Craig Haynie wrote:
Do you ever watch Jay Leno? There are people in America who do not know the name of the president of the United States.
Good point. However, I expect that just about every American knew Lincoln was the president in 1863, and FDR was in 1943. Churchill was well known in the U.K. in the middle of WWII.
I read this book 30 years ago . . . but I might even recall that the old geezer was unaware there was a war on. I find that very hard to believe, since there were Spitfires and Messershmits overhead. Maybe this was Penzance.
I knew a man named Henry Ware. He was known as the Late Captain Ware during WWII because he was a linguist, interpreter and a U.S. army captain, and he was always late for meetings, including meetings between FDR, Churchill and Stalin. He lived in a tent on the roof of the U.S. Embassy, so they could not reach him at night. (The Russians love holding meetings in the dead of night.) Anyway, he traveled through Russia on assignment during the war, meeting with a variety of people. He met an old peasant in Georgia I think it was (their Georgia, not ours), and had a conversation along these lines:
Capt Ware: So, what do you think of Stalin? OP: Who? Ware: Stalin! The leader of the USSR! OP: Ah, yes. The new Tsar. I've heard of him. No opinion. - Jed
