The American Issue 714 October 2012

October 2012

THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE

Est. 1976

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WHAT’S ON • POLITICS EATING OUT • SPORT MUSIC • REVIEWS ARTS CHOICE

The American Interview:

Heather Headley Hoops season is nearly here – NBA and BBL previews Paul Jones of The Manfreds talks the blues

US and UK Tax Preparation and Planning

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Issue 714 – October 2012 PUBLISHED BY SP MEDIA FOR

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Old Byre House, East Knoyle, Salisbury SP3 6AW, UK Telephone all departments: +44 (0)1747 830520 Publisher: Michael Burland Editor: Richard L Gale editor@theamerican.co.uk Please contact us with your news or article ideas Advertising & Promotions: Sabrina Sully, Commercial Director advertising@theamerican.co.uk Subscriptions: theamerican@blueedge.co.uk Correspondents: Virginia E Schultz, Food & Drink virginia@theamerican.co.uk Mary Bailey, Social mary@theamerican.co.uk Estelle Lovatt, Arts estelle@theamerican.co.uk Alison Holmes, Politics alison@theamerican.co.uk Jarlath O’Connell, Theater jarlath@theamerican.co.uk Richard L Gale, Sports Editor richard@theamerican.co.uk Jeremy Lanaway, Hockey jeremy@theamerican.co.uk

©2012 Blue Edge Publishing Ltd. Printed by Advent Colour Ltd., 19 East Portway Industrial Estate, Andover, SP10 3LU www.advent-colour.co.uk ISSN 2045-5968 Cover Main Image: Heather Headley; Circular Inset: Carmelo Anthony (photo © Gary Baker); Square Inset: Paul Jones and The Manfreds

Welcome C

an it really be four years since the last presidential election? Extraordinary, yet next month Americans vote for the man who will occupy the White House for the next term. That also means Americans who happen to live abroad – many of The American’s readers included. If you haven’t registered yet, find out how at the websites of the Federal Voting Assistance Program (www.fvap.gov) or the Embassy (london.usembassy.gov). But be quick – your vote could count, as I was recently reminded when uber-pollster Sir Robert Worcester told me that in several states the expat vote was enough to have made a difference last time around.

Read Bob’s latest expert article on the campaigns in this issue.

Incidentally, we have repeatedly asked UK representatives of both the Democratic and Republican parties what their candidate would do for Americans abroad if they win in November. They said they’d get back to me. I’ll let you know what they say if they come up with anything (at www.theamerican.co.uk or Twitter @TheAmericanMag). In the meantime...

Enjoy your magazine and website,

Michael Burland, Publisher michael@theamerican.co.uk

SOME OF THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Alison Holmes, The American’s political ‘Transatlantic Columnist’, is an Okie now based in Northern California, an international relations scholar, and a lecturer on politics in American universities.

Sir Robert Worcester is one of the most knowledgeable and influential psephologists in the world. A Kansas City native, he is the founder of the MORI polling and research organisation.

Carol Madison Graham is a former American diplomat and director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission who now lives in Britain and writes for us on enriching study and living abroad.

Don’t forget to check out The American online at www.theamerican.co.uk The entire contents of The American and www.theamerican.co.uk are protected by copyright and no part of it may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information in The American is accurate, the editor and publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or any loss arising from reliance on it. The views and comments of contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers.

October 2012 1

The American • Issue 714 • October 2012

In This Issue...

Regular Sections 4 News 6 Diary Dates 20 Wining & Dining 26 Music 29 Coffee Break 30 Arts Choice

33 42 47 48 57 65

Book and Theater Reviews Politics DriveTime Sports American Organizations The A-List

36 Theater Reviews

11 Civil War Vets in England Over 200,000 people born in the UK fought in the American Civil War and amazingly up to 5,000 were buried here

14 Overseas Experience Living abroad can help you into a job, but only if you use it right – here’s how to you handle those tricky interviews

16 Danny Trejo James Carroll Jordan has been acting with super tough-guy Trejo and finds out about his history on the wrong side of the law

18 American Stamp Collecting Start keeping all those envelopes from back home - they could be the start of an absorbing new hobby

27 Paul Jones Interview The singer from the first south-of-England-based group to top the US Billboard Hot 100 is back on the road again

40 Heather Headley She’s won a Grammy and a Tony. Now Heather Headley is about to win the hearts of the London theatergoing public in the stage version of The Bodyguard

30 Arts Choice

The life and music of Tina Turner is celebrated in Soul Sister, Jonathan Pryce stars as King Lear, Tamsin Greig returns in Jumpy, plus Jarlath O’Connell’s Edinburgh highlights

42 The Empty Chair Does Clint Eastwood’s odd performance at the Republican Conference signify an emptiness in American politics?

