http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/031.html
This child was born in Scotland in 1881 into a poor farm family. He was the seventh child of eight siblings and half-siblings. When he was seven years old, his father died. His mother and older siblings continued to run the farm. He attended a local rural grammar school, and for the most part was a hardworking, good student.
One day the boy had an accident on the school playground. He broke his nose, which was never fixed. This permanently gave him a face that looked a little like that of a boxer.
At age 14, he was sent far from home to live with one of his older brothers who lived in London, and who had gone on to medical school and become a doctor. Several other siblings later joined them.
He got a job as a shipping clerk, where he worked through the rest of his adolescent years. Then, when he was about 20, his uncle died, leaving him a small inheritance. This and a scholarship enabled him to return to school to study medicine as his older brother had done.
When he graduated, he obtained a job as a research bacteriologist in the same institution that had given him the scholarship. He interrupted work this for a time to serve as a physician in the army. In his mid-thirties, he married, and had one son, who also later became a physician.
In 1928 while he was working in his lab, he noticed a petri dish that had become contaminated with mold. The mold had killed off a staphylococcus culture that had been growing in the dish..
Seventeen years later, he won the Nobel Prize.
In his later life he said, in response to the folly of overly exalting teamwork that "It is the lone worker who makes the first advance in a subject. The details may be worked out by a team, but the prime idea is due to the enterprise, thought, and perception of an individual."
He also said, commenting on life as much as research that "One sometimes finds what one is not looking for."
By the time of his death, the man who discovered penicillin -- the wonder drug that has saved countless lives -- had received worldwide recognition and numerous awards, lectured at the finest universities, been knighted by the Queen, and become an exemplar of scholarly achievement. He was
Alexander Fleming, a boy from a "fatherless home."
Nov 29, 2009
Nov 22, 2009
Fatherless Child - Expose Number Thirty
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/030.html
This child was born in 1758, the eldest son of five children of a wealthy Virginia tobacco planter and slave owner. He was raised in luxury and attended the finest schools where he studied Latin, math, science, literature, and the Romance languages. He and his school chum were the top students -- his friend later became one of the most famous Chief Justices of the U.S.Supreme Court.
When he was 16, his father died, and he and his brother inherited the plantation and the rest of their father's estate. His mother's brother, acting as his guardian, encouraged him to start college, but he became distracted by the politics and war fever that was sweeping the county. He quit school after one year to join the Continental Army and fight in the Revolutionary War, where he crossed the Delaware with Washington, and also made the acquaintance of Thomas Jefferson. He never returned to college.
Instead, after the war, he studied law for two years under Jefferson, and then was appointed as a member of the Continental Congress, where he and his friend Patrick Henry argued vehemently against a strong federal government in favor of States' Rights.
At age 29, he married, and had three children. His two daughters survived, but his only son died in infancy. He ran for and became a U.S. Senator from Virgina. Afterward, he was appointed Minister to France. He also served as the Governor of Virginia, and helped Robert Livingston negotiate Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. Later he served as Minister to Great Britain, and was appointed Secretary of State under President James Madison.
His final achievement was being elected President himself for two terms, which later came to be called "the Era of Good Feeling". Upon his reelection, he won every Electoral College vote except for one. This sweep effectively terminated the Federalist Party in America.
This political statesman, founding father, and champion of States' Rights, who is sometimes known as the "The Last Cocked Hat", meaning the last Revolutionary War president, was
James Monroe, a boy from a "fatherless home."
This child was born in 1758, the eldest son of five children of a wealthy Virginia tobacco planter and slave owner. He was raised in luxury and attended the finest schools where he studied Latin, math, science, literature, and the Romance languages. He and his school chum were the top students -- his friend later became one of the most famous Chief Justices of the U.S.Supreme Court.
When he was 16, his father died, and he and his brother inherited the plantation and the rest of their father's estate. His mother's brother, acting as his guardian, encouraged him to start college, but he became distracted by the politics and war fever that was sweeping the county. He quit school after one year to join the Continental Army and fight in the Revolutionary War, where he crossed the Delaware with Washington, and also made the acquaintance of Thomas Jefferson. He never returned to college.
