Alistair Cooke

Alistair Cooke was on Radio 4 this morning - he passed, of course, 30 March 2004 at age 95 following 58 years of "Letter From America" the Jewel of the BBC. John Humphries and all of us recall him fondly and who could not? He is the face of Britain for most Americans beginning in '71 with PBS's Master Piece Theatre and then for us youngsters, Sesame Street's "Monsterpiece Theatre" which of course I remember. Cooke entered his permanent emigration in 1937, swearing the Oath of Allegiance six days before Pearl Harbor. Eventually he stood yards from Robert F. Kennedy when RFK was assassinated and then New York on 9-11. He was friends with politicians, sportsmen and celebrity- Charlie Chaplin the Best Man at his first-wedding (Chaplin did not show BTW) and received an honory knighthood in '73; he addressed the U.S. House of Representatives in '74. I became aware of Cooke's unique voice from '97 when I listened Letter every Sunday 9:15AM sharp. I sometimes wondered if his broadcasts taped or repeats but they never were - his last being March 3, 2004 and aired bedside. In the end, Cooke was not only a historian but lived through modern history. Like no other broadcaster he brought poignancy to then and now, here and there. I remember a missive about the Brooklyn Dodgers segueing into the modern business-media bridged by '50s shaving ads. Brilliant. Above all, Cooke was iconic - something recognisably British and good - like the BBC, 007 or WW II. Also like Churchill and the Empire - irreplaceable. Photo from PBS.

Here he is in '74 before Congress:

.. A great privilege to warmly welcome Mr. Alistair Cooke.

Alistair Cooke: Mr. Speaker, Mr. McDade, Members of the House of Representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: Of all the times that I have sat in this House in the past 30-odd years as a reporter and listened to Presidents requesting from you declarations of war -- not many of them anymore since you lost the power! -- listening to pronouncements that the state of the Union was good or bad or indifferent; and listening to debates on everything from the price of battleships to the coloring of margarine; I can assure you that this occasion is for me far and away the most terrifying. It was not at first put up to me as an ordeal, or even as a very great privilege, which indeed it is. I understood that there was to be a cozy get-together of some Congressmen, somewhere, a breakfast perhaps, at which I might be called on to say a few impromptu words. But standing here now I feel as if I were just coming awake from a nightmare in which I see myself before you unprepared and naked, as one often does in dreams, looking around this awesome assembly and blurting out "I accept your nomination for the Presidency of the United States."