Brian Patrick Friel (1929-2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company.   He has been likened to an "Irish Chekhov" and described as "the universally accented voice of Ireland".  His plays have been compared favourably to those of contemporaries such as Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter and Tennessee Williams.  Recognised for early works such as Philadelphia, Here I Come! and Faith Healer, Friel had 24 plays published in a career of more than a half-century.  He was elected to the honorary position of Saoi of Aosdána.  His plays were commonly produced on Broadway in New York City throughout this time, as well as in Ireland and the UK.  In 1980 Friel co-founded Field Day Theatre Company and his play Translations was the company's first production.  With Field Day, Friel collaborated with Seamus Heaney, 1995 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.  Heaney and Friel first became friends after Friel sent the young poet a letter following publication of his book Death of a Naturalist.  Friel was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the British Royal Society of Literature and the Irish Academy of Letters.  He was appointed to Seanad Éireann in 1987 and served until 1989.  In later years, Dancing at Lughnasa reinvigorated Friel's oeuvre, bringing him Tony Awards (including Best Play), the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.  It was also adapted into a film, starring Meryl Streep, directed by Pat O'Connor, script by Frank McGuinness.   His exact birth date and name are ambiguous.  The parish register lists a birth name of Brian Patrick Ó'Friel and a birth date of 9 January.  Elsewhere his birth name is given as Bernard Patrick Friel and his birth date as 10 January.  In life he was known simply as Brian Friel and celebrated his birthday on 9 January. F riel himself remarked in a letter to Richard Pine:  "Perhaps I'm twins."  The Brian Friel papers donated to the state in 2000 are in the National Library of Ireland Manuscript Collection, List No. 73 [MSS 37,041–37,806]  The Brian Friel papers donated to the state in 2011 are in the National Library of Ireland Manuscript Collection, List No. 180 [MSS 42,091 – 42,093 and MSS 49,209 – 49,350]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Friel 

“He was beaming.  I have noticed this about human beings:  secret knowledge makes them smile.  It is the smile of power.”   Restoration, a Novel of Seventeenth-Century England by Rose Tremain 

"When I Consider How My Light is Spent" (Also known as "On His Blindness") is one of the best known of the sonnets of John Milton (1608–1674).  The last three lines are particularly well known; they conclude with "They also serve who only stand and wait", which is much quoted though rarely in context.  Variants of it have been used as mottos in a number of contexts, for example the Dickin Medal for service animals bears the motto "We also serve", and the Navy Wives Clubs of America uses the motto "They Also Serve, Who Stay and Wait".  In U.S. popular culture it is perhaps best known for Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, who would quote it when showing a player not in the game.  The sonnet was first published in Milton's 1673 Poems in his autograph notebook, known as the "Trinity Manuscript" from its location in the Wren Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.  He gave it the number 19, but in the published book it was numbered 16, so both numbers are used for it.  It is popularly given the title On His Blindness, but there is no evidence that Milton used this title; it was assigned a century later by Thomas Newton in his 1761 edition of Milton's poetry, as was commonly done at the time by editors of posthumous collections.  See text at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_I_Consider_How_My_Light_is_Spent 

The concept of a "medical–industrial complex" was first advanced by Barbara and John Ehrenreich in the November 1969 issue of the Bulletin of the Health Policy Advisory Center in an article entitled "The Medical Industrial Complex" and in a subsequent book (with Health-PAC), The American Health Empire:  Power, Profits, and Politics (Random House, 1970).  The concept was widely discussed throughout the 1970s, including reviews in the New England Journal of Medicine (November 4, 1971, 285:1095).  It was further popularized in 1980, Arnold S. Relman while he served as editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. in a paper titled "The New Medical-Industrial Complex."  Relman commented, "The past decade has seen the rise of another kind of private "industrial complex" with an equally great potential for influence on public policy—this time in health care . . . "  Oddly, Relman added, "In searching for information on this subject, I have found no standard literature and have had to draw on a variety of unconventional sources . . . "  Subsequently, this paper and the concept have been discussed continually.  An updated history and analysis can be found in John Ehrenreich, "Third Wave Capitalism:  How Money, Power, and the Pursuit of Self-Interest have Imperiled the American Dream" (Cornell University Press, May 2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical%E2%80%93industrial_complex 

sui generis  definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary  (soo-ee jen-ris)  Latin for of its own kind, and used to describe a form of legal protection that exists outside typical legal protections--that is, something that is unique or different.  In intellectual property law, for example, ship hull designs have achieved a unique category of protection and are "sui generis" within copyright law.  https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sui_generis 

Tania León, the Cuban-born composer, won the Pulitzer Prize in Music on June 11, 2021 for her orchestral work Stride.  The Pulitzer jury described the 15-minute piece as a "musical journey full of surprise, with powerful brass and rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black music traditions from the U.S. and the Caribbean into a Western orchestral fabric."  The two other finalists were Place, by Ted Hearne and Data Lords by Maria Schneider, both recordings.  Stride received its world premiere by the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center Feb. 13, 2020.  The music was born out of Project 19, an ambitious commissioning program where 19 women composers were chosen to write music to mark the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. León's inspiration was Susan B. Anthony, the women's rights activist and a prominent leader in the suffrage movement.  Tom Huizenga  https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2021/06/11/1005649919/tania-leon-wins-music-pulitzer-for-stride-a-celebration-of-womens-suffrage

Darnella Frazier, who was 17 when she recorded George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis last year, was awarded a special citation by the Pulitzer Board on June 11, 2021.  The video played a major role in igniting a global protest movement against police violence, and was used as evidence in the trial of Floyd's killer.  Joe Hernandez  https://www.npr.org/2021/06/11/1005601724/darnella-frazier-teen-who-filmed-george-floyds-murder-wins-pulitzer-prize-citati 

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag.  Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes in many ways–displaying the flag in the front of their homes, parades, and other patriotic observances.  Prior to 1916, many localities and a few states had been celebrating the day for years.  Congressional legislation designating that date as the national Flag Day was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1949; the legislation also called upon the president to issue a flag day proclamation every year.  See pictures at https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-14/ 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2377  June 14, 2021