Category: Remembrances

Great Churchillians: Antoine Capet

Great Churchillians: Antoine Capet

Antoine Capet brought his quality of cheery pedantry to every subject under the sun, and we will vastly miss his skillful advice, always delivered in the politest terms without the slightest hint of rebuke. Combined with his comprehensive knowledge of the Churchill saga, those are rare qualities. We miss him already, for he has left an unfillable hole among the friends who loved him.

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Catherine Zoë Spencer Churchill, 1968-2022: A Remembrance

Catherine Zoë Spencer Churchill, 1968-2022: A Remembrance

Catherine’s particular interest was Sir Winston’s paintings. She had studied art history at the British Institute in Florence, worked in the Victorian paintings department of Sotheby’s and the Director’s Office of the National Arts Collection, now the Art Fund. She brought these credentials to the research and cataloguing of Churchill's art.

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Absent Friends: Dave Brownell, Randy Mason, Don Peterson

Absent Friends: Dave Brownell, Randy Mason, Don Peterson

Parry Thomas was buried in the graveyard of Byfleet, near Brooklands, the great oval racetrack where he built his fame. His marker reads:  “Life is eternal and love is immortal, and death, which is only the horizon, is nothing save the limit of our sight.” A wreath of violets, anonymously sent, carried the legend, “Ride On, Ride On, in Majesty.” Ride On, Don, Dave and Randy.

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Brooks Stevens: The Seer Who Made Milwaukee Famous

Brooks Stevens: The Seer Who Made Milwaukee Famous

Picture Stevens, trailing a silk scarf, driving a very loud open sports car with what the British call “assurance.” Picture an army of gendarmerie, including aircraft. Failing to catch him, they block the road ahead. Now picture the nearest constable (seven feet tall as they all are). Jerking his thumb at the Excalibur’s sartorially splendid driver, he shouts: YOU—OUT! Kip paid his fine. It was substantial.

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Packard Tales and Memories of Bud Juneau

Packard Tales and Memories of Bud Juneau

What intrigued Bud was my idea to invigorate the club quarterly by recreating Packard's former house organ, The Packard Magazine, last published in 1931. We proposed using the same wide margins, elegant typefaces, art deco layouts and golden picture frame cover. With his keen imagination, Bud was my leading advocate, even when challenged about the cost. (Actually it cost no more per member, because membership increased and print costs held, since we kept almost every issue to 40 pages.)

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Sean Connery Remembered: James Bond and His Motorcars (Update)

Sean Connery Remembered: James Bond and His Motorcars (Update)

Fifteen minutes to nine:

The Red Phone in the Bond flat gives its loud, dis­tinc­tive jan­gle. It’s the Chief of Staff. “At once, please, James. Spe­cial from ‘M.’ Some­thing for every­one. Crash dive and ultra hush. If you’ve got any dates for the next few weeks, bet­ter can­cel them. You’ll be off tonight.”

The archetypal, irreplaceable 007 In 2020 Sean Con­nery, the orig­i­nal James Bond, died at 90 at his home in Nas­sau. “He’s one of the few actors on the plan­et I tru­ly mourn,” a friend writes. “He was great man and dig­ni­fied, and stayed that way his whole life.”…

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Graham Robson: “He Was Always, Triumphantly, in Touch”

Graham Robson: “He Was Always, Triumphantly, in Touch”

Graham Robson shared and typified Alistair Cooke's philosophy—and mine. "We shall go on to the end," as Churchill said. And sure enough: Last April Graham wrote me about another book! It was his last message: I am commissioned to prepare a monumental four-part Encyclopedia of Classic Cars 1945-2000." In 2025 he would have been 89. Alas that task must now fall to someone else. But it was so very typical of Graham. He was forever pressing on, oblivious to time and age—on and on, as alive and vital as ever. As a BBC colleague said of Alistair Cooke: "He was always, triumphantly, in touch."

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Remembering Lee Remick as Lady Randolph Churchill

Remembering Lee Remick as Lady Randolph Churchill

Lee Remick 1935-1991

May 2021 marks thir­ty years since we lost dear Lee Remick. She was the accom­plished actress who brought Win­ston Churchill’s moth­er vivid­ly to the screen.

One of the finest-ever Churchill films,  Jen­nie: Lady Ran­dolph Churchill, is avail­able on CD. It was orig­i­nal­ly a tele­vi­sion doc­u­men­tary, “The Life and Loves of Jen­nie Churchill,” broad­cast on ITV in Britain and PBS in the USA in 1974. Co-star­ring with Remick were Ronald Pick­up as Lord Ran­dolph Churchill and War­ren Clarke as young Winston.

Lee and Greg

In 1991, two months before she died,  we held an award din­ner for Ms.…

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He Never Doubted Clouds Would Break: John H. Mather 1943-2020

He Never Doubted Clouds Would Break: John H. Mather 1943-2020

“Why are you buy­ing expen­sive pills over the counter?” asked Dr. John Math­er. We were in an ele­va­tor dur­ing a 2001 Churchill Con­fer­ence. “Don’t you have an hon­or­able dis­charge from the Coast Guard?” He was then a Com­man­der in the U.S. Pub­lic Health Ser­vice and Assis­tant Inspec­tor Gen­er­al at the Veteran’s Admin­is­tra­tion. I’d nev­er thought my four years with the USCG wor­thy of any­thing spe­cial, but I did have my DD-214. Math­er said I was enti­tled: “We issue cheap pills.”

In the lift with us was Luce Churchill, mar­ried to Sir Winston’s grand­son.…

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Old Jags & Allards: The Whimsy and Fun of Dick O’Kane

Old Jags & Allards: The Whimsy and Fun of Dick O’Kane

O'Kane called the Mark IV owners manual a "Monument to the Quaint Assumption.... It assumed you had all sorts of peculiar doodads lying around." The section on brake adjustment begins: "Obtain a steel disc having a circumference of 6.749 inches and being .388 inches in thickness, with a .435-inch square opening offset one-half inch from the centre of the disc..."

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