Happy Birthday, Lemony Snicket

Happy birthday to the author of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, a book which has faced censorship.

In 2001, a group of elementary teachers lobbied to have their school cancel an appearance by Handler on account of a “suggestion of incest in one of the books and Count Olaf’s use of the word ‘damn,'” according to The Guardian. Handler defended himself to the paper, saying that, “Its use was precipitated by a long discussion of how one should never say this word, since only a villain would do so vile a thing! This is exactly the lily-liveredness of children’s books that I can’t stand.” Thirteen years later, Handler set up a prize in Snicket’s name that would honor librarians who have stood up to anyone seeking to ban books from their collections.