February 10: Notable Births and Deaths, with Quotes

Let’s explore notable birth and death anniversaries for February 10.

Mark Spitz, swimmer (February 10, 1950–present)

“The bottom line is, records are made to be broken. There will be somebody, someday that will rise to the occasion, perhaps. Maybe not in my lifetime or even Michael Phelps’ lifetime.” —Mark Spitz
Riddell, Don and Ramsay, George. “Mark Spitz: ‘Somebody, someday’ can beat Michael Phelps’ Olympic record.” CNN, July 16, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/sport/mark-spitz-michael-phelps-olympics-swimming-cmd-spt-intl/index.html.

“People always remember me sort of like with a poster with seven gold medals. They expect me to still look like I was 22.” —Mark Spitz
Stump, Scott. “Mark Spitz: I’m ‘just a regular guy’ who achieved Olympic swimming glory.” Today, July 14, 2016, https://www.today.com/news/mark-spitz-i-m-just-regular-guy-who-achieved-olympic-t100820.

“As they say ‘Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.’ Well, old Olympians just never sort of die, they just sort of fade away.” —Mark Spitz
Stump, Scott. “Mark Spitz: I’m ‘just a regular guy’ who achieved Olympic swimming glory.” Today, July 14, 2016, https://www.today.com/news/mark-spitz-i-m-just-regular-guy-who-achieved-olympic-t100820.

“I’ve always thought of myself as just a regular guy, and I happened to do something extraordinary in the journey of my athletic career.” —Mark Spitz
Stump, Scott. “Mark Spitz: I’m ‘just a regular guy’ who achieved Olympic swimming glory.” Today, July 14, 2016, https://www.today.com/news/mark-spitz-i-m-just-regular-guy-who-achieved-olympic-t100820.

Shirley Temple Black, actor and ambassador (April 23, 1928–February 10, 2014)

“My mother was, I think, the most wonderful mother a girl could have.” —Shirley Temple Black
The Diane Rehm Show. “A Special Rebroadcast: Diane’s 1988 Interview With Shirley Temple Black.” WAMU 88.5, February 19, 2014, https://wamu.org/story/14/02/19/special-rebroadcast-dianes-1988-interview-shirley-temple-black/.

“I learned how to dance between 2 1/2 and 3.” —Shirley Temple Black
The Diane Rehm Show. “A Special Rebroadcast: Diane’s 1988 Interview With Shirley Temple Black.” WAMU 88.5, February 19, 2014, https://wamu.org/story/14/02/19/special-rebroadcast-dianes-1988-interview-shirley-temple-black/.

“By the time I started the ‘Baby Burlesks’ at age 3 1/2, I had a basic understanding of dancing and how to fall down and how to find the light.” —Shirley Temple Black
The Diane Rehm Show. “A Special Rebroadcast: Diane’s 1988 Interview With Shirley Temple Black.” WAMU 88.5, February 19, 2014, https://wamu.org/story/14/02/19/special-rebroadcast-dianes-1988-interview-shirley-temple-black/.

Alex Haley, author (August 11, 1921–February 10, 1992)

“My grandmother always had told me about her own birth in Alamance County. And you know her family were there as slaves and so forth. And I found in the microfilm census records, the names of the people she had told me about who were her parents, her mother, father and her older sisters. And then that was the first step, Kunta Kinte was down the line, but he was in the wings you might say.” —Alex Haley
Brokaw, Tom. “Tom Brokaw Interviews Alex Haley.” Alex Haley, September 7, 2019, https://alexhaley.com/2019/09/07/alex-haley-interviewed-by-tom-brokaw/.

“I had no training in the formal sense. I went to a small black high school and then to a local black college for two years, where no one ever thought of writing as a profession. The nearest thing we had to writing was English composition.” —Alex Haley
Elliot, Dr. Jeffrey. “The Roots of Alex Haley’s Writing Career.” Alex Haley, September 7, 2019, https://alexhaley.com/2019/09/09/the-roots-of-alex-haleys-writing-career/.

“My decision to be a writer was largely shaped by my family upbringing. I grew up in a family that had a distinct sense of history. It permeated our entire family structure. Moreover, my parents were teachers, and they went out of their way to see to it that I had books.” —Alex Haley
Elliot, Dr. Jeffrey. “The Roots of Alex Haley’s Writing Career.” Alex Haley, September 7, 2019, https://alexhaley.com/2019/09/09/the-roots-of-alex-haleys-writing-career/.

“I have a favorite made-up statistic that of every thousand people who set out to write, only one will become a professional writer. The others will fall out along the way in the face of constant rejection, constant rebuff, the psychic put-down that the rejection slip consistently represents or as it is interpreted.” —Alex Haley
Elliot, Dr. Jeffrey. “The Roots of Alex Haley’s Writing Career.” Alex Haley, September 7, 2019, https://alexhaley.com/2019/09/09/the-roots-of-alex-haleys-writing-career/.

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