*Ø* Blogmanac March 3 | Cooke and his 'Letter' will be missed
On November 20, on his 95th birthday, we looked at the career of an extraordinary broadcaster, Alistair Cooke. Cooke's Letter from America, we noted, has been broadcast on BBC (British Broadcasting Commission) Radio every week since March 24, 1946, making it the longest-running speech broadcast program in the world. His job, as he saw it, was to explain America to the world, and he did it with great insight and empathy.
In his November 9, 2003 broadcast, Cooke revealed that in 57 years of Letter from America he has recorded the program 16 times while in hospital, but only ever missed one edition due to ill health. As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on October 20, 2003:
“Veteran 94-year-old British-born presenter Alistair Cooke was unable to broadcast his Letter from America show this week after suffering a fall, the BBC said yesterday.”
Ever the trouper, Cooke’s only reference to his injuries in his next broadcast (October 27), lay in his opening sentence: “Where were we when I was so smashingly interrupted?”
Sadly, the great man couldn't make it to the mike again last week. Missing a second weekly broadcast after 2,869 editions must have been heartbreaking for Mr Cooke, and it's with great sadness that we learn that Letter from America has ceased due to the correspondent's frail health.
Alistair Cooke was recorded as saying that he tried hard to make every sentence "good radio". This he achieved for nearly six decades, and his Letters are classics of the genre. All 2,869 of them, I have no doubt.
I'm a newcomer to the Letter. I suppose most people under 60 are. Seriously, though, surprising as it might seem, I discovered its delights less than two years ago. However, I've tried not to miss an edition, and I will sorely miss it.
All good wishes, Alistair Cooke, for a healthy and happy retirement, and "thank you", to a man whose journalistic excellence lay not only in his longevity but in every other aspect one can think of.
On November 20, on his 95th birthday, we looked at the career of an extraordinary broadcaster, Alistair Cooke. Cooke's Letter from America, we noted, has been broadcast on BBC (British Broadcasting Commission) Radio every week since March 24, 1946, making it the longest-running speech broadcast program in the world. His job, as he saw it, was to explain America to the world, and he did it with great insight and empathy.
In his November 9, 2003 broadcast, Cooke revealed that in 57 years of Letter from America he has recorded the program 16 times while in hospital, but only ever missed one edition due to ill health. As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on October 20, 2003:
“Veteran 94-year-old British-born presenter Alistair Cooke was unable to broadcast his Letter from America show this week after suffering a fall, the BBC said yesterday.”
Ever the trouper, Cooke’s only reference to his injuries in his next broadcast (October 27), lay in his opening sentence: “Where were we when I was so smashingly interrupted?”
Sadly, the great man couldn't make it to the mike again last week. Missing a second weekly broadcast after 2,869 editions must have been heartbreaking for Mr Cooke, and it's with great sadness that we learn that Letter from America has ceased due to the correspondent's frail health.
Alistair Cooke was recorded as saying that he tried hard to make every sentence "good radio". This he achieved for nearly six decades, and his Letters are classics of the genre. All 2,869 of them, I have no doubt.
I'm a newcomer to the Letter. I suppose most people under 60 are. Seriously, though, surprising as it might seem, I discovered its delights less than two years ago. However, I've tried not to miss an edition, and I will sorely miss it.
All good wishes, Alistair Cooke, for a healthy and happy retirement, and "thank you", to a man whose journalistic excellence lay not only in his longevity but in every other aspect one can think of.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 10:41 PM | Permalink
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home