Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Dead…or not. During WWI, newspapers reported that Robert Graves was killed in the Somme. One problem: he wasn't dead. Don't worry, the papers printed retractions. (Source.)
Knighthood? Small potatoes. Rumor has it that Graves actually turned down an offer to make him a Commander of the British Empire (an honor offered for his literary service to the country) in 1957. In his words, "the government always tries to coax well-known writers into the Establishment; it makes them feel educated." (Source.)
Graves loved some fierce ladies, including Laura Riding Jackson. Anyone who writes poetry and then pens criticism like "Anarchism is Not Enough" in her spare time is tougher than we are. (Source.)