Today is the 109th birthday of writer and broadcaster Louis “Studs” Terkel, born in the Bronx, New York . His family moved to Chicago when Terkel was 10 years old and his parents ran rooming houses. Terkel remembers all different kinds of people moving through the rooming houses — dissidents, labor organizers, religions fanatics — and that that exposure helped build his knowledge of the outside world.

Why are we born? We’re born eventually to die, of course. But what happens between the time we’re born and we die? We’re born to live. One is a realist if one hopes.

Today is the 116th birthday of the actor Henry Fonda. Attempting to name a few films of his that are great is leaving too many off the list. The Grapes of Wrath and The Lady Eve are two that come to mind immediately. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 103rd birthday of the showman with the most showmanship there ever was:  Liberace. He got people listening to classical piano music, perhaps initially dazzled and intrigued by what he was wearing, they still listened. He once said, “Nobody will believe in you unless you believe in yourself.” Those are words to live by, words I live by. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the lost that he has left.

Sixty-three years ago today, the film Gigi premiered at the Royale Theatre in New York City to immediate affection. Gigi went on to become the most Oscar winning film of all time. Directed by Liza’s father, music conducted by Mia’s husband. What more do you want? It really is just a wonderful movie. You should see this.

Today is the 98th birthday of famed photographer Richard Avedon.  His iconic images capture the beauty, fragility, vulnerability, and life of his subjects that very few other photographers have the ability to express.  The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 84th birthday of the woman who is quoted as saying “There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women” and I sincerely hope she did. Madeleine Albright normalized seeing women in powerful roles and because of her there are more women elected to high offices, more women CEOs, and the descriptor of “woman” before titles have become passé if not insulting. The world is a better place because she is in it.

Today is the 91st birthday of the the best American Abstract Expressionist artist alive, maybe the best American Abstract Expressionist artist, maybe the best Abstract Expressionist artist. I love his work. I can remember sitting in the college library looking through art books and being mesmerized by his paintings, how iconic and pedestrian are mixed into beautiful imagery. The world is a better place because he is in it.

Today is the 293rd birthday of the artist Thomas Gainsborough. You will easily recognize The Blue Boy and maybe a couple other works, but he really made his money painting portraits for the aristocratic set. Those paintings now are valued for his artistry as well as being a terrific record of the styles and fashions of the 18th century. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the birthday of the author and explorer Bruce Chatwin. His life’s adventures are enviable. He has lived an extraordinary life and accumulated the who’s who of friends and admirers. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 139th birthday of the man who is widely recognized as the co-founder of Cubism: Georges Braque. While his counterpart’s name is much more recognizable, his works in the genre are equal to Picasso’s and breathtakingly beautiful. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.