Weekend Edition Saturday

Fifty years ago, on July 2, 1961, the writer who seemed to personify courage and strength put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Ernest Hemingway was 61 years old. He was a boxer, a boozer, a philanderer and big-game hunter who wrote some of the most sublime prose of the English language: short, sharp, piercing sentences that told stories about soldiers, lovers, hunters, bravery, fear and death.

Nearly 75 years ago, a rock 'n' roll legend was born in Lubbock, Texas: Charles Hardin Holley. But most people — by the time he was in his 20s, "most people" meant millions — called him "Buddy."

Buddy Holly died just 22 years later in a plane crash that has come to be known as The Day the Music Died. But Holly's music and influence have lived on to inspire countless musicians, including 19 who perform on a tribute album that's out this month, titled Rave On Buddy Holly.

It's 96 days now since President Obama ordered U.S. forces to begin airstrikes against the forces in Libya of Col. Moammar Gadhafi. That's six days longer than the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which says a president can carry out a military campaign without congressional authorization. Two measures were brought before the House of Representatives that might have provided such authorization, albeit with strings attached. Both failed. NPR's David Welna reports.

We heard last week from Jesse Hardman, a reporter whose father is afflicted with Parkinson's disease. We also spoke with Alan Connor, who shared his ideas on the meaning behind the most popular song ever in the UK, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Host Scott Simon reads listener comments about last week's show.

In some neighborhoods, the drone of lawnmowers is the soundtrack of summer. Sean Hurley hears them bright and early in his New Hampshire town, and in this essay, he says he tries to make the best of the serenade.