The picture above this post was taken by George Yates, who writes, “Last week, I spent a glorious six days hiking in the Grand Canyon.” And the specifics of the picture? It was “taken on the Tonto Plateau, near Boucher Creek.” Mr. Yates adds, “I am told this is the best year for wildflowers in some two decades.”
I have an Impromptus column today, here. It begins with cheating — cheating in baseball. Cheaters are going to absurd lengths, and they are doing it at low levels — for example, in community-college leagues. For heaven’s sake. I also address pot, immigration, showbiz, and other things. You may enjoy it, or be provoked by it.
Back to the letter from George Yates. “Being from Los Angeles,” he writes,
I passed through Barstow on the way to the Canyon. Remembering your article about the Liberty Sculpture Park, I detoured to see it. It is inspiring and gratifying that the artist has come to our shores to memorialize wrongs and show that they are not going to be forgotten.
Earlier this year, I published “Statues of Liberty,” whose subheading is “On the Liberty Sculpture Park, decrying the Chinese dictatorship and celebrating Chinese freedom strugglers.” That article is here.
In a post on Friday, I discussed John A. Logan: Union general, congressman, etc. A reader writes to say,
His name is known to every Illinoisan who sings the fourth (sometimes second) verse of the state song.
That verse goes,
Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois,
Can be writ the nation’s glory, Illinois, Illinois,
On the record of thy years,
Abraham Lincoln’s name appears, Grant and Logan, and our tears, Illinois, Illinois,
Grant and Logan, and our tears, Illinois.
Our reader adds,
That knowledge comes from singing in the University of Illinois Varsity Men’s Glee Club (1977–1980).
A reader writes,
Mr. Nordlinger,
I’ve been a reader of National Review for a couple years now (and likely will be a lifelong reader), but I’ve not spent much time going back to read the work of your founder, Mr. William F. Buckley Jr. In fact, I don’t know much about the man himself beyond what I’ve come across in current pieces in NR. I know you knew him personally, and I wondered if you might have a couple book recommendations for me as I attempt getting to know him through the written word. Which of Mr. Buckley’s works would be the best to read first? Is there a “must read” biography of him?
Thank you for your time . . .
I would recommend three collections: Let Us Talk of Many Things: The Collected Speeches; Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography; and The Right Word, about language.
Thank you to one and all (and thank you, Bill!).