born 7 May 1970

Drew Johnson, Heidelberg, West Germany, writer/director/actor

Edwin Zoetebier, Purmerend, The Netherlands, soccer player

Gregorio Pernía, Cúcuta, Colombia, actor

Julia Hayes, Helena, Montana, stripper/strip club owner

Maja Stojanovic, Vranje, Yugoslavia, Serb actress

Mark Giles, Toronto, Ontario, cameraman

Michael J. Hein, New York, New York, low budget horror impresario

Sam Faniel, San Diego, California, production assistant

Scooter Ward, Jacksonville, Florida, singer

Su-ro Kim, Seoul, South Korea, actor

Today’s Winner takes the prize for reminding me to publicly praise the last really good history book I read. Birth of a World: Simon Bolívar in Terms of His Peoples was published in 1951. It’s Waldo Frank’s densely detailed attempt to make sense of the career of the Great Liberator, warts and all. It’s more like a behind-the scenes movie about the struggle for Venezuelan and Colombian independence, with Bolívar as the director and star. It’s long out of print, and it’s a little too gleefully opinionated to turn up on college curricula. The writing is minty fresh, acerbic and refreshing.

That book was a crucial component of the small cache of reading material I was invited to sample from the library of my friend Mark’s parents Joanne Grant and Victor Rabinowitz. There are few things more enjoyable than perusing the bookcases of old-time left-wingers. Amazing stuff just sitting there waiting to be rediscovered.