The Writer's Almanac from Monday, October 16, 2017 “Because the Night You Asked” by Crystal Spring Gibbins from Now/Here. © Holy Cow! Press, 2017. ORIGINAL TEXT AND AUDIO - 2017 It’s the birthday of American playwright Eugene O’Neill, born in a Broadway hotel room in New York City (1888). His father was a famous actor, and O’Neill spent much of his childhood on trains and in hotels, following his father on tours. He went to Princeton, but he was expelled after a year. He got a series of odd jobs, then went off on a gold prospecting expedition in Honduras, where he contracted malaria. After he recovered, he tried out sailing, vaudeville acting, and writing for a small-town newspaper. In 1912, he fell sick again with tuberculosis and spent six months in a sanatorium. While he was there, he began to read classic playwrights and modern innovators like Ibsen and Strindberg.
You forgot to mention that Oscar Wilde was also imprisoned for being gay. An important reflection on British attitudes and society at that time.
You forgot to mention that Oscar Wilde was also imprisoned for being gay. An important reflection on British attitudes and society at that time.