On this day in 1770, William Wordsworth was born. (I named one of my puppets after him—surely there is no greater honor.) The visionary philosopher Charles Fourier was born in 1772. The great sitar player Ravi Shankar was born in 1920 and only died last year. Alan J. Pakula, director of the exceptional To Kill a Mocking Bird, was born in 1928. And the great make-up artist Stan Winston was born in 1946.

James Garner is 85 today. The Bradley Manning of the 1970s, Daniel Ellsberg is 82. California governor Jerry Brown is 75. Francis Coppola and David Frost are both 74. Janis Ian is 62. And Jackie Chan is 59.

There are a number of people I could have picked to win the birthday contest, but the day goes to Billie Holiday, who was born in 1915. Few people have given so much to this country but suffered so much at its hands. I watched Lady Day—The Many Faces of Billie Holiday just a couple of days ago. It’s a bit of a whitewash of her life, but a loving tribute nonetheless.

Happy birthday to one of the greatest singers ever! May the producers of American Idol rot in hell.

Update (7 April 2013 8:04 pm)

I’ve been listening to Edith Piaf this evening (A sign of depression?) and I noticed that she was born the same year as Holiday. And only lived a couple of years longer. Sad. But like Holiday, she left us so much. This, of course, the most obvious:

I’ve also been listening to Madeleine Peyroux, who often sings just like Billie Holiday. I’d hate her for it, but she’s so damned good!