48 Vendée Globe The toughest maritime race on the world is about to take place, starting in France

52 NBA Season Preview Natimi Black-Heaven foresees the Miami Heat getting even hotter this season

54 BBL Preview Pro basketball is headed back to London this year, writes Paul Nilsen

56 Emerald Isle Classic Jay B Webster reports on football’s big college kickoff in the Irish capital

44 State of Play 14 Taking Your Time Abroad To Interview PHOTO BELOW: © G. NEWMAN LOWRANCE/ST. LOUIS RAMS.

50 Steven Jackson

Sir Robert Worcester looks back at the effects of convention season... if any!

PHOTO ABOVE © MALLORY BENEDICT FOR PBS

40 Heather Headley

11 Civil War Veterans

17 Danny Trejo

The American PHOTO: CONNOR ESTES/USAF

US Paralympic Team trains at Lakenheath More than 50 US Paralympians prepared for the recent London 2012 Paralympic Games at RAF Lakenheath. The base teamed with the US Olympic Committee to provide the athletes with everything they needed to prepare for the Games including training facilities, lodgings and meals. The athletes also engaged one-onone with military families through a sponsor program.

John Enterman, RAF Lakenheath’s fitness and sports manager, explained how the Liberty Wing made preparations for the team before it arrived: “We repaired and cleaned the track, ensured the long jump and triple jump runways were good to go and put up netting for the discus and shot put. Anything we can do to help them achieve their personal best is what we are here for.”

“The support has been phenomenal,” said Cathy Sellers, US Paralympics Track and Field Team High-Performance Director.

We can’t ask for anything better.

Anytime we need anything, we just say one word. It not only allows the athletes to make final preparations, but also helps them get over jet lag, adjust to the time difference and start training at the same time of day as the competition. It makes the difference in a lot of medals.”

4 October 2012

Youth Exchange Goes Political

L

ast month we reported on a group of British high school students who visited the United States to see how business and entrepreneurship works in America. After their successful trip, another group traveled to the States to see its political system in action and compare it to the British way of politics.

Between August 26 and September 8 they visited Washington, DC, Columbus, Ohio and the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, NC. The trip was run by the US Embassy in London and during a pre-departure briefing students met a previous participant who travelled to the Republican Convention in 2008. She explained what the trip had involved and what it meant to her personally.

Arriving on Labor Day Weekend, the students met the friends and families of the American teenagers with whom they were staying.

Among their activities they interviewed a Democrat and a Republican at a Board of Elections office, asking them about their political views on various topics. Students created campaign ads and apps for Obama and Romney, attended the Women’s Caucus at the Democratic convention, hosted by the US’ first and second ladies, and took part in workshops covering different aspects of the campaigns. They also

visited the Newseum in Washington DC, where they saw an exhibition on how press freedom varies across the globe and a 9/11 exhibition where, as one of them said, “a moving video documenting the events reduced nearly everybody to tears”.

In Charlotte, they arranged an interview with David Lammy, a British Labour MP who was part of the UK delegation to the Democratic Convention. As one of the students reported on the exchange’s website www.makewav.es/ukuspolitics, “We both knew of him before we met him in person. His occasionally extreme political views are as evident in the mass media as they are in person. He made it clear that the re-election of President Barack Obama would mark a precedent in world politics. He meant that Obama’s stimulus economic policy would vindicate the similar policies of the Labour Party in Britain.

However, we pointed out to him that the entire political spectrum in America is far further to the right, making the Democrats more our equivalent of Left Centrists. Anyway, we were very grateful to him to meet us. But we did think it quite ironic that a socialist MP met us in the Ritz.”

British politics of the future seems to be in the hands of some sharp, if skeptical, kids.

The American

Remembering Andy Sundberg

T

PH

OT O:

KA

he American is sad to learn of the passing of Andy Sundberg (1941-2012). Andrew P. Sundberg was best known to expats around the world as the founder of American Citizens Abroad (ACA), an advocacy group for US citizens living outside the States. He was a charismatic, warm and funny man of great intelligence and wide interests who H UC JA spent his entire RL life working to convince the US government that Americans living abroad are assets to the country and should be treated as such.

Sundberg was born in 1941 and grew up in Japan and Germany. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford and served in the Navy in Cuba and Vietnam before moving to Geneva in 1968. In 1977 he and others in Geneva founded the American Children’s Citizens Rights League, after they discovered that their children born abroad would not have American citizenship. Sundberg’s efforts with Congress led to a change in U.S. legislation which made it easier for children born abroad to Americans to acquire American nationality. In 1978 he founded American Citizens Abroad to address the broad range of issues specific to Americans outside of the United States.

He devoted much of his work to encouraging the United States to change from a citizenship-based taxation system to a residencebased system like that of virtually every other country in the world.

A history enthusiast, Sundberg compiled a complete historical review of U.S. taxation impacting Americans abroad.

Sundberg founded local organizations of both Republicans and Democrats Abroad in Geneva, served as the worldwide chairman of Democrats Abroad from 1980 to 1985, and as a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1981 to 1988. He raised the profile of Americans abroad when he ran for President of the United States in 1988, in the worldwide overseas Democratic Party primary.

