My Impromptus today has a bevy of issues, as usual. (Can one refer to a “bevy” of issues? Of babes, sure, but of issues? Probably not. Too late, however: I’ve already typed it.) I have Taylor Swift, Bush the Elder, China, India, Japan — a bevy (or assortment). Check it out here.
Now, some mail. In an Impromptus last month, I spoke of Daniel Day-Lewis. I said,
He is one of the greatest movie actors ever (by consensus). And he simply gave it up — retired. At his peak, I believe. Who has ever ceded the limelight? Who has ever been at the top of the heap and said, “Okay — finished”?
A reader writes, “Barry Sanders.” (He is the great running back who toiled for the Detroit Lions.) Another reader writes, “George Washington.” Yeah, he was good, too.
In that Impromptus, I spoke of Peter Schickele and Victor Borge. Their comedy — their success, their fame — depended on a public with a certain cultural literacy. Would they be able to have a career today?
A reader writes,
Bob Newhart said he had to stop doing his Walter Raleigh routine because younger audiences were baffled by it. They had no idea who Sir Walter Raleigh was. Or what to make of the line, “Walt, we’ve been worried about you ever since you dropped your cape in the mud.”
I mentioned that an opera executive landed in hot water when a press release referred to her as “Anglo-American.” (She was brought up in England with an American parent.) Oy, vey.
A reader writes,
You know who else was Anglo-American, or American-English? Winston Churchill. Congress invited him to speak in late December 1941. Addressing the members, he said, “I cannot help reflecting that if my father had been American and my mother British, instead of the other way round, I might have got here on my own.”
One more item from that Impromptus I’ve been quoting:
A friend alerted me to the existence of the state treasurer of Alabama — Young Boozer III. What a perfect name, especially in such a state. Untoppable. Even by a IV.
A reader writes,
Young Boozer the Fifth — now, that would be the booziest name of all!
You know who that reader is? Who else could it be but our own Jack Fowler? Cleverissimo.
Finally, something quite serious. A reader writes,
Hello, Jay.
I write to you every so often, usually about sports or other innocuous issues. Tonight, I write to tell you how much I appreciate your articles about Ukraine.
I don’t know why Russia’s war on Ukraine bothers me as much as it does. I occupy a small place in my community, I don’t travel (farthest I’ve been from home is Bermuda — what a beautiful place!), and I have few friends in foreign countries. But Ukraine, and Israel, really get to me. I guess Reagan’s thumbprints are all over me.
I know the feeling. Thank you one and all.