On this day, in 1939, Margaret Mitchell would publish what would become a Pulitzer Prize winner, one of the best selling books of all time, plus have a film made from the book that is still considered one of the top five best movies of all time. Gone With the Wind was originally titled “Tomorrow is Another Day”, which is the last line in her book. She finally decided on using the current title, which she found in the poem, “Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae by Ernest Dowson.

Ms. Mitchell originally started writing this novel while mending from a car accident a decade earlier. Harold Lathem from MacMillen Publishing was looking for new fiction and read what she had written. He agreed to publish the book, feeling it could be a best seller. Margaret would spend the next six months, along with her husband, checking historical records to make sure she had time tables right for her fictional characters then submitted her final draft. As quickly successful this book and the movie were for her, she would not write another novel.

To celebrate the anniversary of one of America’s finest novels, I have found two drinks that bear the name of its two main characters. Both made with Southern Comfort, I felt it justified to make this day a two-for-one. Both of these will taste great on this, or any, summer day.

The Scarlett O’Hara
2 oz. Southern Comfort
Cranberry Juice
Fresh Lime Juice
Lime Wedge

Method: Begin by pouring the Southern Comfort into a collins glass with ice. Top off with cranberry juice, then add a splash of lime juice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

The Rhett Butler
2 oz. Southern Comfort
1/2 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
Lemon Twist

Method: Add ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake well, then strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

This day in history:
1841 - The Erie Railroad started its passenger train service.
1859 - French Acrobat Charles Brondin aka Jean Francois Gravelet crossed over Niagara Falls on a tight rope.
1908 - At 7:17am on this date, in the middle of Siberia, a natural explosion from an unknown source, caused hundreds of square miles of forest to be flattened, caused black rain, illuminated the sky for miles, and created tremors that could be felt for more than 400 miles away.
1936 - Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind” was published.

Notable Birthday: “Iron” Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion in the history of boxing (20 years 144 days), was born on this day in 1966.

Notable Quote”
“You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.” - Leo Aikman