Churchill, The Man of the Twentieth Century, And What A Man He Was

From the ridiculous to the sublime, I finish first Cheever, then Churchill.  I enjoyed Cheever more but certainly admired Churchill much more.


But Churchill taught me one thing:  I knew next to nothing about the World War I from the point of view of the British.  Plus, I really knew relatively little about World War II from the perspective of the British.  


He was the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature and the first person to be recognizes as an honorary citizen of the United States.  He singularly impacted the twentieth century as no one else could.  He is quoted to this day.  http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/winston_churchill_2.html He was Prime Minister of England twice, he was listened to by everyone, loved by his countrymen, inspiring, though certainly not loved by all, but a brilliant, and incredible speaker and writer. 


His public image was first greatly damaged in the First World War in the Dardanelles as he underestimated the power of the Turks and the British suffered tremendous losses.  He again took his blows as he supported King Edward VIII in his marriage to Mrs. Wallis Simpson in 1936.  Many felt, each time, his political career was over, but as history shows, it was indeed not. He showed his resilience and became, well, Churchill.


In spite of his philandering mother, he was always faithful to his Clementine and she to him even though they had their own bedrooms right from the first.  They did have four or five children (I foget which) and adored one another.  


He took up painting in mid-life to and profesionals were more than amazed at his abilities.  He entered an amateur painters' contest anonymously and judges could not believe he was an amateur.  He painted all the rest of his life and his many paintings have sold for very high prices.  


He landscaped his own home, as well, complete with lakes he carved out himself with his own dredging machinery and walls he built himself.  He even applied to a masonry union only to be refused on general principles and not because of his lack of skill.  He was an amazing man to say the least.   


I've studied World Wars I and II a bit since and plan to do more.  I must read this book again after I do.  

I do remember one thing that wasn't mentioned in the book.  My father used to say that Roosevelt and Churchill were drunk at Yalta and sold us out to Stalin.  My dad was one interesting guy and I kinda don't want to know for sure anyway.  However read this article from a 1955 Time Magazine article.  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937135-1,00.html

Well, Buckeroos, Let Me Tell You About the Snowstorm in Chicago, January 26, 1967

You think this snow in Washington D.C. is a big deal?  Well let me tell you.  Carl and I saw the  "Storm of the Century" when we wuz in Chicaga back in the nineteen hundreds.


Carl and I wuz moving to Chicago because some Slick Willy had convinced Carl to advance his schoolin' at DeVry Tech in Chicaga out East in the Windy City and so we'uns high-tailed it outta Spokane Falls eastward in our little Ford in January or so after checkin out with Uncle Sam and passin' through Utah on our way.  

I was scared as sin since I barely knew the man (him bein' Carl) anyways and there we was headin' out on I-80.  Can't remember much about it all since it was ages ago, but I do remember that a big storm was headin' our way.  Turned out it was the storm of the century.  That's what they said.  No lie.  People talked about it fur ages.  

As luck would have it, we found a nice little apartment at 2530 Foster Avenue, upper floor, put down a little rent, where we eventualy lived for a coupla years and where we lived when Ben was born, but we had to skedaddle outta town as the snow was comin' down faster than snot.

We high-tailed it down ta Wabash, Indiana where Carl had seen his upbringin' and I met my new in-laws who were the scariest folk I'd ever seen.  Holy cow.  Within five minutes I was alookin' through the Sears Roebuck catalog with Carl's mother, Helen.  

I ain't makin' a word of this up.

Ten days later, we ventured back to Chicaga, buyin' three rooms o' furniture for $350.  We were the first delivery the store folk made too.  They took pity on us since we didn't have a stick o' furniture to our names.  Not a word o' this is a lie neither.




http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/events/chisnow1967.htm

Courage Is The Beauty That Never Fades

The heroic story of Meip Geis flies in the face of the stupid saying of "only the good die young.

She lived from February 15, 1909 to January 11, 2010.

She was a member of that wonderful family that hid Anne Frank in Holland and was the one who raced in front of the Nazis to grab the diary of little Anne and gave us the wonderful story that inspired so many of us, including me, so many years ago.

I'm just a little sorry I didn't write this sooner but we've been gone so much and writing my blog on my IPhone is really next to impossible and finding hotspots with my computer is really a bit ole pain.

When Carl and I were in Israel, there was a grove of trees planted, each tree honoring people who had helped Jews during WWII and I was astonished at how many there were.  I also remember wanting to be a tree among them.  I was in my forties at the time.

I don't know if I have that kind of courage because it has never really been called up even yet.  That kind of worries me.  Remember "Where much is given, much is required."  But at least I haven't lived to be as old as Meip Geis yet.  Give me time.