Ursula K. Le Guin, on being an introvert and a writer:

Hardly anybody ever writes anything nice about introverts.

Extroverts rule.

This is rather odd when you realise that about nineteen writers out of twenty are introverts.

We are being taught to be ashamed of not being 'outgoing'.

But a writer's job is ingoing.

- Ursula K. Le Guin.

Recommended reading - The Stand

 

The Stand

by Stephen King.
 
First published 1978.
Published by Doubleday.
Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0385199570
ISBN-13: 978-0385199575
 
Description:
 

Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting – and eerily plausible – as when it was first published.

 

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years! This edition includes all of the new and restored material first published in The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition.

 

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge – Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them – and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.

Born on this day – David Butler:

 

David Butler

Director

Actor

Writer

December 17, 1894 – June 14, 1979

Credits:

C'mon, Let's Live a Little (1967); Camp Runamuck (1966); Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1964–1965); The Patty Duke Show (1964–1965); Daniel Boone (1965); Leave It to Beaver (1959–1963); The Twilight Zone (1963); I Love My Doctor (1962); The Hathaways (1962); Wagon Train (1958–1962); The Deputy (1959–1961); The Right Approach (1961); Bringing Up Buddy (1960); Overland Trail (1960); General Electric Theater (1959); M Squad (1959); Buckskin (1958–1959); 77 Sunset Strip (1959); Schlitz Playhouse (1957–1959); Bachelor Father (1958); Captain Z-Ro (1955–1956); The Girl He Left Behind (1956); Screen Directors Playhouse (1956); Glory (1956); Studio 57 (1955); Jump Into Hell (1955); King Richard and the Crusaders (1954); The Command (1954); Calamity Jane (1953); By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953); April in Paris (1952); Where's Charley? (1952); The Story of Will Rogers (1952); Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951); Lullaby of Broadway (1951); Tea for Two (1950); The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950); The Story of Seabiscuit (1949); It's a Great Feeling (1949); Look for the Silver Lining (1949); John Loves Mary (1949); Two Guys from Texas (1948); Marlon Brando Screentest for Rebel Without a Cause (1947); My Wild Irish Rose (1947); The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946); San Antonio (1945); The Princess and the Pirate (1944); Shine on Harvest Moon (1944); Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943); They Got Me Covered (1943); Road to Morocco (1942); Playmates (1941); Caught in the Draft (1941); You'll Find Out (1940); If I Had My Way (1940); That's Right - You're Wrong (1939); East Side of Heaven (1939); Kentucky (1938); Straight Place and Show (1938); Kentucky Moonshine (1938); You're a Sweetheart (1937); Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937); Pigskin Parade (1936); White Fang (1936); Captain January (1936); The Littlest Rebel (1935); Doubting Thomas (1935); The Little Colonel (1935); Bright Eyes (1934); Have a Heart (1934); Handy Andy (1934); Bottoms Up (1934); My Weakness (1933); Hold Me Tight (1933); Handle with Care (1932); Down to Earth (1932); Business and Pleasure (1932); Delicious (1931); A Connecticut Yankee (1931); Just Imagine (1930); High Society Blues (1930); Nertz (1929); Sunny Side Up (1929); Salute (1929); Chasing Through Europe (1929); Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 (1929); Masked Emotions (1929); Prep and Pep (1928); Win That Girl (1928); News Parade (1928); High School Hero (1927); The Rush Hour (1927); Should Second Husbands Come First? (1927); 7th Heaven (1927); Girl in the Rain (1927); Nobody's Widow (1927); The Quarterback (1926); Womanpower (1926); The Blue Eagle (1926); Meet the Prince (1926); Oh, Baby! (1926); Too Many Relations (1926); The Sap (1926); His Own Lawyer (1926); The Gold Hunters (1925); The Plastic Age (1925); Wages for Wives (1925); The Phantom Express (1925); The People vs. Nancy Preston (1925); The Man on the Box (1925); Havoc (1925); His Majesty, Bunker Bean (1925); Tracked in the Snow Country (1925); Private Affairs (1925); Code of the West (1925); The Narrow Street (1925); In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter (1924); The Arizona Express (1924); Hoodman Blind (1923); The Temple of Venus (1923); Cause for Divorce (1923); Desire (1923); The Fog (1923); Mary of the Movies (1923); A Noise in Newboro (1923); Poor Men's Wives (1923); The Hero (1923); Conquering the Woman (1922); The Village Blacksmith (1922); According to Hoyle (1922); The Wise Kid (1922); The Milky Way (1922); Bing Bang Boom (1922); Making the Grade (1921); The Sky Pilot (1921); Girls Don't Gamble (1920); The County Fair (1920); Fickle Women (1920); Smiling All the Way (1920); Don't Ever Marry (1920); The Triflers (1920); The Pointing Finger (1919); Bonnie Bonnie Lassie (1919); The Other Half (1919); A Petal on the Current (1919); Nugget Nell (1919); Better Times (1919); Upstairs and Down (1919); The Unpainted Woman (1919); The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919); The Greatest Thing in Life (1918); Intolerance (1916); The Deathlock (1915); The Alien (1915); The Birth of a Nation (1915); The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913); The Sea Wolf (1913); The Face at the Window (1910).

