Dear Rafe:
Thank you for your comments. I am sorry that you are disappointed in one aspect of this historic ceremony, which in its entirety has required a great amount of effort by numerous people in the U.S. and U.K. (including The Churchill Centre and Churchill family) to organize. (And I think you meant to say "confidently" in your message rather than "confidentially"..) I agree that we shouldn't speculate what historical figures might think today but Winston Churchill did enjoy popular music - so who knows if he had been born in 1974 instead of 1874, what he might have liked. Your analogy to Elton John and Ronald Reagan is perhaps mistaken as Sir Elton is British, so if anything, it would have been an American entertainer. And Reagan loved popular music as well...the Reagan Presidential Foundation recently held a "Reagan and Elvis" event and when Pressley died, the President said: "He epitomized America, and for that we shall be eternally grateful. Let's all rejoice in his music." And at our suggestion, the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is being sung by the Army Choir at the Ceremony and it will indeed be glorious. Please know that the announcement of Mr. Daltrey's participation has been well received by Churchillians around the world and adds a desirable element of publicity and popular interest to the event. I'm sorry that it was not possible to invite every Churchillian to this Ceremony but hope that you will watch it live at www.speaker.gov/live at 11 AM EDT on Wednesday. Thank you. Lee Lee Pollock Executive Director The Churchill Centre From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rafe Heydel-Mankoo Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 9:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [ChurchillChat] Bust Ceremony "Teaser" video released by Speaker's Office I know that we are not supposed to speculate about how historical figures might react to the issues of today. However, I think I can say quite confidentially that Sir Winston Churchill would not have opted for Roger Daltry of The Who to perform at the solemn and distinguished unveiling of his bust at the Capitol Building next week. Hat's off to Senator Boehner for his stirring tribute to Sir Winston and the great video he put out...but...really? To say ""What better way to celebrate Winston Churchill's friendship to the United States than to have one of Britain's most legendary recording artists perform in the halls of the Capitol," Boehner said in the release. "Roger's performance is sure to guarantee that the Churchill bust receives the first-class welcome it deserves." strikes me as rather odd. Only in America! I can't imagine Elton John singing at the unveiling of Reagan's statue in London. A choir singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic would have been glorious. Suddenly I'm not *quite* so envious of not being at the unveiling. http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2013/10/who-frontman-heads-to-the-hill-1 75874.html RHM _____ Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 10:38:40 -0700 From: [email protected] Subject: [ChurchillChat] Bust Ceremony "Teaser" video released by Speaker's Office To: [email protected] Colleagues, Please see link released today by the office of the Speaker of the House in regards to next week's dedication ceremony of the Churchill bust in Statuary Hall: http://www.speaker.gov/video/churchill-ceremony-teaser-released Regards, David -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
