May 11, 2013

DESPATCH BOX: FINEST HOUR 142, SPRING 2009

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FORTY YEARS OF FH

I have read the thick Fortieth Anniversary issue number 140, truly a magnum opus. First, it is a review of a great journal. Second, it is a review of a great man. Third, but no less important, it is a tribute to a great editor. We members of The Churchill Centre and Churchill Museum owe our editor a tremendous debt of gratitude.

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DR. CYRIL MAZANSKY, NEWTON CENTRE, MASS.

Forty years, and at the helm for most of them! That’s one grand accomplishment, and a huge gift to the literature over the years. So glad my favorite cartoonist is on the cover. I was surprised and tickled to see I’d even made the top hundred articles list. Kudos to you and Barbara for all your efforts over the years.

PROF. CHRISTOPHER H. STERLING GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, D.C.

Thank you for yet another fabulous issue of Finest Hour.

DAN BORINSKY, LAKE RIDGE, VA.

Best Finest Hour ever. The fact that you mentioned me proves it!

AL LURIE, NEW YORK, N.Y.

Awesome: a great issue with many fine contributors. Our man would be proud. Thank you for the photo and acknowledgements of Naomi and me. May the cognac and cigar at your appearance in Dallas November 30th be memorable. I’ll be with you and the North Texas Churchillians in spirit.

LARRY KRYSKE, PLANO, TEX.

I just enjoyed a few hours with the 40th Anniversary issue of Finest Hour, and all the memories you recalled therein. Another fine piece of writing and editing. It has been ages since I revisited the story of the mysterious double-fleet of trolleys at the 1995 Boston conference (page 47). We never solved that mystery, but we also never missed a beat that evening.

All this looking back made me also recall our many accomplishments, such as the Churchill Centre Founding Member campaign, the Associates program, the Gregory Peck video to name a few. I cannot imagine Finest Hour without you, so for now, I will not.

PARKER H. LEE III, LYNCHBURG, VA.

I spent two days reading Finest Hour 140 cover-to-cover. My personal congratulations on the greatest issue yet. The content was not only uniformly interesting, but what I would describe as “smashing!” The issue will be saved amongst my most important publications and memorabilia.

GARY GARRISON, MARIETTA, GA.

In the list of contributors on page 78 you indeed forgot a name. (See FH 107: 29-33, “Toy Troopers, Small Statesmen.”) Also, I held together the Omaha chapter with time, talent and treasure until deterioration of my health began to limit my activities recently, dues and contributions continuing. Keep up the good work.

EDWARD W. FITZGERALD, OMAHA, NEB.

Edward, our net slipped when it came to “Books, Arts & Curiosities,” since those articles weren’t indexed individually. So sorry. We appreciate your support. RML

The incomparable Finest Hour 140 provokes many thoughts. First, as lots of us watch with glee as President Bush vacates the White House, let’s consider Churchill’s valediction to Neville Chamberlain, quoted in this issue: “In one phase men seem to have been right, in another they seem to have been wrong. Then again, a few years later, when the perspective of time has lengthened, all stands in a different setting.”

Second, many hands will have been wrung by the close of the interregnum between 4 November and 20 January. Cooperation between the not yet old and the not yet new is seemingly unprecedented. But not really.

As noted by Gordon Walker in “Election 1945: Why Winston Churchill Lost,” even when Churchill was facing the voters he brought his opponent (and Deputy Prime Minister) Clement Attlee to the Potsdam conference. The vote count was sandwiched within the conference. When the votes were counted, it was Attlee not Churchill who concluded the conference, and then the war. The brutally tough issues of that day were handed off seamlessly—and quickly—to a new administration. Winston Churchill’s statesmanship continues to provide a ready guide.

SHANIN SPECTER, GLADWYNE, PENNA