[Daily article] April 2: Talbot Baines Reed

Talbot Baines Reed (1852–1893) was an English writer of boys' fiction 
who established a genre of school stories that endured into the second 
half of the 20th century and was widely imitated. Among his best-known 
work is The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's. He was a regular and prolific 
contributor to The Boy's Own Paper, in which most of his fiction first 
appeared. Through his family's business, Reed became a prominent 
typefounder, and wrote a classic History of the Old English Letter 
Foundries which, published in 1887, was hailed as the standard work on 
the subject. Reed's affinity with boys, his instinctive understanding 
of their standpoint in life and his gift for creating believable 
characters, ensured that his popularity survived through several 
generations. He also wrote regular articles and book reviews for his 
cousin Edward Baines's newspaper, the Leeds Mercury. After struggling 
with illness for most of 1893, Reed died in November that year, at the 
age of 41. Tributes honoured him both for his contribution to 
children's fiction and for his work as the definitive historian of 
English typefounding.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbot_Baines_Reed>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1513:

Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León reached Florida, becoming the 
first European known to do so, purportedly while searching for the 
Fountain of Youth in the New World.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n>