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"Desiderata"(Latin: "things desired") is a 1927 prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. The text was widely distributed in poster form in the 1960s and 1970s.
"Desiderata"(Latin: "things desired") is a 1927 prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. The text was widely distributed in poster form in the 1960s and 1970s.
Max Ehrmann of Terre Haute, Indiana started writing the work in 1921,[ citation needed ] but he did not assign it a title. He registered for his U.S. copyright in 1927 using the poem's first phrase as its title. The April 5, 1933 issue of Michigan Tradesman magazine published the full, original text on its cover, crediting Ehrmann as its author. In 1933, he distributed the poem in the form of a Christmas card, [1] now officially titled "Desiderata." [2]
Psychiatrist Merrill Moore distributed more than 1,000 unattributed copies to his patients and soldiers during World War II. [1] After Ehrmann died in 1945, his widow published the work in 1948 in The Poems of Max Ehrmann. The 1948 version was in the form of one long prose paragraph, so earlier and later versions were presumably also in that form. [1] [3]
The reverend Frederick Kates distributed about 200 unattributed copies as devotional materials for his congregation at Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore during 1959 or 1960. [1] [3] The papers mentioned the church's foundation date of 1692, which has caused many to falsely assume that the date is that of the poem's origination. [4] [5]
The text was widely distributed in poster form in the 1960s and 1970s, often with the incorrect date of 1692. [6] It was first partitioned into a few subparagraphs separated by "distinctive spacing figures" in 1970 by Pro Arts and Crescendo Publishers. [7] Later, it was divided into four or more subparagraphs separated by new lines in DePauw University's Mirage for 1978 [8] and in the July/August 1999 issue of The Saturday Evening Post . [9] In some versions, almost all instances of "and" are replaced by ampersands. [10] Other versions change "the noise and the haste" to "the noise and haste" and change "be cheerful" to "be careful," notably in the 1971 spoken-word recording by Les Crane. [11]
Ehrmann's widow renewed the copyright in 1954. [12] In 1967, Robert L. Bell acquired the publishing rights from Bruce Humphries Publishing Company, and then bought the copyright from Richard Wright, nephew and heir to the Ehrmann work. [13]
In August 1971, the poem was published in Success Unlimited magazine without permission from Bell. In a 1975 lawsuit against the magazine's publisher Combined Registry Co., the court ruled that copyright had been forfeited because the poem had been authorized for publication without a copyright notice in 1933 and 1942, meaning that the poem was therefore in the public domain. The ruling was upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals but was denied consideration by the Supreme Court. [1] [14] [15] However, Bell refused to recognize the ruling. As the decision was only valid in the appeals court's jurisdiction of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, Bell continued to litigate in other jurisdictions, seeking removal of the poem from offending publications or payment of royalties. [16] [17]
The poem is now officially in the public domain throughout the U.S., as written works registered before 1928 entered the public domain in 2023. [18]
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of books or individual stories in the public domain. All files can be accessed for free under an open format layout, available on almost any computer. As of 13 February 2024, Project Gutenberg had reached 70,000 items in its collection of free eBooks.
Richard Wigginton Thompson was an American politician.
Terre Haute is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles (8 km) east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716.
Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc. is a United States court case that involved a longstanding dispute about the public domain copyright status of the text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech, known by the key phrase "I Have a Dream", originally delivered at the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The court ruled that King's delivery of the speech was a "performance", rather than a "general publication", of its text, and therefore overruled a lower court judgment granting summary judgment in CBS's favor. The two sides ultimately settled the matter out of court instead of appealing to a higher court.
Max Ehrmann was an American writer, poet, and attorney from Terre Haute, Indiana, widely known for his 1927 prose poem "Desiderata". He often wrote on spiritual themes.
Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 539 U.S. 23 (2003), was a copyright and trademark case of the Supreme Court of the United States involving the applicability of the Lanham Act to a work in the public domain.
"Deteriorata" is a comedy record released as a single in 1972. It is a parody of Les Crane's 1971 spoken word recording of "Desiderata", the early 20th-century poem by Max Ehrmann.
