STRANGE BUT TRUE

It was American author James Thurber who made the following sage observation: “Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.”

If you’re a fan of the original “Wizard of Oz” movie, you might be surprised to learn that the actress who played Glinda the Good Witch, Billie Burke, was 54 years old when the film was shot.

The award for the most needless war in history could very well go to Paraguay, whose president, Francisco Solano Lopez, believed himself to be an excellent tactician. He was a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte and wished to emulate the French emperor, but he had no wars to fight. To remedy the situation, in 1864 Lopez declared war on all three of his neighboring countries, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. His tactical abilities seem to have been of little use, however; it is estimated that 90 percent of Paraguay’s male population was killed during the course of the war.

During this time of election madness, “misology” could be a useful word to know. It means “hatred of reason.”

French novelist Marcel Proust’s magnum opus, “Remembrance of Things Past,” has been hailed as a literary masterpiece, but not everyone was a fan at first read. As Proust was trying, unsuccessfully, to find a publisher for his seven-volume work, one publisher said, “I may be dense, but I fail to see why a chap needs 30 pages to describe how he tosses and turns in bed before falling asleep.” The author finally published the first volume with his own money; after the book was hailed as a masterpiece by critics, the same publishers who had rejected Proust competed for the opportunity to print the other six volumes of his work.

Thought for the Day: “Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories.” — John Wilmot

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.