If you like musicals you will recognize the name Rodgers. Mary Rodgers, born on January 11th, grew up around her famous father and followed in his footsteps—first working with Leonard Berstein's New York Philharmonic People's Concerts and then writing the music for the award winning musical, Once Upon A Mattress. Her writing career began early on as an escape from this very famous household. Of her early years she writes; "I just thought being a child was the worst prison sentence ever pronounced on anybody." Perhaps her desire to be someone different became the motivation for her award winning book Freaky Friday (1972). Her advice to fellow writers is this: "The only strategy I can think of to help you realize your talents is to be pushy. You have to be very inventive — and know yourself very well. Figure out what you want to do with your life and then go out and find people who seem to be doing it, or find the people who can help you do it."