April 2011 - Richard M. Langworth

“Alles sal reg kom”: Churchill on the Royal Wedding

29 April 2011 Comments 0 Comments

HOUSE OF COMMONS, 22 OCTOBER 1947— “I am in entire accord with what the Prime Minister has said about Princess Elizabeth and about the qualities which she has already shown, to use his words, ‘of unerring graciousness and understanding and of human simplicity.’ He is indeed right in declaring that these are among the characteristics of the Royal House. I trust that everything that is appropriate will be done by His Majesty’s Government to mark this occasion of national rejoicing. ‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,’ and millions will welcome this joyous event as a flash of colour on the hard road we have to travel.…

Arrington McCardy 1947-2011

12 April 2011 Comments 3 Comments

You don’t really know a road until you’ve bicycled it. On a bike, everything is magnified: the surface, contour and camber; the hills and valleys; the ruts and potholes; even the shoulder. Riders pay attention to the shoulder, because it’s always possible that we might quickly have to occupy it.

Arrington McCardy, founder of the Eleuthera Long Riders, who died of a totally unexpected heart attack on the April 9th “Ride for Hope,” joked that they should rename the Queen’s Highway for him because he knew every inch of it better than anyone else. He loved riding so much that some nights during the full moon, he would bunk at a friend’s place in Bannerman Town and leave at 3am, pedaling along in the moonlight, headed for Spanish Wells, 100 miles away.…

Dreyfus and Churchill: Don’t display autographed photos

5 April 2011 Comments 0 Comments

The signature on a fantastic autographed photo of Winston Churchill at Chartwell, which a friend framed and kept on his wall and hid from the light, has faded to nothingness. Even ambient room light will fade ancient inks, and there is nothing to be done.

Back when I was senior editor at Automobile Quarterly, I rescued a wonderful big 3×2-foot photo of the great Grand Prix champion René Dreyfus (the world’s last great Frenchman), and his Type 35 Bugatti, from the dustbin and brought it over to Le Chanteclair, his wonderful French restaurant on 49th Street, Manhattan, for him to inscribe to me.…