The Fox and the Hound is a 1967 novel written by Daniel P. Mannix and
illustrated by John Schoenherr. It follows the lives of Tod, a red fox
raised by a human for the first year of his life, and Copper, a
half-bloodhound dog owned by a local hunter, referred to as the Master.
After Tod causes the death of the man's favorite hound, man and dog
relentlessly hunt the fox, against the dual backdrops of a changing
human world and Tod's normal life in hunting for food, seeking a mate,
and defending his territory. As preparation for writing the novel,
Mannix studied foxes, both tame and wild, a wide variety of hunting
techniques, and the ways hounds appear to track foxes, seeking to
ensure his characters acted realistically. The novel won the Dutton
Animal Book Award in 1967, which resulted in its publication on
September 11 that year by E.P. Dutton. It was a 1967 Reader's Digest
Book Club selection and a winner of the Athenaeum Literary Award. It
was well received by critics, who praised its detail and Mannix's
writing style. Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights for
the novel when it won the Dutton award, though did not begin production
on an adaptation until 1977. Heavily modified from the source material,
Disney's The Fox and the Hound was released to theaters in July 1981
and became a box office success.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Hound_%28novel%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1757:
British Royal Navy Admiral John Byng was court-martialled and executed
by firing squad for breaching the Articles of War when he failed to "do
his utmost" during the Battle of Minorca at the start of the Seven
Years' War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng>
1794:
American inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, the first ever
machine that quickly and easily separated cotton fibers from their
seedpods.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cotton_gin>
1885:
The Mikado , Gilbert and Sullivan's most frequently performed Savoy
Opera, debuted at the Savoy Theatre in London.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mikado>
1984:
Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin, was seriously wounded in an
assassination attempt by Ulster Freedom Fighters in central Belfast,
Northern Ireland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Adams>
2008:
A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupted in Lhasa and
elsewhere in Tibet.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Tibetan_unrest>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (proverb):
It is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than a mere
potential of a greater one
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_bird_in_the_hand_is_worth_two_in_the_bush>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams; —
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet
we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
--Arthur O'Shaughnessy
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_O%27Shaughnessy>