Instead, after the war, he studied law for two years under Jefferson, and then was appointed as a member of the Continental Congress, where he and his friend Patrick Henry argued vehemently against a strong federal government in favor of States' Rights.
At age 29, he married, and had three children. His two daughters survived, but his only son died in infancy. He ran for and became a U.S. Senator from Virgina. Afterward, he was appointed Minister to France. He also served as the Governor of Virginia, and helped Robert Livingston negotiate Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. Later he served as Minister to Great Britain, and was appointed Secretary of State under President James Madison.
His final achievement was being elected President himself for two terms, which later came to be called "the Era of Good Feeling". Upon his reelection, he won every Electoral College vote except for one. This sweep effectively terminated the Federalist Party in America.
This political statesman, founding father, and champion of States' Rights, who is sometimes known as the "The Last Cocked Hat", meaning the last Revolutionary War president, was
James Monroe, a boy from a "fatherless home."
Nov 15, 2009
Fatherless Child - Expose Number Twentynine
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/029.html
This child lost both his mother and father when he was only nine years old, and then grew up to become one of the world's greatest composers.
He was born March 21, 1685, in Germany, the youngest child of six children in a large extended family, many of whom were musicians. His father was a court musician, as were his uncles and older brothers. While still very young, the boy learned to play a number of musical instruments, including the harpsichord and violin.
After his parents' unexpected deaths in the same year, he went to live with his eldest brother, who was newly married and working as a church organist. While living with his brother, he attended grammar school, where he was taught to read and write. His brother also gave him music lessons, and he learned how to play -- and also how to repair and manufacture -- organs.
The brother was poor, however, and so the child was required to obtain a job, and turn over all of his earnings to help with his support. Because of his beautiful soprano voice, the child obtained a job singing with a religious chorale group, which also gave him the opportunity to further his musical education.
As an adult, he married twice, having a total of 20 children, seven with his first wife, who died, and then thirteen with his second wife, who was only 17 when she married him. By all accounts, both marriages were successful and happy, although not all of the twenty children survived to adulthood.
He spent the bulk of his lifetime teaching music, performing as the music director in a church and as a court organist, and writing an astonishing twenty volumes of original compositions. He achieved some fame during his lifetime, and after his death, his achievements came to be more and more appreciated. Three centuries later, he is universally recognized as a musical genius.
This fatherless child, who is considered to be the best contrapuntal, or "counterpoint" composer of all time, was
Johann Sebastian Bach, a boy from a "fatherless home."
This child lost both his mother and father when he was only nine years old, and then grew up to become one of the world's greatest composers.
He was born March 21, 1685, in Germany, the youngest child of six children in a large extended family, many of whom were musicians. His father was a court musician, as were his uncles and older brothers. While still very young, the boy learned to play a number of musical instruments, including the harpsichord and violin.
After his parents' unexpected deaths in the same year, he went to live with his eldest brother, who was newly married and working as a church organist. While living with his brother, he attended grammar school, where he was taught to read and write. His brother also gave him music lessons, and he learned how to play -- and also how to repair and manufacture -- organs.
The brother was poor, however, and so the child was required to obtain a job, and turn over all of his earnings to help with his support. Because of his beautiful soprano voice, the child obtained a job singing with a religious chorale group, which also gave him the opportunity to further his musical education.
As an adult, he married twice, having a total of 20 children, seven with his first wife, who died, and then thirteen with his second wife, who was only 17 when she married him. By all accounts, both marriages were successful and happy, although not all of the twenty children survived to adulthood.
He spent the bulk of his lifetime teaching music, performing as the music director in a church and as a court organist, and writing an astonishing twenty volumes of original compositions. He achieved some fame during his lifetime, and after his death, his achievements came to be more and more appreciated. Three centuries later, he is universally recognized as a musical genius.
This fatherless child, who is considered to be the best contrapuntal, or "counterpoint" composer of all time, was
Johann Sebastian Bach, a boy from a "fatherless home."
Nov 8, 2009
Fatherless Child - Expose Number Twentyeight
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/028.html
This child was born in 1804 in Salem, Masachusetts, into a well-connected family that hailed from a long line of famous and powerful Puritan ancestors. One of his ancestors was a judge who presided over the Salem witch trials.
