THE WALRUS SAID . . . . . . . . . being a bookish blog

Sunday, September 13, 2026

The Biblio File: images of bookplates, for bibliophiles


David Levine on writers: Boris Pasternak

David Levine (1926-2009) was one of America’s most prominent illustrators during a career that spanned decades. No less an authority than Jules Feiffer described him as "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the 20th century,” although Levine continued to work in the early years of this century as well. Levine’s subjects included himself (above) and people from many walks of life. Authors, scribes and scribblers were a big part of the mix, as these caricatures make clear. 

Lit Toons: Cartoons with a bookish bent


First Lines: Sally Gunning


Lyddie Berry heard the clatter of the geese and knew something was coming--Cousin Betsey, Grandson Nate, another wolf, or, knowing those fool birds, a good gust of wind--but when she heard the door snap hard against the clapboards she discounted all four of them; she whirled with the wind already in her skirts to see the Indian, Sam Cowett, just ducking beneath the lintel.

The Widow’s War
Sally Gunning

"They say it's your birthday" - writers born on September 13

Roald Dahl  (1916)
Mette Ivie Harrison (1970)
Tom Holt  (1961)
Emily Jenkins  (1967)
Adrienne Kennedy  (1931)
J. B. Priestley  (1894)
Gail Tsukiyama  (1957)

Saturday, September 12, 2026

The Biblio File: images of bookmarks, for bibliophiles

And you read your Emily Dickinson
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we've lost