About Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7, 1812. The second of eight children, he grew up in a family frequently beset by financial insecurity. At age eleven, Dickens was taken out of school and sent to work in London backing warehouse, where his job was to paste labels on bottles for six shillings a week. His father John Dickens, was a warmhearted but improvident man. When he was condemned the Marshela Prison for unpaid debts, he unwisely agreed that Charles should stay in lodgings and continue working while the rest of the family joined him in jail. This three-month separation caused Charles much pain; his experiences as a child alone in a huge city–cold, isolated with barely enough to eat–haunted him for the rest of his life.
About Francis Church
Francis Pharcellus Church (1839–1906) was an American publisher and editor. Church is most remembered for his 1897 editorial “Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus.”
About O. Henry
O. Henry (1862 - 1910) is the pen-name of William Sidney Porter, the American writer born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was known for a style of writing that featured surprise endings and showed the grim and often humorous effect of coincidence on the lives of his subjects. A keen observer of the lives of Americans from New York to Texas in the early 20th century, his works have been adapted many times for the stage and screen.
About Clement C. Moore
Clement Clarke Moore was a scholar of ancient languages, but is remembered to this day for his memorable poem 'The Night Before Christmas', which appeared anonymously in newspapers in the 1820s. His character of St Nicholas strongly influenced the character of Santa Claus that we know today, and reading aloud the poem remains a favorite Christmas tradition.
About Eleanor Hallowell Abbott
Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958) was a nationally recognized American author. She was a frequent contributor to the Ladies’ Home Journal.
About Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter was born on July 28, 1866 at No 2, Bolton Gardens, Kensington, London. She loved nature and drawing as a child. In 1893, Beatrix sat down to write a picture letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of her ex-governess, all about a naughty rabbit called Peter. Noel was ill in bed and so Beatrix wrote to him: "My dear Noel, I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits...." And that's how The Tale of Peter Rabbit was created. It wasn't until 1902 that Frederick Warne published what would become one of the most beloved stories in children's books.
About Washington Irving
Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American author, short story writer, essayist, poet, travel book writer, biographer, and columnist. He is best known for writing the stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Early on, he was a contributor to the Morning Chronicle, published Salmagundi, and served as editor of Analetic magazine in Philadelphia and New York. In 1809, he published the comical A History of New York under the name "Dietrich Knickerbocker." Eleven years later, he published a collection of stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., which allowed him to become a full-time writer. Other books written by Irving are Bracebridge Hall, Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada, A Tour of the Prairies, and The Life of George Washington, a five-volume title.
About L. M. Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1872–1942) was a Canadian author and is most famed for her Anne of Green Gables series. As well as the Anne series, Montgomery published numerous other book series and stand-alone novels. She was also a prolific writer of short stories.
About Paul Boehmer
Paul Boehmer is an American actor best known for his numerous appearances in the Star Trek universe. Paul is a 1992 Masters of Fine Arts graduate of the Professional Theater Training Program at the University of Delaware.
About Gregory Itzin
Gregory
Itzin is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role
as President Charles Logan in the series 24, a role for which he was twice
nominated for a Primetime Emmy. He has had appearances in a number of
television’s most popular shows during the span of his career, including, Matlock,
ER, CSI, Friends, The West Wing, and three different Star Trek series. He’s
also had roles in numerous films including, Adaptation, The Ides of March, and Lincoln.
Most recently he’s had recurring roles in The Mentalist and Covert Affairs.
About Dana Green
Dana Green is an audiobook narrator whose readings include Join the Club by Tina Rosenberg, Every Man in This Village Is a Liar by Megan Stack, and Betsy Ross and the Making of America by Marla R. Miller.
About Jane Carr
Jane Carr is an English actress whose career
has spanned over forty years. She has appeared in many stage productions,
including Broadway’s The Life and
Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and several classic plays with the Royal
Shakespeare Company. She earned an American audience with her roles on
television’s Dear John and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and as the voice
of Mama Cosma in the animated series The
Fairly OddParents. Carr lives in Los Angeles.
