy spoke of the laserlike focus required to succeed.

“I tell them you learn to write the same way you learn to play golf,” he said. “You do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. A lot of people think something mystical happens to you, that maybe the muse kisses you on the ear. But writing isn’t divinely inspired — it’s hard work.” 

He’s right.  It’s a lot of hard work, and practice.  Rest in peace, sir.

Now for the cookie news.  That didn’t take long.  Around an hour after I posted, we had a winner!

Max H. correctly answered the trivia question—the picture is the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, taken in 1936 by a photographer who was taking shots of the house for the British magazine Country Life.  He allegedly saw the form on the staircase and hollered at his assistant, and they managed to capture a picture that is still debated to this day.  Max added that she is purported to be the ghost of Lady Dorothy Walpole, who lived in the house and died of smallpox in 1726.

Congratulations, Max H.!  You win cookies!  Email me at aelizabethwest at gmail.com to make arrangements for your prize.

I started a vocabulary post for you, but now I’m sick, so I’m going to go indulge my strong urge to be horizontal, drink some orange juice, and try to fight off this whatever-it-is.

In the meantime, watch scishow and learn something about pigeons.  Coo coo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5y-mRVT-lE