Birthdays

I will write about this being Suzanne's big 3-4 in a little while. But for now, here's some info on someone she shares the day with. From today's Writer's Almanac:

"It's the birthday of William Randolph Hearst, born in San Francisco (1863), the only child of Phoebe Apperson Hearst and George Hearst, a millionaire miner. George Hearst won a newspaper, The San Francisco Examiner, as payment for a gambling debt — and his son William, in his early 20s pleaded with his father for control of the newspaper. His father relented, and at age 24 he became the publisher. Over the next few decades, William Randolph Hearst acquired close to 30 newspapers, including ones in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago.

In 1865 his father had purchased a huge ranch for the family near San Simeon, California, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. When his mother died in 1919, William inherited the ranch, which had grown to 250,000 acres. He began constructing his dream dwelling, collaborating with Bay Area architect Julia Morgan. He wrote, "Miss Morgan, we are tired of camping out in the open at the ranch in San Simeon and I would like to build a little something."

They worked on it together until 1947, at which point the estate he called "La Cuesta Encantada." The Enchanted Hill had 165 rooms, including 56 bedrooms and 61 bathrooms, as well as 41 fireplaces, indoor and outdoor swimming pools decorated with marble and adorned with mythological statues, the largest private zoo in the world, which included grizzly bears, zebras, jaguars, chimpanzees, camels, storks, giraffes and an elephant, 127 acres of gardens, a movie theater, tennis courts, and an airfield.

Notable guests of the estate include Charles Lindbergh, Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill, Calvin Coolidge, and George Bernard Shaw. It was donated to the People of the State of California in December 1957, and now the public may take guided tours."



It's fitting that Suzanne would share her birthday with someone smart, powerful, and ambitious. The mega-rich thing will have to wait for another life though, I'm afraid.