Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Although Vanderbilt University figured prominently in Robert Penn Warren's development as a writer, it wasn't his first choice at all. He wanted to go to Annapolis and command the Pacific fleet. He got in there, and was going to attend, but his brother tossed a rock over a hedge and ended up blinding Warren in one eye (it was later removed.) There went his chances at Annapolis, and a poet was born. (Source.)
A dyed-in-the-wool Southerner descended from confederate soldiers, Warren was at first for racial segregation; later realized his mistake and changed his ways. In fact, he dedicated himself to listening intently to a wide range of views, as he interviewed hundreds researching his book, Who Speaks for the Negro (1965). (Source.)
It may be called moss, or even "dead man's beard," but it's really a bromeliad from the pineapple family. (Source.)