[OPLINLIST] Fwd: Biography Reference Bank -- News and Tips -- April 2011

[Laura Solomon]

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*50th anniversary of the first man in space*
	On April 12, 1961, Russian astronaut (or cosmonaut, as the Russians 
called them) Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space 
when he orbited the earth in the spaceship Vostok.

*Biography Reference Bank*features no fewer than four profiles of 
Gagarin, including a detailed profile of him from /Current Biography/ 
from the year of his historic flight, which offers an interesting 
insight into the cautious reception with which the U.S. received the 
news of Soviet success in the area of space flight.

*Search tip:* Using the Profession/Genre search box to find /Astronauts/ 
returns 75 full-text profiles or obituaries of astronauts *and* 
cosmonauts, from Salman Abdel Aziz al-Saud, who became the first Saudi 
Arabian person in space in 1985, to U.S. astronaut John W. Young, who 
with Virgil I. Grissom was one of the first astronauts to vary the orbit 
of their spaceship by manual control, a maneuver regarded as essential 
for successful lunar excursions.

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*April is National Poetry Month*
<http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41> Inaugurated by the Academy of 
American Poets in 1996, this celebration of poetry sees thousands of 
businesses and non-profit organizations participate. If you are 
interested in what moves today?s poets to write or learning more about 
classic poets, *Biography Reference Bank* contains a massive *4,381* 
profiles or obituaries for the profession /Poets/, from Nigerian poet 
and novelist Christopher Abani to Australia?s Fay Zwicky. 	
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Syrian-American poet and novelist Mohja Kahf *

Some less obvious figures from the world of poetry include:

? British poet Arthur O?Shaughnessy, who coined the phrase ?movers and 
shakers? in his poem, ?Ode?, died at the young age of 37 but still 
outlived his wife.
? Poet, novelist, and short-story writer Jeffery Renard Allen is the 
founder of the Pan African Literary Forum, a nonprofit organization that 
held its inaugural conference in Ghana in 2008.
? Syrian-American poet and novelist Mohja Kahf graduated high school 
when she was just 15 years old.
? Poet and novelist Tao Lin offered shares in his then-uncompleted novel 
at $2,000 dollars each to try to raise enough money to support himself 
while he completed the work.

Remember that you can listen to the profiles and obituaries of these 
poets and others besides, just by clicking the /Listen to Document/ 
button. In addition to reliable and objective profiles, you will often 
get to read the poets? own words on their inspiration, early life, and 
more.

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*Elizabeth Taylor
(1932-2011)*

If you are marking the passing of actress Elizabeth Taylor, you might 
like to know that *Biography Reference Bank* features three profiles of 
the star, covering various stages of her life, two of which are in-depth 
profiles from /Current Biography/, one from 1952 and one from 1985, so 
you can see how perceptions of Taylor changed over the course of her 
career. When researching someone like Taylor, about whom much has been 
written and many rumors have circulated over the years, it is important 
to get accurate and verified information. Here are some facts about 
Taylor you may not have known:

? When she was just three years old, Taylor danced in a recital before 
members of the British royal family at the London Hippodrome.
? Taylor?s first contract with a U.S. movie studio resulted in a single 
small film role: in Universal?s 1942 movie, /There?s One Born Every 
Minute/.
? Filming on /National Velvet/ was delayed until Taylor was tall enough 
to play the role of Velvet Brown properly.
? At the age of 14 Taylor wrote a story ?Nibbles and Me,? illustrated by 
herself with pictures of her pet chipmunk.
? Taylor converted to Judaism in 1959.

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*
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Bobbi Brown
profile <http://www.hwwilson.com/newsmakers/ShortBio.cfm>* 	

*This month?s sample profile*

If you want to see or share a sample of our shorter profiles, you can 
find a profile of Bobbi Brown, make-up artist and CEO of Bobbi Brown 
Cosmetics, on our website at the moment. Brown founded her own line of 
cosmetics in the 1990s, and it soon became known for its simplicity and 
natural look. In her own words, Brown explains where her interest in 
cosmetics came from and how she got to where she is today.

*Other new biographies this month include*
Football player Jared Allen . Congressman Louis J. Barletta . Jazz 
drummer Sid Catlett . Actress Georgia Engel . Composer and lyricist 
Michael Friedman . Filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien . Writer Gus Lee . 
Historian Mark Mazower . Business executive Angelo Mozilo . Former CIA 
operative Valerie Plame . Diplomat Joseph C. Wilson . Architect Peter 
Zumthor
*And many more!*

	

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