Things I learned from today’s Writer’s Almanac:
- Henry David Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau. Seriously? Reversing his first two names was the best pen name he could come up with?
- George Eastman called his camera “the Kodak because it was easy to remember, difficult to misspell, and it meant nothing, so it could only be associated with his product.”
- Pablo Neruda was born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. If he’d been Thoreau, his pen name would have been Ricardo Reyes Neftali Basoalto, I’m sure.
Of course, Eastman had me convinced for years they were called “Kodak bears.”
Wait…they’re not…? 😉