Friday, November 23, 2007

BBC Radio 7 set to revive Letter From America


From BBC Radio 7:

Letter From America
One of the most enduring series on Radio 4 was Alistair Cooke's weekly Letter From America I am delighted that we have been able to clear a selection of his legendary letters to include in our "Stars and Stripes" season.

Although born in Salford, Alistair became an American citizen in 1941 and 1946 saw the first broadcast of American Letter, which in 1949 became Letter from America. Apparently Alistair Cooke rarely decided which topic he would talk about until he began to write his script, made no notes during the preceding week and preferred to rely on his memory.

In next week's selection of letters you can hear him recounting his first meeting with a native American, an entertaining lunch with Groucho Marx, musings on how a Polish immigrant became an ice cream millionaire and reflections on the burgeoning American TV industry.

These are fascinating programmes from a consummate broadcaster, who continued working into his 90s. Alistair Cooke died in March 2004 aged 95.
Monday to Friday 7th December at 1:15pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/newsletter/newsletter_thisweek.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/
(Source: Fred Waterer)