Oh, Irv

So the statue featured on the cover of FS No. 3 (nice work, Victoria) is a bust of Washington Irving. Our neighborhood in Indianapolis -- Irvington -- is so named because the area brought to mind the setting of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Irving's most famous story, which has seeped into popular culture in a way that "Rip Van Winkle" never will.

Here's why I celebrate Washington Irving today, in the month that we traditionally consider his most famous story:

"As America's first genuine internationally best-selling author, Irving advocated for writing as a legitimate profession, and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement."

That's right. Irving was the first American writer to really make a name for himself in Europe and elsewhere, and he is the first American writer to make a living from his writing. And a good living, at that. Yes, he wrote biographies, as well, and later served as the U.S. minister to Spain. But it's his fiction that got the ball rolling.

So when I walk or drive past that statue of Irv, I give him props. I'm sure to say hello. And, if I'm walking by, I'll quickly rub his rough forehead for good luck.