WALTER JACKSON BATE AND SAMUEL JOHNSON.

WALTER JACKSON BATE AND SAMUEL JOHNSON. Samuel Johnson was born in 1709 so he will receive some attention this year. I have been reading Walter Jackson Bate’s biography of Johnson, which is one of Mary Jane’s favorite books. I asked her why and she said that the book offers direct contact with a great soul and that it removes any writer’s block and makes her want to write. There is indeed a great deal of wisdom about how to live in the book, both Johnson’s and Bate’s.