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FYI

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Of course we tip hats to all things Irish today. According to historychannel.com, here are descriptions of three famous Irishmen. Can you name them?

  • This gentleman’s early works were "The Battle of the Books" and "Tale of a Tub," both published in 1704. He was active in Whig politics but turned against the party over its unfriendliness to the Anglican Church. In 1714, he was made dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. His masterpiece was "Gulliver’s Travels" in 1726.

  • This Irish novelist, one of the major 20th-century writer in English, was a master of language and educated in Dublin Jesuit schools. He spent World War I in Zurich, Switzerland, where he completed "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" in 1916. His first novel, "Ulysses," was banned in the United States until 1933. His work includes three volumes of poems.

  • This Irish playwright and critic was awarded the 1925 Nobel Prize in literature. He was a popular speaker who wrote five novels before becoming a music critic for London newspapers in 1888, and was a drama critic for the Saturday Review. His plays include "Man and Superman," "Major Barbara" and "Pygmalion," the basis for the 1956 musical "My Fair Lady."

    The answers are listed at the bottom of this column.

    Stories of the Great Depression will be shared at a meeting of the Monroe Historical Society at 7 p.m. Thursday at 118 S. Lewis St., Monroe.

    Their aerial acrobatics may not be as precise as the Blue Angels, but they definitely outnumber the human pilots. Snow geese, whose flocks reach in the thousands of birds and populate the fields around Stanwood and southwestern Skagit County, are getting ready to head north, and are busy doing high-flying formations before they leave the area. The birds typically depart in late March or early April.

    The famous Irishmen are Jonathan Swift, James Joyce and George Bernard Shaw.

    If you have an item for FYI, call Kristi O’Harran at 425-339-3451. If you have a news tip or an idea for a local story, call the city desk at 425-339-3428, or e-mail newstips@heraldnet.com.

    Other numbers to call:

    Everett, 425-339-3200

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