My Impromptus today begins with the heavyweight boxing champion of the world — is he a vegan? — and ends with Christmas carols (some linguistic notes about). In between you have other things, including a longish reflection on The Weekly Standard. I worked for the magazine for its first three years, 1995 to 1998. WFB contributed to one of the first issues. He wrote a review of a collection by Irving Kristol, father of Bill Kristol, who founded the Standard along with John Podhoretz, Fred Barnes, David Tell, et al. WFB dropped by the offices in those first weeks. What a thrill it was, for me. (First time I ever saw him.) My first piece for the magazine, or any, was in our second month. It was about nationalism and patriotism in the context of golf. Strange, huh?
Yesterday, I wrote about Solzhenitsyn, on the occasion of his centennial. (He was born on December 11, 1918. I did not hit the exact day, but close enough.) I received several touching notes from readers, including this:
He is my all-time favorite writer. I got turned on to his work as a teenager when I read August 1914, which is still my favorite. I also occasionally read the Nobel lecture when I need some inspiration. I look forward to having the time to read all of Solzhenitsyn’s works. They are at the top of my retirement reading stack.
I’d like to publish one more letter, or rather, alert you to it. One of my favorite writers is Michael J. Lewis, the art historian at Williams College. Two years ago, I did a series on Great Pop Songs, and he contributed a wonderful note on “Downtown,” by Tony Hatch, and sung by Petula Clark. Recently, he sent a letter to The Williams Record, about the time George H. W. Bush came to the college to give the commencement address. A student was rude to him, and he handled it in typical fashion (exemplary).
See the letter here.
Finally, I know a lady who is reading Rick Brookhiser’s book on George Washington, and she highlights a passage: “Countries, like individuals, have reputations, and Washington was as concerned for America’s as he was for his own. ‘We have now a National character to establish,’ he wrote, three weeks after addressing the officers at Newburgh, ‘and it is of the utmost importance to stamp favorable impressions upon it.’”
P.S. The Weekly Standard’s name relates to George Washington, or to a statement he made: “Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”