- published: 19 Jan 2016
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Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel The Echo Maker won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.
Powers was born in Evanston, Illinois, and his family later moved a few miles south to Lincolnwood, where his father was the principal at a local school. When Powers was 11, his family moved again, this time to Bangkok, Thailand, where his father had accepted a position at International School Bangkok. Powers attended the school through his freshman year, ending in 1972. In his time outside the United States, Powers developed a love of music, developing notable skill in vocal music as well as proficiency in cello, guitar, saxophone, and clarinet. He also became an avid reader, enjoying classics such as The Iliad and The Odyssey, but primarily works of non-fiction.
At age 16 Powers moved back to the U.S. and, following graduation in 1975 from DeKalb High School in DeKalb, Illinois, enrolled as a physics major at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During his first semester, he switched his major to English literature. In 1978 he received his undergraduate degree. He continued his education at Illinois, and in 1980 received his MA in literature. He decided not to pursue a PhD in the field because of his aversion to strict specialization, which was also one of the reasons for his earlier transfer from physics to English; and the apparent absence of pleasure in the reading and writing done by graduate students and their professors (as portrayed in his novel Galatea 2.2).
Gold Bug is a (sometimes pejorative) term used to describe investors who are very bullish on buying the commodity gold (XAU - ISO 4217). It can also be used to refer to a person who opposes or criticizes the use of fiat currency and supports a return to the use of the Gold Standard or some other currency system based on the value of gold and other hard assets. A third use is to refer to someone who considers one commodity, usually gold, "the appropriate measure of wealth, regardless of the quantity of other goods and services that it can buy".
The term was popularized in the 1896 US Presidential Election, when William McKinley supporters took to wearing gold lapel pins, gold neckties, and gold headbands in a demonstration of support for gold against the "silver menace", though the term's original use may have been in Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 story "The Gold-Bug," about a cryptographic treasure map.
Actors: Martin Pfefferkorn (actor), Anthony Timpone (actor), Gary Griffith (writer), Gary Griffith (director), Wendi Winburn (actress), Kyle Derek (actor), Greg Dohanic (actor), Peter Papageorgiou (actor), James H. Burns (actor), Sheila Simmons (actress), Andy Zeffer (actor), Thomas V. Powers (writer), Thomas V. Powers (actor), Alexia Kouros (actress), Alexia Kouros (actress),
Genres: Drama, Horror,