August 12

Born:

1831 - Helena Blavatsky
Russian-German occultist and founder of the Theosophical Society.

1866 - Jacinto Benavente
Spanish dramatist; winner of the 1922 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama."

1867 - Edith Hamilton
German-American author who was known for her work in the Classics. Her 1943 work Mythology is still considered a standard introductory text on the subject.

1876 - Mary Roberts Rinehart
American mystery writer, sometimes called the American Agatha Christie. Known for the phrase "The butler did it," and cited by Bob Kane as one of the inspirations for his "Batman."

1889 - Zerna Sharp
American author,and teacher, known for creating the Dick and Jane beginning readers.

1925 - Donald Justice
American poet; winner of the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his Selected Poems. 

1926 - Wallace Markfield
American comic novelist best known for his first novel, To An Early Grave.

1937 - Walter Dean Myers
African-American author of young adult fiction, five time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. His novel Fallen Angels is on the ALA's list of frequently challenged books because of it's language and depiction of the Vietnam War.

1946 - Deborah Howe
American children's author who, along with her husband James, wrote the Bunnicula series.

1948 - Sue Monk Kidd
American author best known for her novel The Secret Life of Bees, a New York Times bestseller.

1955 - Ann Martin 
American children's author, most known for her series The Baby-Sitters Club.

1964 - Katherine Boo
American journalist and author whose first book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, won the National Book Award in 2012.

1970 - Anthony Swofford
 American writer and former U.S. Marine whose bio Jarhead recounts his experience during the first Gulf War.





Died:
1827 - William Blake
1891 - James Russell Lowell
1955 - Thomas Mann
1964 - Ian Fleming
1967 - Esther Forbes
1986 - Evaline Ness
2010 - Isaac Bonewits