August 5

Born:

1850 - Guy de Maupassant 
French writer, known for his short stories like Boule de suif and horror such as Le Horla.

1880 - Ruth Sawyer
American storyteller best known as the author of Roller Skates, which was the winner of the 1937 Newbery Medal.

1889 - Conrad Aiken 
American novelist and poet who won the 1930 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

1916 - Peter Viereck
American poet and political writer; winner of the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

1934 - Wendell Berry 
American writer and ecological activist, much of whose writing centers around his home state of Kentucky and the south in general.

1960 - David Baldacci
American author of blockbuster thrillers.





Died:
1959 - Edward Guest 
2002 - Franco Lucentini  
2009 - Budd Schulberg 
2019 - Toni Morrison