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March 7, 1971

 Stevie Smith (September 20, 1902 to March 7, 1971) was an English poet. Her work is well-regarded. She lived with her aunt during that figure's lifetime. Smith won the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1969. A book of her essays, A very pleasant evening with Stevie Smith: selected short prose  was published in 1995. Here we learn that as a child her favorite cat stories were by J. J. Grandville, who described a world where cats dressed as royalty. She speaks highly of Aberconway's, A Dictionary of Cat Lovers, (1949). One of her cats was named Tizdal, and a poem titled "Nodding" starts -

Tizdal my beautiful cat
Lies on the old rag mat
In front of the kitchen fire
Outside the night is black.
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