"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" was among the best-selling songs of the 19th century, earning over $100,000 from sheet-music revenues. Written and composed by American songwriter Paul Dresser, it was published by the Tin Pan Alley firm of Howley, Haviland and Company in October 1897. The lyrics of the ballad reminisce about life near Dresser's childhood home by the Wabash River in Indiana, United States. The song remained popular for decades, and the Indiana General Assembly adopted it as the official state song on March 14, 1913. The song was the basis for a 1923 film of the same title. Its longtime popularity led to the emergence of several lyrical versions, including an 1898 anti-war song and a Swedish version that was a number-one hit.
Les Crane was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem Desiderata, winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy. He was the first network television personality to compete with Johnny Carson after Carson became a fixture of late-night television.
George W. Cutter was an American poet.
Noble Jacob Johnson was a United States representative from Indiana and an Associate Judge and Chief Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
The Tiger Pep Band at DePauw University (TPB) is a student-led, -organized, and -funded ensemble at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. The band has been recognized several times among the best in collegiate sports, promoting sportsmanship and civility, and has been hailed as "best pep band in Division III athletics ".
Highland Lawn Cemetery is a city-owned cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana. Opened in 1884, the cemetery includes 139 acres (0.56 km2).
United States Senate Bill S.3804, known as the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was a bill introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on September 20, 2010. It proposed amendments to Chapter 113 of Title 18 of the United States Code that would authorize the Attorney General to bring an in rem action against any domain name found "dedicated to infringing activities," as defined within the text of the bill. Upon bringing such an action, and obtaining an order for relief, the registrar of, or registry affiliated with, the infringing domain would be compelled to "suspend operation of and lock the domain name."
Desiderata is a 1971 album by Les Crane with music by Broadway composer Fred Werner and concept and various lyrics by David C. Wilson. It is a spoken-word album with sung refrains and instrumental accompaniment. The title and title track come from the widely circulated poem "Desiderata", which was widely perceived as ancient wisdom and not known to be a 1927 poem by Indiana lawyer Max Ehrmann.
The Western Association of Writers was an American writers' organization founded in Indiana. It enrolled among its members men and women who were early or seasoned in their careers.
Martina Swafford was an American poet of the long nineteenth century. Widely known by her pen-name, "Belle Bremer", her vision was greatly impaired, so much so that much of the time, she was unable to read or write. Swafford was a native of Indiana, and by education, environment, and primary attachments, she was an Indiana poet. Yet she called herself semi-Southern, because of her Virginian parentage and her own yearly temporary home in the South. She spent her winters at Huntsville, Alabama, a noted health resort of the time, where much of her poetical work was done. It was said that the cheerful, hopeful tone of these poems, made more effective by an underlying pathos, was a pleasing contrast to the melancholy which marred the work of so many versemakers of the time.
Margaret B. Hoberg Turrell was an American composer and organist who published her music under the name Margaret Hoberg. She was also a philanthropist who co-founded the Turrell Fund with her husband.
Amory Kinney was an American abolitionist and attorney who represented Polly Strong in the landmark State v. Lasselle case, tried in the Indiana Supreme Court, that freed Strong and set a precedent for other enslaved people in the state of Indiana. The following year, he represented Mary Bateman Clark, an indentured servant, and won her freed at the state Supreme Court. The cases foretold the end of bondservants in Indiana.
Frederick Henry Werner Jr. was an American musician and composer who wrote and arranged music for television, cinema, and Broadway musicals. He started his career in New York in the early 1960s working with Frank Loesser, Noel Coward, and Bob Fosse. Later, he moved to California to work in television and movies, eventually returning to Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1964 for Best Conductor and Musical Director for the musical High Spirits. He is also known for his work on Les Crane's 1971 album Desiderata.
1934, January 4.—An editor in Kansas criticizes my Desiderata ...
This article incorporates public domain material from Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database. Copyright Renewal Database Long Record R127188. United States Government . Retrieved August 18, 2013.Permission by Robert L. Bell [in 1999]
Robert L. Bell ... died January 15, 2009, ...
Media related to Desiderata at Wikimedia Commons
