Well, clap or hiss, I don't care which, but for Christ's sake, do something!

It's the birthday of poet Amy Lowell, born in Brookline, Massachusetts (1874), the daughter of a prominent Boston family. One brother became president of Harvard University and another was a distinguished astronomer. She wrote her first serious poem at 28 after seeing a performance by the actress Eleanora Duse. She gave readings and lectures all over the country, telling reticent audiences, "Well, clap or hiss, I don't care which, but for Christ's sake, do something!" She was a large, outspoken woman who liked cigars, dogs and detective stories. She was intrigued by the Imagist movement in poetry—Ezra Pound referred to her followers as "Amygists." When her brother was president of Harvard, he got a call from an auto mechanic saying, "Some big, fat dame whose engine broke down wants to charge the bill to you—claims she's your sister. She's across the road, sittin' on a stone wall, smokin' a cigar." The president of Harvard said, "That's my sister, all right."