Donald Barthelme

Recently I won a lottery where I could choose a Classic Writers' card.
There were indeed plenty of writers to choose from which really put me in front of a tough decision, until while scrolling, I noticed this card had the name of Donald Barthelme, and I immediately knew this was going to be my lottery prize!

Frankly, I had no idea how he looked liked, so if it wasn't for the caption, I would have completely ignored this card.
An American short story writer and novelist known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction  (April 7, 1931 – July 23, 1989), that I first encountered while at university, when I had the chance to read his story The School. One of the best short-stories I have ever read! Unfortunately back then the internet didn't have as many things as today, so not that many stuff could be found online (though sparknotes existed, which made university life so easier :P) Anyways, as I said, not many things could be found online so I only managed to find just another story by him, called "The First Thing the Baby did wrong" - hilarious!
And somehow after that I just kinda forgot about him (yeah, shame on me), until I actually won this lottery, which made me google him back and forth, and of course, now way more stories have been published on the internet - making me realize what I have been missing all these years.
However, now I'm kinda saving money to order at least some of his books cos I'd really like to have them in my collection - will worry later about lack of space :)


If you would like to read both these stories, just click on the links below

The School
The First Thing the Baby did wrong

And totally unplanned, this post coincides with Donald's birthday, who would have turned 87 today... and also if my dearest grandmother was alive, today we would have been celebrating her 81st birthday! I really really miss her! ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey

Next card for today comes from dear Pinar, sent for the Turkey vs the World RR.

The card shows Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( a Turkish nationalist leader and founder and first president of the republic of Turkey), a figure well known in Macedonia due to the Ottoman presence for five centuries....and also in the left, you can see the women who fought bravely during the war (1919-1922).

He was born in 1881 in Salonika (now Thessaloniki) in what was then the Ottoman Empire. At 12 he was sent to military school and then to the military academy in Istanbul. In 1911, he served against the Italians in Libya and then in the Balkan Wars (1912 - 1913). He made his military reputation repelling the Allied invasion at the Dardanelles in 1915.

In May 1919, Atatürk began a nationalist revolution in Anatolia, organising resistance to the peace settlement imposed on Turkey by the victorious Allies. This was particularly focused on resisting Greek attempts to seize Smyrna and its hinterland. Victory over the Greeks enabled him to secure revision of the peace settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne.

In 1921, Atatürk established a provisional government in Ankara. The following year the Ottoman Sultanate was formally abolished and, in 1923, Turkey became a secular republic with Atatürk as its president. He established a single party regime that lasted almost without interruption until 1945.

He launched a programme of revolutionary social and political reform to modernise Turkey. These reforms included the emancipation of women, the abolition of all Islamic institutions and the introduction of Western legal codes, dress, calendar and alphabet, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin one. Abroad he pursued a policy of neutrality, establishing friendly relations with Turkey's neighbours.

In 1935, when surnames were introduced in Turkey, he was given the name Atatürk, meaning 'Father of the Turks'. He died on 10 November 1938.

Must admit, this was a great history revision for me....

the stamp is from a set of 4 issued in 2010, representing the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship for Men.

thank you so much again for such a great card Pinar!