Author Judy Blume, football player Robert Griffin III, singer Elle Varner celebrate their birthdays today.
The writer Judy Blume turns 76 today. The American author has written numerous books, which have been translated into 31 languages and some even adapted to film. Blume’s books were geared towards adolescence but she did not shy away from difficult topics like bullying, masturbation, divorce and racism.
Originally from New Jersey, Blume was diagnosed with mononucleosis during her first semester of college. She graduated with a degree in Teaching from New York University in 1961. She began her writing career after having kids. Her first was published in 1969, The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo. She was then successful with another 13 books before switching to write for a different audience. Blume’s work in adult reality and death was successful as well with titles Wifey and Smart Women.
Blume has won about 90 literary awards for her work: three lifetime achievement awards, ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award, Living Legends in the Writers and Artists category by the Library of Congress, and more. She has been married three times, with the last George Cooper, and has two kids Randy Lee and Lawrence Andrew and a stepdaughter Amanda. Blume was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012.
The football player Robert Griffin III turns 24 today. Nicknamed RG3, he is originally from Japan, where his military parents were stationed. The National Football League player has won numerous awards and set many records in his career.
Griffin is currently a quarterback for the Washington Redskins. In high school, he was successful in basketball, football and track. During recruitment, he was said to be the fourth-best dual-threat quarterback in the country in 2008. He was pursued by Stanford, Nebraska and Washington State just to name a few.
Griffin graduated Baylor University in three years with a degree in political science. During his track and field career there he broke the NCAA Midwest Regional 400-meter hurdles record and participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials and in football he won the Heisman Trophy in 2011. The following year he won the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year award. While playing with the Redskins, Griffin won his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Griffith was the first rookie to pass 200 yards, pass 4 touchdowns and rush more than 75 yards in NFL history.
Singer Elle Varner turns 25 today. Varner is a singer, songwriter, producer and musician of multiple instruments. Originally from California, she was born to talent parents that were affiliated with Kool & the Gang and Barry White.
Varner plays the flute, guitar and piano. She was a part of the Hamilton High School’s Academy of Music’s Jazz Vocal Group. Varner graduated from the highly selective New York University’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music in 2008. The next year, she signed with MBK/J-RCA Records and co-publishing agreement with Sony Music.
The debut album “Perfectly Imperfect” was released in 2012 and sold 33,000 records in the first week and the song Only Wanna Give It to You reached U.S. Billboards R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 20 the previous year. Varner performed with The Roots and the House of Blues in tribute to White Houston. As he writes the second album, she says she’s created her own genre of music “Trap Jazz.”