English-born but now an American citizen, ALISTAIR COOKEfirst came to this country as a Commonwealth Fellow. Since 1948 he has been chief American correspondent of the MANCHESTER GUARDIANand the most popular commentator on American affairs for BBC. The following essay is a selection from his preface to the annual anthology, THE BEDSIDE GUARDIAN, which is about to be published in this country, for the first time, by Ires Washburn.
English-born but now an American citizen, ALISTAIR COOKE first came to this country as a Commonwealth Fellow. Since 1948 he has been chief American correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, and the most popular commentator on American affairs for BBC. American audiences know him as the master of ceremonies on Omnibus; American readers appreciate him for his book One Man’s America and for his friendly portraits of men who were dear to him: Charlie Chaplin and Henry L. Mencken.
A graduate of Cambridge University, ALISTAIR COOKE first came to the United States for two years in the early 1930s on a Commonwealth Fellowship to Yale and Harvard; in 1937 he returned, and became a U.S. citizen in 1941. Since 1948 he has been Chief American Correspondent of the Manchester Guardian and a voice conveying our doings, and our foibles, to Britain via a weekly BBC broadcast. His book, One Man’s America, is as perceptive as it is delightful. One of his earliest friends and saltiest advisers was H. L. Mencken, and his recent The Vintage Mencken, a pocket anthology which he edited for Alfred Knopf, is a wise and amusing choice. Of late he has been welcomed into millions of American homes on Sunday afternoon as master of ceremonies on Omnibus.