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Delaware, United States
Deborah Hawkins, penned Debra Renée Byrd, began writing after a blank book project in elementary school and never stopped, fashioning stories based on her favorite TV shows and movies before creating more original works. She studied at the University of the Arts and Florida State University before settling down and graduating from Temple University. She now resides in her hometown of Dover, DE, where she spends most of her time at work or at church. She loves fantasies, superheroes, is a trekkie and a brown coat. She loves television and lives for Final Fantasy video games, having collected most of them. She has read a myriad of authors, and her favorite authors change whenever she finds a new book that changes her life... "When you can't run, you crawl. When you can't crawl...well, you know the rest." -Tracey, Firefly, "The Message"

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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

IWSG: O ! say can you see


Hello! And happy early 4th of July from the Insecure Writer's Support Group, led by the awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh!

I really don't have much to say today, but I thought I'd provide some inspiration based on a letter to the editor in my newspaper a couple of weeks ago. The man started by complaining about the way some people embellish "The Star Spangled Banner", then went on to tell the history of it, which I didn't know, so I ignored his little complaint. lol

Francis Scott Key had gone to negotiate the release of war prisoners (War of 1812) and in ended being held himself, due to becoming aware of the British intent to attack Baltimore. So, he was in prison during the bombardment at Fort Henry September 13-14th. From his cell, he was able to see the American Flag still standing in the morning.

Inspired, he wrote "Defence of Fort McHenry", which was later titled "The Star Spangled Banner" and put to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven". It became so popular that by 1931, Congress made it the United States' national anthem!

And something I just learned: there are 3 other stanzas! So, here is one of the surviving copies of "Defence of Fort McHenry" for your enjoyment. Have a Happy Independence Day! May we all one day write something that is remembered for generations to come. :)

7 comments:

Nancy Thompson said...

How totally cool! I never knew any of that. Wow! Happy 4th, indeed!

~ New follower and Alex's #3 minion of the month, Nancy

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Yes, it's a much longer song than most people realize. Fitting time to learn about it since it's Independence Day.

SC Author said...

I knew that it was longer than usual, due to some research stuff I did to find awesome quotes for my novel :)

Heather R. Holden said...

Wow, I never knew this before, either. Interesting!

Anonymous said...

I think I knew once before that there was more to it, because some parts seemed familiar, but it was still cool!

Elsie Amata said...

Well, I'll be! I never knew there were three additional stanzas. Thank you so much for teaching me something new today!!

Anonymous said...

You're very welcome! :D