Born on this day – Richard Sale:

Richard Sale

Writer

Producer

Director

December 17, 1911 – March 4, 1993

Born on this day – Monique Rolland:

Monique Rolland

Actress

December 17, 1913 – September 27, 1999

Born on this day – Joan Woodbury:

Joan Woodbury

Actress

December 17, 1915 – February 22, 1989

Born on this day – Elsie Albiin:

Elsie Albiin

Actress

December 17, 1921 – April 3, 2009

Born on this day – Patrice Wymore:

Patrice Wymore

Actress

December 17, 1926 – March 22, 2014

Credits:

77 Sunset Strip (1961); About Faces (1961); Chamber of Horrors (1966); Cheyenne (1961); Death Valley Days (1959); Die VII. Internationalen Filmfestspiele (1957); Errol Flynn: Portrait of a Swashbuckler (1983); F Troop (1965–1967); Hollywood and the Stars (1964); Hollywood Christmas Lane Parade of the Stars (1960); I'll See You in My Dreams (1951); In the Wake of the Zaca (2005); Jefferson Drum (1958); Juke Box Jury (1965); King's Rhapsody (1955); Lux Video Theatre (1953); Mister Roberts (1966); Never Too Young (1965–1966); Ocean's Eleven (1960); Perry Mason (1963–1965); Rocky Mountain (1950); She's Back on Broadway (1953); She's Working Her Way Through College (1952); Starlift (1951); Stump the Stars (1959–1964); Tales of Wells Fargo (191); Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn (2007); Tea for Two (1950); That Regis Philbin Show (1964); The 18th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1961); The Adventures of Errol Flynn (2005); The Big Trees (1952); The Deputy (1960); The Ed Sullivan Show (1949–1952); The Errol Flynn Theatre (1956–1957); The Lamb's Gambol (1949); The Littlest Hobo (1964); The Man Behind the Gun (1953); The Mike Douglas Show (1964); The Monkees (1967); The Roaring 20's (1960); The Sad Horse (1959); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1963).

Born on this day – Bernard Hill:

Bernard Hill

Actor

December 17, 1944 – 5 May 5, 2024

Credits:

