Cloudy Days I remember the clouds on that day being especially low in the sky. Pressing down, covering the little world I knew with an ashy gray. The trees rustling in the distance disrupted the silence fogging up the football field. The warm uncut grass itched my skin as we sat there with our Read more…
Seventy-eight years later, during the summer of 1428, Thomas de Montacute, the Earl of Salisbury, captured the towns of Jargeau, Beaugency, and Meung, to prevent supplies and men from reaching Orleans by the Loire River. Montacute laughed, drank, and celebrated with his fellow Englishmen. The French? Ha! They were nothing! Look at all of our victories! England was sure to win the war. Of course, it was regrettable that people had to die, but in a war, death was inevitable. Montacute was sure that the dead soldiers on the battlefield were proud of the sacrifice they had made for their country. He grinned as he sipped his wine. Watch out Orleans, he thought with a gleam in his eye, you’re next!
Athenian hoplites, heavily armed foot soldiers of ancient Greece, marched with dignity and pride resting on their shoulders towards the battle that changed the ancient world – the Battle of Marathon.
Abraham Lincoln, our greatest president, had only the humble goal of proving himself worthy and respected to his contemporaries, “by rendering [himself] worthy of their esteem”. Lincoln as a man was motivated by his sense of morality to achieve great things politically so as to ensure the dignity of his fellow man and the unity of his nation. Through his achievements, he will be forever known in this country as a hero.
Anthony Doerr, the author of Idaho’s essay, is an accomplished author of books such as The Shell Collector, About Grace, Seasons in Rome, and recently, Memory Wall. His books have been twice a New York Times Notable Book and once an American Library Association Book of the Year. Doerr also is the author of many short stories, which have won the Rome Prize, four O. Henry prizes, and several others. He also has a column in The Boston Globe and less often writes Op-Eds for The New York Times. In Doerr’s career he has developed an interest for science and the natural world. He frequently writes about nature and reviews scientific books. Doerr has also worked and lived in both Africa and New Zealand where many of his stories take place. He is now residing in Boise, Idaho with his wife and two sons.