In addition to his work on behalf of Americans abroad, Sundberg for many years was an international business consultant for public and private sector clients worldwide. He also founded an internet company, and worked for a number of years to develop new micro-finance projects in Africa in partnership with African diaspora groups in Europe.

He died August 30th at the age of 71. He is survived by his French wife Chantal, two daughters and a grand-daughter.

© NASA

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” – Neil Armstrong The first man to set foot on the Moon, Neil Armstrong was also a quiet, private man, described by his family as a “a reluctant hero who always believed he was just doing his job.”

Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong took his first flight aged six with his father, Stephen, and learned to fly even before he had his driver’s license. After high school he went to Purdue University on a Navy Scholarship interrupted by the Korean War. Armstrong became a Navy fighter pilot, flying 78 combat missions, in one of which he was forced to eject after the plane was damaged.

In 1962, Armstrong joined the US space program but he never allowed himself to be caught up in the glamour of space exploration.

After the moon landing he was an associate NASA administrator, but tiring of the desk job, he became Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

“I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer,” he said in a rare public appearance in February 2000.

His death at the age of 82 was caused by complications resulting from cardiovascular bypass surgery.

October 2012 5

The American

Diary Dates

Your Guide To The Month Ahead

See our full events listing online at www.theamerican.co.uk

Get your event listed in The American – call the editor on +44 (0)1747 830520, or email details to editor@theamerican.co.uk Apple Affair West Dean Gardens, Near Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0RX www.westdean.org.uk September 29 to 30

Shaker Box Making American Museum, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7BD www.americanmuseum.org October 6

If Apple Pie is on your Fall menu, the Apple Affair at West Dean is a great way to find more tasty apple treats to fill those lunch pails. Family fun activities, stalls, cookery advice and much more on offer.

Try your hand at making Shakerstyle boxes or trays in this one-day workshop. 10am – 4:30pm. £75, £69 for members.

London Restaurant Festival 2012 Various, London www.londonrestaurantfestival.com October 1 to 15 Lifting the lid on London’s culinary diversity, restaurants from across the capital participate in promotions, special menus and fringe events to celebrate eating out.

Autumn Classic: American Weekend Prescott Hill, Gotherington, Glos. GL52 9RD www.prescott-hillclimb.com October 6 to 7 An all American Stars and Stripes weekend celebrating the biggest, brashest cars this side of the pond.

Chevys, Pontiacs, Mustangs, Cadillacs, Flatheads, Hotrods, Indians, Harleys, Custom Choppers – all on show, with American music blazing and high octane entertainment at every turn.

6 October 2012

World Porridge Championships Carrbridge, Inverness-shire, Scotland www.goldenspurtle.com October 6 Competition to find the best cook of Scotland’s favorite breakfast, with pipe band, parade of competitors, official Toast to the Porridge, Farmers Market, cookery demonstrations, product tastings, street entertainment and live music.

Horse of the Year Show NEC, Birmingham www.hoys.co.uk October 3 to 7 One of Britain’s most spectacular events, presenting five days of illustrious contest, dedicated to sporting excellence. The unique blend of gala, rivalry and contemporary production ensures an unforgettable experience.

Washington Irving – Inspiring Dickens Soho House, Soho Av., Birmingham B18 5LB www.bmag.org.uk October 6 This talk considers the influence of American author Washington Irving on the works of Charles Dickens.

2:30pm – 3:30pm, pre-booking essential, £3.

Rethinking the Vietnam War Bronte Room, Conference Centre, British Library, London NW1 2DB www.bl.uk/eccles October 8 Professor John Dumbrell discusses his recent book on the Vietnam War and considers interpretations on issues including the anti-war movement and the effect of the war on subsequent history.

56th BFI London Film Festival British Film Institute, London S1 8XT www.bfi.org.uk/lff October 10 to 21 This year’s festival features Quartet, the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman, Tim Burton’s 3D animated nod to Frankenstein, Frankenweenie

Buying & Selling USA Stamps, Covers & Postal History Perth 2012, The Dewars Centre Glover Street, Perth, Scotland PH2 0TH October 19 - 20 Stephen T. Taylor 5 Glenbuck Road Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS Phone: 020 8390 9357 Fax: 020 8390 2235 info@stephentaylor.co.uk www.stephentaylor.co.uk

Decision 2012

Why the American Elections Matter to All of Us – An Evening with Justin Webb Sunday 28 October, 6pm On the eve of the national elections in the United States, the American Museum invites you to an evening with Justin Webb, the well-known BBC presenter and author.

Your American Dealer in Britain

Mention The American and get your ticket at our special rate of £20.00 per person.

For tickets call 01225 823014 Free shuttle bus to the Museum from the centre of Bath

www.americanmuseum.org

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF LONDON PRESENTS

2012

Celebrating 33 years Ring in the season and shop for a good cause with the Junior League of London.

At Boutique de Noel you will find unique gifts for everyone on your list.

