Having been a long time fan of Mr. Clemens, I'm looking forward to Mr. Twain's autobio.
On Jul 8, 7:33 am, RichardM <[email protected]> wrote: > It's interesting that the RCAF is still concerned with the part they > took in World War II, when Canada was a declared combatant from the > beginning. Maybe NATO isn't quite as strong as we have been led to > believe... > > At any rate, the coming release of Mark Twain's autobiography is > something we should really look forward to. Interestingly, well > before he started on the project seriously, he wrote a burlesque > autobiography in which he noted that his family tree had but one > branch, which stuck out perpendicular to the trunk and bore fruit at > all seasons. With this in mind, he said, he believed it would not be > discreet to describe his own life until after he was hanged. He never > received this sort of suspended sentence, but I have certainly felt in > suspense waiting to read the things he believed but did not dare to > say during his lifetime--though what he did say would seem to be > outrageous enough. > > On Jul 7, 6:39 pm, gruff <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Keeping in mind that history never ceases to be rewritten, here is a > > collection of must-know archives scheduled to open in coming decades: > > (Source: Smithsonian) > > > 2011: The State Department’s Office of the Historian expects to begin > > releasing volumes on Nixon and Ford administration foreign policy > > initiatives, including potentially new details on the energy crisis, > > NATO and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. > > > 2019: The papers of the poet T. S. Eliot, who died in 1965, include > > 1,200 personal letters that have remained off-limits: his > > correspondence with Emily Hale, a girlfriend whom biographer Lyndall > > Gordon described as Eliot’s “muse.” In 1959, Hale bequeathed the > > letters to Princeton University. > > > 2026: As chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986, Warren > > Burger presided over cases concerning abortion, capital punishment and > > the Watergate scandal. In 1996, the year after Burger died, his son, > > Wade, donated the justice’s personal papers—some two million documents— > > to the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, with the > > understanding they would be sealed for 30 years. > > > 2027: The FBI spied on Martin Luther King Jr. in an unsuccessful > > effort to prove he had ties to Communist organizations. In 1963, > > Attorney General Robert Kennedy granted an FBI request to > > surreptitiously record King and his associates by tapping their phones > > and placing hidden microphones in their homes, hotel rooms and > > offices. A 1977 court order sealed transcripts of the surveillance > > tapes for 50 years. > > > 2037: A decade ago, Oxford University’s Bodleian Library released ten > > boxes of documents pertaining to the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII so > > that he could marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson. But one > > collection of “sensitive documents” (Box 24) was to be withheld for 37 > > years. British news media speculate the documents include embarrassing > > revelations about the Queen Mother’s alleged support for negotiating > > peace with Nazi Germany prior to the outbreak of World War II. > > > 2041: Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess flew from Germany to Scotland on May > > 10, 1941, claiming that he wanted to discuss peace terms with Britain > > and that their common enemy was the Soviet Union. Hess was imprisoned > > and interrogated. After the war, he was convicted at the Nuremberg > > trials and sentenced to life at Spandau Prison. A British intelligence > > file said to contain an interrogation transcript and Hess’ > > correspondence with King George VI is scheduled to be unsealed 100 > > years after his arrest. Historians say the papers might show whether > > British intelligence tricked Hess into undertaking his fateful > > mission. > > > 2045: In May 1945, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) attacked two > > German ships in the Baltic Sea carrying 7,000 survivors of the > > Neuengamme concentration camp. Only 350 survived. RAF intelligence had > > mistakenly believed the vessels held Nazi officials escaping to Norway > > or Sweden. Because the RAF ordered the records to remain classified > > for 100 years, scholars have been unable to offer a complete account > > of one of the worst “friendly-fire” incidents in history. > > > 2045: During World War II, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) lent > > Britain highly skilled radar technicians—“the Secret 5,000”—who flew > > on patrols over the Atlantic Ocean to detect German submarines and > > aircraft. The RCAF deemed its work so classified it sealed all > > pertinent records about the operation for a century. Even today, the > > Secret 5,000 are not mentioned in official RCAF histories.
