Extra Credit Questions

[Gene C]

There are no photographs of this woman. Various contemporaries described her eye color as:

1. bluish green.
2. hazel.
3. dark.
4. blue.

Who is she?

Nancy Lincoln ?

[RJNorton]

Kudos, Gene! Yes indeed - Nancy Lincoln.

The various descriptions come from Dennis Hanks, Nathaniel Grigsby, David Turnham, and John Hanks.

[RJNorton]

No googling please. Thank you.

Who wrote this description of Abraham Lincoln?

"There is no describing his lengthy awkwardness, nor the uncouthness of his movement; and yet it seemed as if I had been in the habit of seeing him daily, and had shaken hands with him a thousand times in some village street; so true was he to the aspect of the pattern American, though with a certain extravagance which, possibly, I exaggerated still further by the delighted eagerness with which I took it in.

If put to guess his calling and livelihood, I should have taken him for a country schoolmaster as soon as anything else. He was dressed in a rusty black frock-coat and pantaloons, unbrushed, and worn so faithfully that the suit had adapted itself to the curves and angularities of his figure, and had grown tobe an outer skin of the man. He had shabby slippers on his feet.

His hair was black, still unmixed with gray, stiff, somewhat bushy, and had apparently been acquainted with neither brush nor comb that morning, after the disarrangement of the pillow; and as to a night-cap, Uncle Abe probably knows nothing of such effeminacies.

His complexion is dark and sallow, betokening, I fear, an insalubrious atmosphere around the White House; he has thick black eyebrows and an impending brow; his nose is large, and the lines about his mouth are very strongly defined."

[AussieMick]

Something is nagging at me about those shabby slippers.

[Juan Marrero]

No googling please. Thank you.

Who wrote this description of Abraham Lincoln?

"There is no describing his lengthy awkwardness, nor the uncouthness of his movement; and yet it seemed as if I had been in the habit of seeing him daily, and had shaken hands with him a thousand times in some village street; so true was he to the aspect of the pattern American, though with a certain extravagance which, possibly, I exaggerated still further by the delighted eagerness with which I took it in.

If put to guess his calling and livelihood, I should have taken him for a country schoolmaster as soon as anything else. He was dressed in a rusty black frock-coat and pantaloons, unbrushed, and worn so faithfully that the suit had adapted itself to the curves and angularities of his figure, and had grown tobe an outer skin of the man. He had shabby slippers on his feet.

His hair was black, still unmixed with gray, stiff, somewhat bushy, and had apparently been acquainted with neither brush nor comb that morning, after the disarrangement of the pillow; and as to a night-cap, Uncle Abe probably knows nothing of such effeminacies.

His complexion is dark and sallow, betokening, I fear, an insalubrious atmosphere around the White House; he has thick black eyebrows and an impending brow; his nose is large, and the lines about his mouth are very strongly defined."

Walt Whitman?

[RJNorton]

That is an extremely logical guess, Juan. But it's not Whitman. It is a male, though.

[Rob Wick]

Given that the phrase sounds like it came from a writer, I would have guessed Whitman myself. But since it isn't him, I would say Edward Everett.

Best
Rob

[RJNorton]

Rob, it is indeed a writer, but it's not Everett.

[Anita]

William Russell of the London Times?

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Just read Rob's guess. I recall Nathaniel Hawthorne writing this but it may be a false memory.

[RJNorton]

Just read Rob's guess. I recall Nathaniel Hawthorne writing this but it may be a false memory.

It's a true memory, Anita. Kudos!!!!

Anyone remember this?

Authors card game

[AussieMick]

Who wrote this (No googling of the text) ...

"I always thought your father was a lot like Lincoln. 1 don’t mean getting ahead in the world. I mean a man. Some people
get where they hope to in this world. Most of us don't. But there never was a man up against harder odds than your
father. And there was never a man who tried harder, or hoped for more. 1 don’t mean getting ahead. 1 mean the right
things. He wanted a good life, and good understanding, for himself, for everybody. There never was a braver man than
your father, or a man that was kinder, or more generous. They don’t make them. All I wanted to tell you is, your
father was one of the finest men that ever lived.”

He suddenly closed his eyes tightly behind his glasses, and swallowed; a long sobbing sigh fell from him. Deeply and
solemnly touched, they moved closer to him, whether to comfort him or themselves they did not know. “There,
there,’’ he said, his eyes still closed. “There, there now. There, there."
Upstairs, they heard the door open.

I think you'll need hints. Maybe, maybe not. If so then use Google of course, but not using any of the quoted text.

[RJNorton]

Nelson Mandela?

[AussieMick]

Nelson Mandela?

good start, Roger. But not correct.

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Has the author been mentioned on this forum? Yes. But not often.

[RJNorton]

Mark Twain?

[AussieMick]

Nope, not Mark Twain.

This person was American but born after Mark Twain died.

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As well as writing stories this person was also a poet and critic.