Our annual fundraiser is a Christmas market with unique vendors offering art and antiques, fashion and jewellery, toys and baby gifts, stationery and gourmet food.

Wednesday, 14th November

Thursday, 15th November

6pm - 10pm

10am - 4pm

Gala Shopping Evening

Shopping Evening tickets also provide access to the Shopping Day on Thursday • Gala Shopping Evening ticket - £35 each • Patron ticket - £100 each, includes access to Patron Room, gift bags • Benefactor ticket - £250 each, includes access to Patron Room, gift bag and a donation of £150 to the Junior League of London

Shopping Day

First 50 shoppers get a gift bag!

• Shopping Day tickets - £7 each and free entry for children

TICKET SALES & EVENT INFORMATION: website: www.jll.org.uk/bdn email: jrleague@jll.org.uk telephone: 020 7499 8159

Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX Junior League, working to eliminate poverty and its effects in London Registered UK Charity No. 1103298; Registered as company limited by guarantee in England No. 05045667

Please visit our website www.jll.org.uk/bdn for the latest updates to the event schedule.

The American

3D, Jake Gyllenhaal as an LA police officer in End of Watch, and Crossfire Hurricane, a tribute to the Rolling Stones as part of their 50th anniversary.

Falmouth Oyster Festival Falmouth, Cornwall www.falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk October 11 to 14 Oyster catching, cooking and celebrating with live music, sea shanties and Cornish crafts.

US Elections Unspun: The Truth Behind the Headlines Terrace Restaurant, Main Library Building, British Library, London NW1 2DB www.bl.uk/eccles October 11 Award winning documentary filmmaker Michael Kirk shares a unique insight into Obama and Romney as the US election heats up.

Joan Rivers: Now or Never Tour www.joan.co October 12 to 22 Joan Rivers will be on tour in the UK this October, bringing her unique sense of comedy across the pond to Newcastle City Hall on the 12th; Liverpool Philharmonic, 13th; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 14th; Manchester Bridgewater Hall, 15th; Birmingham Symphony Hall, 16th; Nottingham Royal Concert, 17th; Reading Hexagon, 18th; Southend Cliffs Pavilion, 19th; Brighton Centre, 20th; Bristol Colston Hall, 21st; London Royal Albert Hall, 22nd.

Autumn Art Fair Landmark Arts Centre, Ferry Road, Teddington www.landmarkartscentre.org October 13-14

Bristol Balloon Fiesta Ashton Court, Long Ashton, Bristol www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk October 9 to 12 Britain’s biggest balloon festival, includes The Night Glow evenings of musical performances – set to rock and classical music, the balloons are illuminated in a choreographed aerial performance.

8 October 2012

Sculpture, ceramics, jewellery, glass, prints, photography and fine art.

Over 79 artists including oil and watercolour paintings by Londonbased American Alpine landscape artist Janet Johnson.

The Childline Rocks Guitar Challenge Ricoh Arena, Coventry, Phoenix Way, Foleshill, Coventry CV6 6GE www.childlinerocks.org.uk October 14 Up to 3,000 guitarists of all types will

gather together to attempt to break four world records: 1. The Largest Electric Guitar Ensemble; 2. The Largest Music Lesson; 3. The Largest Air Guitar Ensemble; 4. The Most Guitar Amplifiers Used Simultaneously. The event is being staged in support of ChildLine, the UK’s free, confidential helpline for children and young people.

Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Sq., London www.pearlysociety.co.uk October 14 The Cockney Pearly Kings and Queens gather for harvest thanksgiving dressed in traditional costumes of suits, dresses and hats which can have as many as 30,000 buttons sewn onto them and weigh as much as 70 lbs.

World Conker Championships Village Green, Ashton, near Oundle, Peterborough www.worldconkerchampionships.com October 14 Players take a conker (sweet chestnut) attached to a piece of string and take turns trying to break their opponent’s nut. Since 1965, the championships have raised over £400,000 for charities for the blind.

America, Hitler and the UN Bronte Room, Conference Centre, British Library, London NW1 2DB www.bl.uk/eccles October 15 Dr Dan Plesch talks about his book examining the UN’s effect on the Second World War, and argues that the declaration of the UN in 1942 made a great contribution to the Allied victory.

The American

October 2012 9

The American

Lady Impey’s Bird Paintings Ashmolean, Oxford OX1 2PH www.ashmolean.org October 16 to February 16, 2013

Star Trek London ExCeL, London E16 1XL www.startreklondon.com October 19 to 21

in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, Sir John Holmes asks the question: ‘When can international intervention be justified and effective?’

Lady Mary Impey, the wife of Chief Justice Sir Elijah Impey, commissioned a series of works on Indian and exotic birds in Calcutta in 1780. These evocative images, painted by traditional Indian artists including Shaikh Zain ud-Din, are on display at the Ashmolean.

The biggest Star Trek convention to reach London welcomes five captains; William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew and Scott Bakula, and a host of other stars. Beam us up, Scottie!