10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2004); 2003 MTV Movie Awards (2003); 2nd House (1974); 30 Greatest Political Comedies (2006); A Dirty Knight's Work (1976); A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999); A Question of Faith (2000); A Very Social Secretary (2005); About Face (1991); Alan Davies' Teenage Revolution (2010); Analogue Love (2011); Ancient Egyptians (2004); Auntie's Bloomers (1991–2001); BBC2 Play of the Week (1977–1978); Beatles Biggest Secrets (2004); Bellman and True (1987); Bernard Hill Remembers... Boys from the Blackstuff (2022); Between the Lines (1993); Big-atures / The Passing of an Age / Home of the Horse Lords (2004); Billy Connolly: An Audience with Billy Connolly (1985); Bombay Railway (2007); Boys from the Blackstuff (1982); Breakfast Time (1986); Brief History of Disbelief (2004); Cameras in Middle-Earth (2004); Canoe Man (2010); Childhood (1974); Christmas University Challenge (2014); CR: Titanic (2011); Crime Story (1992); Crown Court (1976); Cruel Sea: The Penlee Disaster (2006); Dispatches (2009); Double Helix: The DNA Years (2004); Double X: The Name of the Game (1992); Drowning by Numbers (1988); Drug-Taking and the Arts (1993); Du kommst nicht vorbei - Fans im Bann des Ringes (2005); Eisenstein (2000); El corazón de la tierra (2007); Equinox (1997); Europe, a Modern Profile (1992–1993); Everyman (1985 / 1986); Exodus (2007); Fable III (2010); Fairy Tales (2008); Falcón (2012); First Knight (1995); Five Days (2010); Folk America (2009); Forever Young (2023); Fox (1980); Franklyn (2008); From There to Here (2014); Gandhi (1982); Going Off Big Time (2000); Golden Moustache (2016); Golden Years (2016); Gothika (2003); Great Expectations (1999); Have I Got News for You (2005); HBO First Look (1997); Heatwave (2005); Hope and Wire (2014); Horizon (2001–2016); How Britain Worked (2012); I, Claudius (1976); Indian Hill Railways (2010); India's Frontier Railways (2015); Interlude City (2016); It Could Happen to You (1976); Jackanory (1985); John Lennon: A Journey in the Life (1985); Joy Division (2006); Ken Dodd in the Dock (2002); Lego the Lord of the Rings (2012); Lipstick on Your Collar (1993); Love Is Not Enough: The Journey to Adoption (2000–2001); Madagascar Skin (1995); Mania (2007); Match of the Eighties (1997); Midsummer Dream (2005); Milwr Bychan (1987); Mountain Men (1986); Mountains of the Moon (1990); Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1996); No Go: The Free Derry Story (2006); No Surrender (1985); North v South (2015); Olly's Prison (1993); On the Set of 'Gothika' (2004); On the Set: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002); Once Upon a Time in the North (1994); OutPost 11 (2013); ParaNorman (2012); Pickersgill People (1978); Play for Today (1973–1981); Premiere (1977); Raphael: A Mortal God (2004); Reflections on Titanic (2012); Restless Natives (1985); Reunited Apart (2020); Revealed (2006); Richard III (1983); Ring*Con 2004 (2004); Ringens disipler (2004); Rooms (1977); Runners (1983); Samson and Delilah (1985); Save Angel Hope (2007); Saxon Gold: Finding the Hoard (2010); Say No to Strangers (1981); Scenes by the Sea: Takeshi Kitano (2000); Screen Two (1985–1994); Screenplay (1990); Second City Firsts (1977); Secret Lives (1997); Secrets of the Deep (2006); See You in the Future... (2004); Segunda oportunidad (2018); Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992); Shepherd on the Rock (2014); Shirley Valentine (1989); Shrinks (1991); Special Collector's Edition (2011); Squaring the Circle (1984); Stages (1994); Still Life (1984); Sunshine (2008); Surviving Disaster (2006); Telford's Change (1979); Telltale (1993); The 60s: The Beatles Decade (2006); The Big Game (1995); The Black Stuff (1980); The Bounty (1984); The Boys & Girl from County Clare (2003); The Breaker (2014); The Chain (1984); The Children's Rebellion (1985); The Criminal (1999); The Crumblegiant (2007); The Deal (2004); The Death Train (1998); The Devil: An Unauthorised Biography (1998); The First Part of Henry the Sixth (1983); The Fremantle Conspiracy (1988); The Gambling Man (1995); The Ghost and the Darkness (1996); The Glamour Girls (1980); The Great White Mountain (1986); The Greatest (2001); The Grid (2004); The Hunt for Jill Dando's Killer (2003); The Kid (2010); The King's Speech: Revealed (2011); The Last Tommy (2005); The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005); The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse: Deleted Scenes (2005); The Long March to Freedom (2011); The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (2010); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003); The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (2004); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002); The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1998); The Making of 'the Bounty' (1984); The Mill on the Floss (1997); The Moor (2023); The Responder (2024); The Sailor's Return (1978); The Scorpion King (2002); The Second Part of Henry the Sixth (1983); The Sorrows (2013); The Theban Plays by Sophocles (1986); The Third Part of Henry the Sixth (1983); The Titanic Chronicles (1999); The Wraith (2011); Timewatch (1999–2002); Titanic (1997); Titanic Explorer (1998); Titanic: Deleted Scenes (2012); Titanic: Secrets Revealed (1998); Titanic: Southampton Remembers (2012); Titanic's Final Mystery (2012); Titus: The Gorilla King (2008); Tory! Tory! Tory! (2006); True Crime (1999); Unforgotten (2015); Unforgotten Takes Us Back to the 70s (2015); Unforgotten: Building the Series (2017); Unforgotten: Domestic Turmoil (2017); Unnatural Acts (1998); Valkyrie (2008); Village Hall (1974); Warship (1977); What Is Unforgotten? (2015); What We Were Watching (2019); Wild China (2008); Wimbledon (2004); Wolf Hall (2015).

