Jon's in the Catbird Seat Trivia Quiz

Answer: Daphne Du Maurier

"The Birds" was written by English writer, Daphne Du Maurier (1907-1989), and was first published in her short story collection "The Apple Tree" in 1952. Du Maurier's 1938 novel "Rebecca" was the basis of Hitchcock's 1940 film "Rebecca".

Answer: Cindy Birdsong

In 1959, four Detroit teenage girls: Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Mary McGlown, and Diana Ross, formed a group called The Primettes. Mary McGlown left the group in 1961, shortly after they signed with Barry Gordy of Motown Records. The group remained a trio, and Gordy changed the name to the Supremes.

In a one-year period, from June 1964 to June 1965, the Supremes had five number one hit records, and by 1967, the group had five more number one hits. In 1967, at the peak of their popularity, Florence Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong of the Blue Belles, and the group became known as Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Answer: kitten

Dr. John Seward had never had a patient like Renfield in his asylum before. In fact, he coined a new classification for Renfield: "zophagus (life-eating) maniac". Renfield had started out catching flies, then spiders, and then had progressed to sparrows. Renfield begged Dr. Seward to give him a kitten, but it's good thing that the doctor refused. Renfield ended up eating his sparrows raw. "Dracula", written by Irish-born writer Bram Stoker, was first published in 1897. Stoker's horror story of an evil vampire Count that fled Transylvania for England, was his most popular work.

The novel, written as a series of journal entries, remains very readable today.

Answer: Woodstock

Snoopy and his little feathered friend, Woodstock. are just a few of the characters, created by American comic-strip artist Charles Schultz (1922-2000), that populate "Peanuts". "Peanuts" debuted on Oct. 2, 1950 and now runs in some 2,600 newspapers in over 75 countries. Charlie Brown, the little round-headed kid for which nothing seemed to go right, was supposedly based on Schultz himself.

Other characters include: Lucy, Linus, and Sally.

Answer: Pea-green boat

Perhaps English poet Edward Lear (1812-1888) is best remembered for "A Book of Nonsense" which was first published in 1846. The first few lines of "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" are: "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat. They took some honey, and plenty of money wrapped up in a five-pound note". Isn't that fun to read?

Answer: Hagrid

Harry was given his owl by Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, on his first trip to Diagon Alley. Owls were the wizarding world's version of our muggle postal service, and Hedwig proved very useful to Harry. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was the first book in J.K. Rowling's series about Harry and his magical adventures and was first published in 1997.

Answer: Sandy Duncan

"$1,000,000 Duck" was Disney's 1971 tale about a duck that laid golden eggs. It starred Dean Jones as Prof. Albert Dooley, Sandy Duncan as his wife, Katie. It also starred Joe Flynn, and Tony Roberts. Dean Jones starred in many Disney films including "The Ugly Dachshund" (1966), and "The Love Bug" (1968).

Answer: The Cat in the Catbird Seat

"The Bird with the Broken Wing" was found in "The Mysterious Mr. Quin" (1930). "The Stymphalean Birds" was one of "The Labors of Hercules" (1947). "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" was one of the stories in "Three Blind Mice and Other Stories" (1950) which was also published as "The Mousetrap and Other Stories". (Some of Christie's short stories appear in more than one collection). "The Cat in the Catbird Seat" is a red herring thrown in by Jon as an excuse for explaining the title of his quiz.

The cliche "to be in the catbird seat" traces its origins to the southern United States and is used to describe someone who holds the upper hand, which fits Jon to a tee at my house.

Answer: Owl

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was born in Florence, Italy, to English parents. In 1854, she was put in charge of a team of thirty-eight nurses who cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War. Shortly before leaving for Crimea, Miss Nightingale had a pet baby owl named Athena.

Answer: Spencer Tracy

"The Maltese Falcon" (1941) was based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett and directed by John Huston. The stellar cast included: Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Sydney Greenstreet as Kaspar Gutman, and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo. Jon and I thank you for taking our new quiz.