Affordable Arts Fair Battersea Park / Hampstead, London affordableartfair.com October 25 to 28

US Presidential Election Debate Conference Centre, British Library, London NW1 2DB www.bl.uk/eccles October 19 A debate featuring representatives from Republicans Abroad and Democrats Abroad on the next American leader; moderated by MORI founder and The American contributor Sir Robert Worcester.

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN www.sadlerswells.com October 11 to 13

Hollywood Costume Exhibition Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL www.vam.ac.uk October 20 to January 27, 2013

This is the UK debut of New York’s Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet.

Having received critical acclaim from the US dance scene, the ballet crosses the pond to perform a mixed bill of three UK premieres at Sadler’s Wells in London.

Founded in 2003 by Wal-Mart heiress Nancy Laurie, Cedar Lake merge dance and multimedia to create a ballet experience for the 20th century. Under the artistic direction of Benoit-Swan Pouffer, their repertoire includes many modern works and new works commissioned from some of the world’s most exciting and desirable choreographers.

‘Hollywood Costume’ explores the central role costume design plays in cinema storytelling. Bringing together 100 iconic movie costumes, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the clothes worn by characters such as Dorothy Gale, Indiana Jones, Scarlett O’Hara, Jack Sparrow, Holly Golightly and Darth Vader.

10 October 2012

British Fulbright Scholars Association Annual Lecture The Geoffrey Thomas Lecture Theatre, Rewley House, Oxford OX1 2JA www.bfsa.org October 21 With debate covering intervention

Two fairs taking place south and north of the river. Battersea Park (October 25-28) is followed by Hampstead (November 1-4). Both showcase thousands of original paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs, ranging in price from £40 to £4,000.

The Arrest of Rosa Gold Jewish Museum, Raymond Burton House, Albermarle Street, London NW1 7NB www.jewishmuseum.org.uk October 28 A reading of a new play by Diane Samuels. Samuels’ play explores the experience of being a revolutionary in the US during the 20th Century.

The John Wilson Orchestra Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX www.southbankcentre.co.uk October 29 to 30 John Wilson and his orchestra celebrate the musicals of Rodgers & Hammerstein, with favorite classics from shows including Oklahoma, Carousel and The Sound of Music.

Hallowe’en at Sulgrave Manor Sulgrave Manor, Nr Banbury OX17 2SD www.sulgravemanor.org.uk October 29 to November 02 Spooky craft workshops takes place at Sulgrave Manor during the October Half Term.

The American The London Veterans, gathered in August 1917 to greet US troops marching through London en route for the Western Front.

Note the man below ‘FOR’, wearing a reunion ribbon like the others, and clearly a Sikh (Daily Sketch, August 17, 1917)

M

ore than 200,000 Englishborn soldiers fought in the American Civil War. Many had emigrated to America, writes Michael Hammerstein, but many returned home, some immediately after service, others decades later.

Veterans of the

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Buried in England

Two lists survive of men (and women) living in Great Britain receiving Federal Pensions for Civil War service, from 1883 and 1899.

These list over 350 veterans and widows living in England, but ongoing research shows that there are at least 1,000 Union veterans and 150 Confederate veterans buried here, and suggests that there are many more – perhaps as many as 5,000 – who did not receive pensions, particularly ex-Confederates.

While there are veterans buried everywhere, some in small villages, the majority are found in the biggest centers.

There are several hundred in the London

area, their interest heightened by the fact that 1910 saw the founding of the London Branch of American Civil War Veterans, a unique group of comrades which existed until the death of its last member in 1933.

Founded by Union navy veteran John Davis, its aim was not just comradeship, but to secure Federal Pensions for the povertystricken veterans living in the slums of London, where Davis found them while working for the London City Mission.

Their first President was to be the great actor-manager Sir Charles Wyndham, who had served in the war

The badge of the London Branch of American Civil War Veterans, c.1910 (Courtesy Everitt Bowles, USA)

as a surgeon under his real name, Charles Culverwell; but he pleaded pressure of work, and the post was taken by Seth Herrick, formerly Major, 2nd Maryland Eastern Shore Infantry, now buried in an unmarked grave in Hendon cemetery. It is sad how many veterans, including the dedicated Davis himself, lie in unmarked paupers’ graves. The American Civil War Round Table UK (ACWRTUK ) is conducting a survey seeking Civil War grave markers from the US Veterans Administration. Surviving documentary evidence shows the enormous pride these men took in having fought for the Union, and

William Hines, pictured here, was a veteran of the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, went to America in the 1850s, aged 12, and returned in 1928 to die in his birthplace, Bushey Heath in Hertfordshire. He is buried close to the grave of John Roebuck, Britain’s most passionately pro-Confederate MP. PHOTO COURTESY HINES DESCENDANT

October 2012 11

Grave of Ferdinand Barzetti, who fought in the 13th New York Light Artillery under the name Thomas Shepherd.