On this day in television history - The Blue Knight (1975 - 1976)

The Blue Knight

created by Albert Ruben and E. Jack Neuman,

based on the novel by Joseph Wambaugh,

was released in the United States on December 17, 1975,

and ran for two seasons until October 20, 1976.

The pilot episode was shown on May 9, 1975.

Theme music by Henry Mancini.

Partial cast:

George Kennedy, John Steadman, Barbara Rhoades, Lee Weaver, Lucy Saroyan, Robert Hays, Phillip Pine, Al Hansen, Jess Nadelman, Don Maxwell, Bruce Glover, Gerald McRaney, Tom Bower, Anthony Geary, James A. Watson Jr., Jason Bernard, Ben Frank, Kelly Thordsen, Marc Alaimo, Hoke Howell, Don Hanmer, Byron Mabe, Phillip Simms, Jonathan Goldsmith, Jan Peters, Harry Lauter, Ross Elliott, Alex Rocco, Vic Tayback, Joanna Moore, Mitchell Ryan, John Ireland, Verna Bloom, Steve Sandor, Suzanne Charny, Carmen Zapata, Jacqueline Scott, T.J. Castronovo, Mel Novak, Juno Dawson, Christina Hart, Claire Brennen, Edward James Olmos, Judson Pratt, Lewis Charles, Claudia Bryar, Thomas Carter, Joseph Wambaugh, Kitty Carl, Paul Fierro, Peter Brandon, Booth Colman, Roy West, Lisa Moore, Dorothy Dells, William C. Coleman, Hilary Beane, Sharon Compton, Lieux Dressler, Jason Sommers, Curtis Henderson, Dorothy Meyer, Rita Gomez, Brooks Almy, Michael O'Keefe, Aneta Corsaut, Anjanette Comer, Judith McConnell, Janet MacLachlan, Charles Aidman, Davis Roberts, Kathryn Reynolds, Michael Swan, Helen Craig, Lucy Marlow, Jeff Goldblum, Sherry Jackson, P. J. Soles, Katherine Helmond, Gary Lockwood, Joanne Linville, Elisha Cook Jr., Jim Davis, James Whitmore Jr., Salome Jens, Norman Fell, Guy Stockwell, John Quade, John Lone, Woodrow Parfrey, Hampton Fancher, Jillian Kesner, Kathleen Hughes, Rudy Ramos.

On this day in television history - The Stand

 

The Stand

 

9-episode mini-series.

Directed by Josh Boone, Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy, Chris Fisher, Vincenzo Natali and Tucker Gates.

Written by Stephen King, Josh Boone, Benjamin Cavell, Jill Killington, Owen King, Knate Lee, Eric Dickinson, Taylor Elmore.

Based on the novel by Stephen King.

Released in the United States on December 17, 2020 – February 11, 2021.

Music by Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott.

