One of my favorite things every year is to read the bios of the people who win the MacArthur Fellowships — the “Genius” grant. First of all, I love the tag line: One call out of the blue – $500,000 – no strings attached. Every grant-seeking academic’s dream. But really, the MacArthur Fellows are just so cool, the work they do is so diverse & just so damn interesting. And they’re not just academics, though many are; they’re people who do cool things in every field & every profession. They make me wonder what the hell I’ve been doing with myself. Anyway, the grants were announced today, & the Fellows’ bios published. In a particularly cool turn, one of the recipients is Terry Belanger, a Rare Book Preservationist (no relation to Yvonne). Here’s his bio.