PHOTO MICHAEL HAMMERSON, COURTESY HIGHGATE CEMETERY

their veneration of Abraham Lincoln, at whose statue in Parliament Square they would lay a wreath every Memorial Day. The London group was for Union veterans, but ex-Confederates attended some of their events, and among the most interesting graves, in West Hampstead, is that of the Rev. Francis Tremlett of Belsize Park, Britain’s most passionate supporter of the Confederates and who, surviving records make clear, gave such service to the Southern cause that he would have been in their pantheon of heroes had the South won.

‘The Wrong Side’

Another major center for veterans, Northern and Southern, was Liverpool. Many, not unexpectedly, were sailors, including most of the crew and several officers of the famous Confederate cruiser Alabama, as well as James D. Bulloch, perhaps the South’s most successful agent in Europe, who worked indefatigably to procure arms and supplies for the Confederate armies. Not qualifying for a pardon after the war, he made his home in England. Other veterans lived in Manchester and Glasgow.

Who were these veterans? Many were buried in obscurity but their stories are often fascinating. George Nickels was one of four sons of a noted inventor. Born into a comfortable home in South London, he saw service with the 7th Illinois Cavalry, and returned home to learn that

12 October 2012

his brother Henry had also gone to fight... for the South. Henry served in the 4th Louisiana Infantry and the 48th North Carolina Infantry before becoming a marine on the Confederate Ram Atlanta, on which he was captured by the US Navy. When George applied for a Federal Pension in 1904, Henry thought it would be a good idea to do the same. He received a polite but firm reply from the Bureau of Pensions explaining that he had, unfortunately, fought for the wrong side!

At least three women buried here served as nurses; two drew Federal Pensions, but the third, Hannah Beavis Walters (later Randle), was only a volunteer nurse after Gettysburg.

She died in Southport in 1943 and I would love to find her grave. At least three men who served in Black Regiments – designated as United States Colored Troops – are also buried here, including renowned black historian George Washington Williams, who died on the way home from a trip to Europe; he lies in a well-marked grave in Blackpool.

Explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley was living in the South at the start of the war. Pressured to join up, he deserted after the Battle of Shiloh and enlisted in a Union artillery regiment, from which he deserted again before re-enlisting in the Union navy as a ship’s clerk. He is buried in the family grave at Pirbright, Surrey.

The Napoleon of Crime

A notable burial in Highgate Cemetery, London, is Adam Worth of the 34th New York Light Artillery.

Wounded at the second battle of

Bull Run (as was Ferdinand Barzetti of the 13th New York Light Artillery, buried in the same cemetery), he read in hospital a report that he had been killed, promptly deserted, and re-enlisted under a false name, claiming the bounty offered to recruit. He did this several times, setting him on a life of crime, from leading a gang in New York, where he was pursued by the Pinkerton Agency, to England, where he became known as the ‘Napoleon of Crime’. It is thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle modelled Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Moriarty, on Worth.

There are at least seven men buried here who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor; Maurice Wagg is one. He won the medal for helping to rescue crewmen of the US ironclad Monitor when it sank in December 1862, but is buried in an unmarked grave in East London; the ACWRTUK is currently working to get a marker for him.

Undoubtedly the most mysterious is an unnamed man in a photograph of the London Veterans published in the Daily Sketch for August 17th, 1917. He is clearly a Sikh but there is no record of a practicing Sikh in the war. Even Sikh historians are baffled.

Adding new veterans to the list, particularly those who were not receiving Federal Pensions or who fought for the Confederates, is an increasingly difficult task. If you know of any such burials, please contact the writer via editor@ theamerican.co.uk. Identifying them will ensure that they are not forgotten. You will also play a role in making British people more aware of a crucial but now neglected period of world history which generated enormously partisan and passionate feeling in England. H

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October 2012 13

The American

Making Your Time Abroad Valuable to Employers W

ill your experience abroad help you into a job? How should you include it on your CV and what should you say at interview? If you are asking yourself these questions during your stay abroad, you are ahead of the game. If not, time to get busy. With more people studying abroad it is not as unusual on a CV as it used to be. In any case, unlike your college degree it does not speak for itself, which means you can present it in a way that makes you a more attractive candidate. Without putting some thought into how your experience influences your skills as a potential employee, the interview could go something like this: Interviewer: “Did you enjoy your time abroad?”

You: “Oh yeah, definitely.”

Interviewer (eyes narrowing): “How did it affect you?”

You: “I feel more confident.”

Interviewer: (pen speeding across your CV) “Are you by nature unconfident?”

You: “No, I am confident. I started out confident but this made me more confident” Not very impressive. Perhaps even less so when the location abroad is in an English speaking environment.

Employers tend to fall into three basic types where living abroad is concerned.

1. Those who regard living abroad as an extended holiday.

14 October 2012

by Carol Madison Graham 2. Those who may interview liveabroad “alums” because it is a little different .

3. Those who want employees who have spent time abroad.

It is important not to make assumptions about the experiences of employers based on their attitudes. For example, a person may believe that living abroad is a holiday because they have never stepped foot outside of the United States.

