Lavinia Warren was born to a genteel New England family in 1841.  She was a big baby, weighing in at nine pounds, and it wasn’t until she seemed to stop growing as a toddler that her parents suspected something was wrong.  Lavinia was healthy and well-proportioned, but very, very tiny.  After she was diagnosed with dwarfism, her parents didn’t treat her any differently; she was still expected to do chores.  The only concession they made to her height was to build a stepstool for her so she could reach the kitchen table when cooking.  Lavinia was encouraged to find a trade to support herself, and at sixteen she began to teach.  When husband Tom Thumb died of a stroke in 1883, Lavinia found she did not have enough savings to retire.  So in 1885, when she met another pair of performing little people from Italy--Count” Primo Magri and his brother “Baron” Giuseppe--she married the Count, formed a tiny opera company and hit the road again, this time appearing with a roster of other performers.  They also made a silent film, The Lilliputians’ Courtship, in 1915.  The public’s tastes had changed, though, and Lavinia was also not quite the attraction she’d once been.  Kimberly Wadsworth  Read more and see graphics at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lavinia-warren-half-of-the-19th-century-s-tiniest-richest-power-couple



Mercy Lavinia Warren Stratton (née Bump, October 31, 1842–November 25, 1919) was an American proportionate dwarf, who was a circus performer.  She grew to a height of 32 inches.  The Middleborough Historical Museum exhibits a large collection of Lavinia Warren memorabilia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavinia_Warren



Melanie Benjamin (born November 24, 1962) is the pen name of American writer Melanie Hauser (née Miller).  As Melanie Hauser, she published short stories in the In Posse Review and The Adirondack Review.  Her short story "Prodigy on Ice" won the 2001 "Now Hear This" short story competition that was part of a WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) program called Stories on Stage, where short stories were performed and broadcast.  When Melanie sold her first of two contemporary novels, she had to add Lynne to her name (Melanie Lynne Hauser) to distinguish her from the published sports journalist Melanie Hauser.  The first of Melanie's contemporary novels, Confessions of Super Mom was published with Dutton in 2005; the sequel Super Mom Saves the World was published by New American Library in 2007.  In addition to her two contemporary novels, Melanie also contributed an essay to the anthology IT'S A BOY and maintained a popular mom blog called The Refrigerator Door.  Under the pen name Melanie Benjamin (a combination of her first name and her son's first name), she shifted genres to historical fiction.  Her third novel, Alice I Have Been, was inspired by Alice Liddell Hargreaves's life.  Published in 2010 by Delacorte Press, Alice I Have Been was a national bestseller and reached the extended list of The New York Times Best Seller list.  In 2011, Benjamin fictionalized another historical female.  Her novel The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb focuses on the life of Lavinia Warren Bump, a proportionate dwarf featured in P.T. Barnum's shows.  Meredith Eaton optioned the film rights for The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb in December 2011.  Melanine Benjamin published a third historical fiction novel in 2013.  The Aviator's Wife revolves around the historic personage of Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  It was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback.  In addition it was a USA Today bestseller as well as an Indie Next List choice in both hardcover and paperback.  The Aviator's Wife has been optioned for film by Vandalia Films, Jennifer Garner's production company.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Benjamin_(author)



Author Philip Roth arranged to give his hometown library, Newark Public Library, at least $2 million before his death in 2018.



Bowie's Bookshelf--The Hundred Books that Changed David Bowie's Life by John O'Connell  Named one of Entertainment Weekly’s 12 biggest music memoirs of fall 2019.  “An artful and wildly enthralling path for Bowie fans in particular and book lovers in general.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)  Three years before David Bowie died, he shared a list of 100 books that changed his life.  His choices span fiction and nonfiction, literary and irreverent, and include timeless classics alongside eyebrow-raising obscurities.  In 100 short essays, music journalist John O’Connell studies each book on Bowie’s list and contextualizes it in the artist’s life and work.  How did the power imbued in a single suit of armor in The Iliad impact a man who loved costumes, shifting identity, and the siren song of the alter-ego?  How did The Gnostic Gospels inform Bowie’s own hazy personal cosmology?  How did the poems of T.S. Eliot and Frank O’Hara, the fiction of Vladimir Nabokov and Anthony Burgess, the comics of The Beano and The Viz, and the groundbreaking politics of James Baldwin influence Bowie’s lyrics, his sound, his artistic outlook?  https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bowies-Bookshelf/John-OConnell/9781982112547  The book is expected out on November 12, 2019.



5 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Watch For in November 2019  
Featuring clockwork thieves, haunted islands, the return of Erin Morgenstern, and more by Leah Schnelbach  https://bookmarks.reviews/5-sci-fi-and-fantasy-books-to-watch-for-in-november/



How to Haul a Book Collection Across an Ocean by Connor Harrison 

https://lithub.com/how-to-haul-a-book-collection-across-an-ocean/



First there was Conan the Barbarian, then Conan (O'Brien) the Comedian.  Then there was Conan the Librarian, a term bandied about by American law librarians.  In November 2019 we have Conan the Dog, celebrated by White House officials.  A Muse Reader suggests the term Conan the Contrarian.  Can you think of other Conans?

LeBron James made history on November 5, 2019 against the Chicago Bulls, as he became the first Los Angeles Lakers player since the inimitable Magic Johnson to register a triple-double in three consecutive games.  James was his usual efficient, ethereal self against the Bulls, helping the Lakers erase a 13-point fourth quarter deficit.  LBJ finished with 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting, as well as 8-of-9 from the line.  He also had 10 rebounds and 11 assists  and finished with a plus-minus +17 in on/off rating—which was the highest of any player on either team.  King James currently stands in the record books with 84 career triple-doubles, which is the fifth-most in NBA history.  Chris Guest  https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-first-la-player-to-have-three-straight-triple-doubles-since-magic-johnson/

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) opens its first-ever space dedicated exclusively to visual art November 7, 2019.  The 1,100-square-foot Rudin Family Gallery, which is named after the trustee and art collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, will be part of the institution’s $38m BAM Strong complex on Fulton Street, a recently completed construction designed by Mitchell Giurgola Architects that connects three existing theatre spaces in the Fort Greene neighbourhood of Brooklyn.  The Rudin Family Gallery will be inaugurated with a solo show of work by Glenn Kaino titled When a Pot Finds its Purpose (6 November-15 December)  Wallace Ludel  https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/brooklyn-academy-of-music-opens-its-first-gallery-for-visual-art



http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2178  November 6, 2019