Every day has good and bad associations, I suppose. September 1 is the day that Hitler invaded Poland, starting World War II. But it is also the start of the New Criterion year.

What do I mean by that? The New Criterion follows kind of a school schedule: beginning in September and ending in June. TNC is the monthly arts-and-letters journal founded in 1982. By whom? By Hilton ’n’ Sam: Hilton Kramer and Samuel Lipman.

Kramer was one of the outstanding art critics of our time; Lipman was an outstanding pianist, music critic, and all-around intellectual.

Speaking of all-around intellectuals: For many years, the editor and publisher of The New Criterion has been Roger Kimball. No better steward is imaginable.

I make a point of talking about TNC today, not merely because it is September 1, but because TNC has published a special issue: a 35th-anniversary issue. It is a feast.

But let me say that they all are: every issue. Every issue is a special issue, so to speak (not to diminish the extra labors that the editors surely lavished on this new number).

For the editors’ own comment on their anniversary, go here. Also, you may ask, “Why is 2016 the 35th anniversary and not 2017?” TNC has a distinctive method of record-keeping — in keeping with its overall distinctiveness.

Here is my opinion, long expressed: Whether you’re left, right, or center, The New Criterion should be part of your continuing education. It has been part of mine — a big part — pretty much since the beginning, 1982. But when I say “continuing education,” that sounds a little eat-your-peas. TNC is a delight, too. Some peas, but plenty of pudding.

Forget World War II. September 1 means a new New Criterion year, and may they go on and on …