Or they may believe it because they spent their own time abroad partying or watching others do so.

On the other hand, employers looking for people who have lived abroad may seem like an easy prospect, but often have very specific criteria for their candidates because they have more applicants with international experience to choose from. Also far from being openminded about life abroad, they may have preconceptions. If they have only lived in Mali or Kazakhstan, for example, they may require persuading that a UK experience constitutes valid international credentials. Even if they view all international experiences as worthwhile, employers with solid international experiences are often the toughest interviewers on this subject because they are experts.

The important point to remember is that whichever kind of employer you are dealing with (including

the ones who are indifferent about living abroad) you need to focus on presenting your experience in a way that shows you have acquired skills and interests.

Begin by asking yourself how living abroad has enhanced your life skills or practical knowledge. If at the end of your time abroad you cannot think of a single thing, either you are a very modest person and need to think again, or you have spent your time as an extended holiday, or you may be having difficulty because you identify your experience with feelings about being abroad – happiness or excitement or homesickness and feeling out of place. A great many people fall into this third category because they never get beyond the emotional impact on themselves. As a result, they over-personalize their experience so the interviewer feels shut out. Yet even emotions can have a practical impact.

Take the fictional interview as an example. Most people feel more confident as a result of being abroad because they have learned to master a new environment. The question is what has this new confidence enabled you to do? The answer is an entry on your CV and a talking point at interview. People in foreign language environments have an easy answer by emphasizing their language skills. They do not need to say “I became more confident” because using a foreign language daily requires a high level of confidence.

This advantage is lost in the UK, so

The American

interests abroad. Feed that interest with reading and you will prove that you have the ability to take a new subject and become both knowledgeable and interesting – something all employers value. If you enjoyed a visit to York why not start reading Yorkshire Life? Instead of reading US sports magazines buy British ones. If you enjoy British design, start following websites.

When interviewing young people, employers need to find ways of assessing seriousness and perseverance – another reason why hobbies and interests are important on CVs, so be sure you list them.

If you will be in the UK for a few months or more it will come as no surprise that my next suggestion is to consider these options as soon as possible in anticipation of a future job search. If your time is nearly up, it is worth researching online groups and publications.

A study or work abroad experience in the UK is both advantageous and disadvantageous as far as CVs and job interviews are concerned.

Many people have been to Britain and view it favorably.

But they may see it is as too proximate in culture to the US to understand what you

have achieved. At the same time, Britain remains the top destination for Americans studying abroad so you may not be the only candidate with British experience. In short, your time abroad will always stand out for you. The challenge is to make it stand out for others. H Carol Madison Graham has worked for the U.S. Diplomatic Service, and after moving to Britain was appointed executive director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission.

Currently, she works with the Marshall Scholarships and writes a blog with ideas for enriching study and living abroad at www.engageabroad.com and her book Coping with Anti-Americanism is out now.

© LIGHTPOET/SEBASTIAN GAUERT

you need to make a list. Then use the list to create a more interesting CV. By all means list study or work abroad experience under the appropriate category, but then enhance your CV by finding other places to show the benefits of your time abroad.

Did your new found confidence encourage you to travel around the UK? List “travel” under interests and include some of the places you have been. (Be prepared to discuss them at interview). Did you join a group or association? Putney Rowing Club, London will look interesting to anyone as will declaring your membership in the Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, a Scottish Dancing Club, the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation or the Burda Sewing Club in East London, or as a volunteer for Crisis. Naming a club or group you joined abroad says you had the confidence to engage with a foreign society, which has the same effect as mentioning a foreign language.

What if potential clubs of interest meet at the wrong time or you are not particularly religious or interested in volunteering? You may be one of those free spirits who simply enjoys soaking up the atmosphere of the contemporary culture. If that describes you, I would strongly urge you to find a way of demonstrating that interest (as opposed to simply asserting it).

An easy way to do this is by becoming a regular reader of a publication that helps you develop your interest. When it comes to first time employment interviews, many young people are long on enthusiasm but short on information about Right: Interviewers may regard living abroad as an extended holiday

October 2012 15

The American

Danny Trejo Un Bueno Americano In this month’s Actor’s Corner, James Carroll Jordan befriends the definitive ‘Mexican bandito’

I

just did a film with Danny called Dead In Tombstone. It was in the usual recent location for me: Romania. I had no idea who Danny was until I got on set and met him, then with one glance I realized who he was. He is the heavy in almost every prison film or Mexican bandito film made in the last fifteen years. He appeared in the 2010 film Machete with DeNiro. The odd thing is that Danny, not DeNiro, was the lead.

Same with Tombstone. They paid Mickey Rourke a million dollars for two days work, but again Danny is the lead.

I got to know Danny over the last six weeks as I played a drunken preacher in the town where all the action occurs. I’ll say more about the film nearer release. For now I really just want to talk about Danny, as I found him profoundly interesting, charming and a really nice guy. I mean he has a face that only a mother could love, and if your daughter brought him home for dinner you would probably move house and leave the country the next day in order to save her. In a big way he reminds me of Charles Bronson.

