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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A town like Winona

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Actress Winona Ryder's birth name reflects a rather eccentric childhood.

Mom was a Buddhist and a writer (Mainline Lady: Women's Writings on the Drug Experience, Shaman Woman).

Dad Michael Horowitz sold valuable old books and was an author too.

She was named Winona after a town in Minnesota near where she was born. And Laura was her middle name in honour of English writer, and author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's wife with whom her mom was buddies. But Winona Laura Horowitz was considerably tamer than the names her siblings got stuck with: Yuri, Jubal, Sunyata.

And where did Ryder come from? Winona, who grew up on a television-less, electricity-less, remote Californian commune, happened to be listening to a record of music by Mitch Ryder when a director called up to ask her what she wanted her screen name to be.
Photograph: Winona Ryder arrives at the 35th AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Al Pacino held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. Photograph: Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images

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