dual personalities

Tag: Winston Churchill

February 24, 2016

All my friends

by chuckofish

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If you cannot read all your books, at any rate…peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends; let them be your acquaintances.

–Winston Churchill (1874–1965)

This is going to be my next project, arranging my books “on my own plan.” I already sort of do this, but I could do a better job.

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All right, Winston, I accept your challenge.

5 Comments
November 3, 2014

Here in Missouri

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? The OM and I had an adventure–a roadtrip on Saturday over to Fulton in the rolling green hills of central Missouri to visit the Winston Churchill Memorial on the campus of Westminster College.

You will recall that in 1946 it was at Westminster College that Winston Churchill delivered one of the most significant speeches of his long and illustrious career–the “Iron Curtain” speech. In the 1960s Westminster College set out to mark what would be the 20th anniversary of Churchill’s visit. After due consideration of traditional modes of commemoration, Westminster College settled on the rather more ambitious notion of moving a Christopher Wren designed Church from London. This Church, St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury, had stood in London since 1677 when it replaced an earlier structure that had sat on the same site since the 12th century until it was destroyed in the great fire of 1666. This magnificent building, badly damaged during the London Blitz, was moved stone by stone to Westminster’s campus and rebuilt to Wren’s original specifications.

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What an incredible undertaking! I had not been there since 1969 when it was dedicated. It is breathtaking.

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It is a popular venue for weddings, as you can imagine, and there was one about to take place when we ducked in, so this postcard view will have to suffice. It is my favorite type of church, reflecting the puritan branch of the Anglican church. I love those clear glass windows and brass chandeliers and the Ten Commandments behind the altar.

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A needlepoint kneeler in the museum downstairs

The National Churchill Museum which opened in 2006 is downstairs under the church. I was quite impressed.

ANC III woud have approved

ANC III would have approved of these toy soldiers.

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Indeed, ANC would have liked the museum as it illustrates the life and career of W.C.

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Iron Curtain Speech sculpture

Iron Curtain Speech sculpture

Anyway, it is well-worth the trip to Fulton which is a nice college town, not unlike Greencastle, Indiana which we visited many times over the years when daughter #1 was a student at DePauw University. I like college towns and am always up for visiting one.

Sunday was All Saints Sunday and we had three baptisms in church. All three children, who ranged in age from infant to toddler, wailed for dear life. (Bill Baker who baptized daughter #1 and the boy always said that that was the devil leaving the child and not to worry.) Well, I always enjoy renouncing “Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God”, including “the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God”--especially a few days before an election.

Don’t forget to vote tomorrow!

10 Comments
January 24, 2013

Rest in peace, Winston Churchill

by chuckofish

As you know, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA was a British politician, best known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He died on this day in 1965 at the age of 90.

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Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, he served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

I remember how really sad my parents (especially my father) were when Winston died. We watched the entire televised funeral.

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In our family, it was a Big Deal. My father probably used it as an excellent excuse to drink way too much and to entertain gloomy thoughts about the state of the world.

A few years later, my family went to visit the Churchill Memorial in Fulton, Missouri when it opened in 1969. This Church, St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury, had stood in London since 1677 when it replaced an earlier structure that had sat on the same site since the 12th century. A magnificent building, it was badly damaged during the London Blitz, and was moved stone by stone to the campus of Westminster College in Fulton and rebuilt to Wren’s original specifications. Beneath this Church is the National Churchill Museum itself. I have always meant to go back.

St Mary Aldermanbury

Maybe this year!

Anyway, a toast to Winston Churchill and to our pater who revered him!

“All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honour; duty; mercy; hope.” (1947)

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