When the child was four, his father, a sea captain, was drowned at sea. This forced his mother and the child and his two sisters to have to leave their home and thereafter live on the charity of her extended family. The child's mother, it has been said, became overprotective, and consequently, the child grew up shy and "bookish". Nevertheless, he later reported that his childhood was a happy one, and he was close with his family.
While in school, because of his shyness, he was uncomfortable with public speaking -- an academic requirement in those days -- and often preferred solitary thinking and studying to socializing. Otherwise, he was good at his studies, and enjoyed reading and writing.
He persevered through school and college, writing stories and articles from a young age. Often he wrote them anonymously. A few were published. When he graduated from a local college, in order to earn money, he took a job as a customs house official. During this young period of his life, he became acquainted with men who themselves ultimately rose to become famous writers and poets.
Finally, his writing began to earn sufficient additional money for him to marry and settle down. Then, when he was fired from his job, and he was forced to write full-time to earn a living, he began to achieve real success with his novels. By the end of his life he was a famous, established author, friend and confident of presidents, and even a European ambassador.
This child's prolific writings are notable for their controversial moral and philosophical subjects, as well as for their extraordinary and forward-thinking insights. Many of them question the assumptions of traditional family and society. Many of the characters in his books have lost parents, and the issue of family values and parentage is an important theme. While some students today who get assignments to read his works in school might find his writing to be a bit tedious and flowery by modern standards, without question, the stories themselves are entertaining and remain relevant.
This giant of American literature, whose fiction dealt with themes of prejudice, and confronted ideas about sin and evil, and misguided assumptions of right and wrong, the author of such classics as the "Twice-Told Tales", "The House of Seven Gables", and the very famous "The Scarlet Letter" was
Nathanial Hawthorne, a boy from a "fatherless home."
This child was born in 1804 in Salem, Masachusetts, into a well-connected family that hailed from a long line of famous and powerful Puritan ancestors. One of his ancestors was a judge who presided over the Salem witch trials.
When the child was four, his father, a sea captain, was drowned at sea. This forced his mother and the child and his two sisters to have to leave their home and thereafter live on the charity of her extended family. The child's mother, it has been said, became overprotective, and consequently, the child grew up shy and "bookish". Nevertheless, he later reported that his childhood was a happy one, and he was close with his family.
While in school, because of his shyness, he was uncomfortable with public speaking -- an academic requirement in those days -- and often preferred solitary thinking and studying to socializing. Otherwise, he was good at his studies, and enjoyed reading and writing.
He persevered through school and college, writing stories and articles from a young age. Often he wrote them anonymously. A few were published. When he graduated from a local college, in order to earn money, he took a job as a customs house official. During this young period of his life, he became acquainted with men who themselves ultimately rose to become famous writers and poets.
Finally, his writing began to earn sufficient additional money for him to marry and settle down. Then, when he was fired from his job, and he was forced to write full-time to earn a living, he began to achieve real success with his novels. By the end of his life he was a famous, established author, friend and confident of presidents, and even a European ambassador.
This child's prolific writings are notable for their controversial moral and philosophical subjects, as well as for their extraordinary and forward-thinking insights. Many of them question the assumptions of traditional family and society. Many of the characters in his books have lost parents, and the issue of family values and parentage is an important theme. While some students today who get assignments to read his works in school might find his writing to be a bit tedious and flowery by modern standards, without question, the stories themselves are entertaining and remain relevant.
This giant of American literature, whose fiction dealt with themes of prejudice, and confronted ideas about sin and evil, and misguided assumptions of right and wrong, the author of such classics as the "Twice-Told Tales", "The House of Seven Gables", and the very famous "The Scarlet Letter" was
Nathanial Hawthorne, a boy from a "fatherless home."
Nov 1, 2009
Fatherless Child - Expose Number Twentyseven
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/fatherless/027.html
This child, an only child, was born into a wealthy family in upstate New York in the late 1800s. Her father was an alcoholic who was disowned by his relatives. When the child was 8, her mother died, and she was sent to live with relatives. Then, when she was 10, her father, who she had rarely seen anyway, also died.
