I’m a little late to this party, I fear, but Maira Kalman’s paean to Ben Franklin and the power of invention is one of the best things I’ve read on the web in long time.

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4 Responses to “Big Ben”

  1. nancy jones says:
    August 10, 2009 at 12:03 pm

    so much funn too! Thanks. Provides great inspiration and hope for the beginning of the school year. We need to remember the power of indiviudality, inventiveness and imagination:)

  2. Hope says:
    August 11, 2009 at 6:26 am

    I saw. I read. I enjoyed.

  3. Scott Noppe-Brandon says:
    August 11, 2009 at 11:08 am

    Hi, Dan. I’m very impressed with the blog–such an assortment of material. We were just discussing Kalman’s piece here at Lincoln Center Institute. Not only is it beautifully written and illustrated, but it’s a potent reminder of the robust imaginative and creative potential of human beings. Ben Franklin resolved to do good every day and allotted himself time to “work” (“play” might be more appropriate), and the results speak for themselves. Surely he possessed innate gifts, but it was the discipline with which he exercised them that seems to have made the difference. Some people object to the idea of routines on principle, but when a routine involves space for imaginative thinking, its benefits may be immense–Franklinian, if you will. – Scott Noppe-Brandon, Executive Director, Lincoln Center Institute

  4. Ed says:
    August 17, 2009 at 8:13 am

    Tad Pompous. Wasn’t he W’s first-year roomie at Yale?