Born on his family’s farm in eastern New York, Knowlton was precocious: he graduated a year early from high school and still made valedictorian. He went to Cornell University, where his parents had met, for a 5-year program in engineering and physics; he stayed at Cornell to complete a Master’s degree in the same subjects. … Read more
From This is True for 26 June 2022
A singer, Cruise was in the right place at the right time more than once. “I was in this country-and-western musical in the East Village,” she recalled in 1990. “I was a chorus girl with a big skirt and a big wig, singing way too loud. Angelo was doing the music for the show, and … Read more
From This is True for 19 June 2022
A schoolteacher and writer, Cook’s face had been printed on billions of labels to sell products, but she wasn’t allowed to publicly acknowledge that the well-known (trademarked!) face was hers, even though she had not consented to the use of her face. Until 1978, that is, when the product company allowed her name to be known. The … Read more
From This is True for 5 June 2022