When she was 15, her relatives sent her off to a boarding school in London, where she proved to be an outstanding student. The headmistress there befriended her, and helped her to expand her experience and outlook beyond the privileged bigotry of the narrow and provincial society into which she had been born.
When she was 18, she returned to the United States, and became a social worker. She got married and had six children, although one son died in infancy. Her marriage was not a happy one, however. She did not get along well with her mother-in-law, and her husband repeatedly cheated on her. Then, when she was in her 30s, her husband became ill with a disease from which he never fully recovered, and which further burdened their lives.
Although the marriage endured, once her children were nearly grown, she decided that she had to pursue her own life and interests. She built herself her own residence not far away from her husband's home, and with her friends, started a furniture factory to provide work for unemployed workers. This business was successful and soon expanded to pewter work and weaving. Then, she and a friend purchased and operated a private girls' school, where she taught history.
When her husband's work took him to Washington, D.C., she became an activist for educational and civil rights programs. She worked with the National Consumers League, the Red Cross, the League of Women Voters, the Women's Trade Union League, the American Student Union, and the American Youth Congress. She also wrote books and numerous magazine articles and columns.
In 1941, she was appointed by the president as the assistant director of the Office of Civilian Defense, where she helped organize volunteer and community efforts during World War II. After the war, the president appointed her to be a delegate to the first United Nations General Assembly, where she worked with world leaders on humanitarian, social, and cultural issues. This work continued for more than two decades, through a brief semi-retirement, to yet another official appointment to the United Nations during the Kennedy administration. Her greatest accomplishment in the U.N. was, perhaps, the passage of its Human Rights Doctrine. She also chaired the 1961-62 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and participated in dozens of others causes ranging from fair labor practices, to activism for Jewish refugees, to black civil rights.
At the time of her death, she was considered to be one of the most admired women in the world. This humanitarian, diplomat, social reformer, and author, one of the most important women of the 20th century, was
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, a girl from a "fatherless home."
This child, an only child, was born into a wealthy family in upstate New York in the late 1800s. Her father was an alcoholic who was disowned by his relatives. When the child was 8, her mother died, and she was sent to live with relatives. Then, when she was 10, her father, who she had rarely seen anyway, also died.
When she was 15, her relatives sent her off to a boarding school in London, where she proved to be an outstanding student. The headmistress there befriended her, and helped her to expand her experience and outlook beyond the privileged bigotry of the narrow and provincial society into which she had been born.
When she was 18, she returned to the United States, and became a social worker. She got married and had six children, although one son died in infancy. Her marriage was not a happy one, however. She did not get along well with her mother-in-law, and her husband repeatedly cheated on her. Then, when she was in her 30s, her husband became ill with a disease from which he never fully recovered, and which further burdened their lives.
Although the marriage endured, once her children were nearly grown, she decided that she had to pursue her own life and interests. She built herself her own residence not far away from her husband's home, and with her friends, started a furniture factory to provide work for unemployed workers. This business was successful and soon expanded to pewter work and weaving. Then, she and a friend purchased and operated a private girls' school, where she taught history.
When her husband's work took him to Washington, D.C., she became an activist for educational and civil rights programs. She worked with the National Consumers League, the Red Cross, the League of Women Voters, the Women's Trade Union League, the American Student Union, and the American Youth Congress. She also wrote books and numerous magazine articles and columns.
In 1941, she was appointed by the president as the assistant director of the Office of Civilian Defense, where she helped organize volunteer and community efforts during World War II. After the war, the president appointed her to be a delegate to the first United Nations General Assembly, where she worked with world leaders on humanitarian, social, and cultural issues. This work continued for more than two decades, through a brief semi-retirement, to yet another official appointment to the United Nations during the Kennedy administration. Her greatest accomplishment in the U.N. was, perhaps, the passage of its Human Rights Doctrine. She also chaired the 1961-62 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and participated in dozens of others causes ranging from fair labor practices, to activism for Jewish refugees, to black civil rights.
At the time of her death, she was considered to be one of the most admired women in the world. This humanitarian, diplomat, social reformer, and author, one of the most important women of the 20th century, was
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, a girl from a "fatherless home."
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