 
Cast:

James Marsden, Odessa Young, Alexander Skarsgård, Whoopi Goldberg, Gordon Cormier, Amber Heard, Jovan Adepo, Owen Teague, Irene Bedard, Brad William Henke, Nat Wolff, Henrique Zaga, Greg Kinnear, Nicholas Lea, Eion Bailey, Katherine McNamara, Olivia Cheng, Fiona Dourif, Tarun Keram, Ezra Miller, Gabrielle Rose, Natalie Martinez, Jason Burkart, Paul Jarrett, Mark Gibbon, Sunita Prasad, Seth Whittaker, Hamish Linklater, Kendall Joy Hall, Daniel Sunjata, Cameron McDonald, Luis Javier, J.K. Simmons, Kristy Dawn Dinsmore, Jennifer-Juniper Angeli, Curtiss Cook Jr., Angus Sampson, Heather Graham, Spencer Drever, Reese Alexander, M.J. Kokolis, Primo Allon, Harrison MacDonald, Nyla Alleyne, Clifton Collins Jr., Ariana Nica, Todd Matthews, Isla Crerar, Peter Anderson, Rob McEachern, Troy Mundle, Jagua Arneja, Briar Diallo, Tim Carlson, Tebo Nzeku, Alexis Paige Dixon, Shadi Janho, Bruce Blain, David Parent, Miles Chalmers, Brandyn Eddy, Lisa Chandler, Arkie Kandola, Darren Dolynski, TJ Kayama, Mariessa Portelance, Angela Moore, Joe Costa, Fletcher Donovan, Donald Sales, Liza Huget, Lissa Neptuno, Veena Sood, Kim Kondrashoff, Eddie Flake, Hugo Raymundo, Jesse Stanley, Camden Filtness, Jasmine Lukuku, Mike Wasko, J. Douglas Stewart, Shishy Gebru, Myles McCarthy, Leah Hennessey, Jeremy Jones, Richard Meen, Sean Millington, Jenny Mitchell, Iris Paluly, Luvia Petersen, Lisa Renee Pitts, Michel Issa Rubio, Eric Ruggieri, Carolyn Tinglin, Danny Wattley, Bryan Cranston, Steve Ellis, Stephen King, Mick Garris, Jeremy Angel.

On this day in movie history - Narc (2002)

Narc

directed and written by Joe Carnahan,

was released in the United States on December 17, 2002.

Music by Cliff Martinez.

Cast:

Jason Patric, Ray Liotta, Chi McBride, A.C. Peterson, Lina Giornofelice, Karen Robinson, Krista Bridges, Myles Donaldson, Gavyn Donaldson, Anne Openshaw, Stacey Farber, Carly Marie Alves, Mallory Mahoney, Alan van Sprang, Donna Croce, Paulino Nunes, Thomas Patrice, Tony De Santis, John Ortiz, Marilo Nunez, Busta Rhymes, Richard Chevolleau, Bishop Brigante, Carson Durven, Lloyd Adams, Booth Savage, Dan Leis, Kevin Rushton, Darren John.

On this day in movie history - Black Swan (2010)

Black Swan

directed by Darren Aronofsky,

written by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin,

based on a story by Andres Heinz,

was released in the United States on December 17, 2010.

Music by Clint Mansell.

Cast:

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied, Ksenia Solo, Kristina Anapau, Janet Montgomery, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Sergio Torrado, Mark Margolis, Tina Sloan, Abraham Aronofsky, Charlotte Aronofsky, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Shaun O'Hagan, Chris Gartin, Deborah Offner, Stanley B. Herman, Michelle Rodriguez Nouel, Kurt Froman, Marty Krzywonos, Leslie Lyles, John Epperson, Arkadiy Figlin, Tim Fain, Sarah Lane, Liam Flaherty, Patrick Heusinger, Marina Stavitskaya, Olga Kostritzky, Christine Redpath, Alexandra Damiani, Rebecca Azenberg, Laura Bowman, Holly L. Fusco, Abigail Mentzer, Barette Vance, Lillian di Piazza, Megan Dickinson, Jessy Hendrickson, Geneviève Lebean, Rachel Jambois, Ryoko Sadoshima, Kaia A. Tack, Lauren Fadeley, Sarah Hay, Adrianna de Svastich, Jamie Wolf, Carrie Lee Riggins, Gina Artese, Anne Bergstedt, Alyson Cambridge, Andrew Daly, John Farrer, Dj Jess, Daralina Komar, Tim Lacatena, Meredith Miles, Todd Miller, Michael Stein, Carmella Stolyar.