Katherine Who? What?

I imagine there are two groups of people who will find themselves at this page: those whom the author has directed here and thus have some idea of what is going on, and those who have ended up here after a particularly eccentric and long ranging wave somehow carried them all the way to these shores during a session of internet surfing. For those in either group the first question may well be: who in heaven's name is Katherine Parr and why is she the subject of a blog? To answer the first part of this question, Katherine Parr was the sixth and last wife of king Henry VIII of England. One of her great achievements was outliving Henry who, some will recall from their history lessons, went through 6 wives in total and beheaded a few along the way. As to the second part of your question--why is KP the subject of a blog?--I am tempted to respond by simply saying, why wouldn't Katherine Parr, fascinating person that she was, be the subject of a blog? If one must have a reason, however, then I shall tell you how I, a humble graduate student of Renaissance poetry on a two month research trip to England, have recently discovered that Katherine not only survived her husband but survived to the present day. The purpose of this blog is to document how both she and I have survived on our travels through England. Enjoy!

Katherine Parr History Fun Fact: Henry VIII had 6 wives who all met various fates. The easy way to remember what happened to each of them is by reciting: "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived." Our friend Katherine Parr was the lucky sixth one who survived.