Danny just has to stand there to scare the hell out of you. But then when he breaks open his million dollar smile, you just want to be his best friend. I found that I did, for sure.

We had many conversations as we drove the hour trip to the set outside of Bucharest, and I was mesmerized by his stories. The first day

16 October 2012

we worked, I mentioned to him that I recalled him in dozens of prison films as the bad Mexican tough guy.

I asked why he did so many of those films. He then told me that he had spent ten years in jail, some in San Quentin and some at Tracy prison in California. His prison stories raised the hairs on the back of my neck, I have to say. For starters, his first eight months in San Quentin he was in solitary confinement. I asked him if this made him go crazy a bit.

“In solitary, you have to go crazy to stay sane…” he said.

Oddly enough, that made perfect sense to me. One statement that stayed with me was “In prison there are two kinds of people… prey and predator.” Just looking at him I knew which he was. I couldn’t imagine anyone being foolish enough to try to prey on Danny. He told me of his gang he had in jail and some of the things they got up to. I swear I’ll never ever do anything that would land me in jail.

My favorite story of his was about two of his gang members, Chico and Bam-Bam. It seemed both were in for double-life sentences and were never going to get out of jail, so consequently had no fear of anything. Or anyone for that matter.

I gathered they ran a protection racket inside. Danny described Chico as a very pretty Mexican who would cut your throat as soon as look at you, and Bam-Bam was even meaner. When Danny told me he

was their leader, I had no doubts about how tough he really was.

One day, Chico came to Danny and admitted almost shyly that he loved Bam-Bam. Danny said, sure, man, just like I love you man.

Chico said: “No man, I really love him man!”

Danny was a bit thrown by this, but answered; “Sure dude. Whatever you say.”

Then Bam-Bam joined them and before Danny could intervene, Chico said to Bam-Bam “I love you man…”

“Hey man, I love you too!” Danny looked on, getting slightly worried.

“No, Bam-Bam, you don’t understand, man… I really love you!”

“Hey, Chico, I really love you too…” Danny was starting to sweat… Was this the end of his gang?

“No Bam-Bam, you don’t understand me… I love you and want you to be my woman, man!”

The penny dropped for BamBam. But without skipping a beat, Bam-Bam said to Chico; “Hey man, I love you too and want you to be my woman!”

Danny was really nervous now and wondering if either of his buddies were carrying knives.

“But Bam-Bam, I want you to be my woman, man!”

“Yeah Chico, I understand that, but I want you to be my woman!....”

According to Danny this went on for quite a while with neither

The American

James Carroll Jordan with Danny Trejo

guy agreeing to be the other guy’s woman. I asked Danny how it ended up. “Aw, they just hugged in the end and forgot about it…”

I said; “So neither guy became the other guy’s woman?”

Danny said; “No, it was just too complicated. But I was really worried there for a minute.”

Then he told me about a prison riot he was in at Soledad prison. I remember reading about it in the early eighties. It was a huge prison riot with guards taken and fires and all the rest. During this, Danny and his gang got into trouble, which wasn’t surprising to me, and three of them ended up being charged with GBH among other things, but due to a technical mistake by the prison guard accusing them as well as the novice District Attorney, they all got off. Danny was released shortly after that, much to his surprise. He told me that he thought he was never going to get out of jail and was going to end up spending his life liv-

ing and then dying inside, and when he was released, he was so grateful and happy that he swore to spend the rest of his life “Just doing good things to people and not doing bad things any more.”

I asked him if he had managed this. He said “Of course.” I somehow believed him. Shortly after that, he got into acting and slowly went from bit parts and walk-ons to small character parts, and then to larger cameos. Finally in the last few years he graduated to leading roles. Now he is the star of the movies he does.

Robert Rodriguez starred him in Machete last year, and this year he is starring in Dead In Tombstone before next year’s Machete sequel, Machete Kills. I think he had a week off between films. I should be so lucky.

I asked him if he drank or did drugs, and he really bristled at that, emphatically telling me that he has been sober for over 42 years. He also told me about running a half-way house for people coming out of

prison and about his efforts to help them pick up the pieces of their lives and get on with things. I can’t imagine anyone not listening to Danny and doing just what he suggested.

After all, he has lived the life, and is now the most famous Mexican/ American actor in the world.

I use the phrase ‘Mexican/American’ loosely. To me, Danny Trejo is simply an American, more American than most if you really look at the demographics of America lately. The Latino population is quickly gaining ascendency on the white population of America and in a few decades, might well be the majority. All I know is the studios certainly recognize Danny’s presence and drawing power. Put him in your movie, and you get at least forty percent of the population of America going to see it or buy it on DVD. I just think of him as a good friend I am proud to know and to have worked with. H

October 2012 17

The American

A Hobby for Everybody The days are getting colder and shorter. In the first of a new series on perfect Fall hobbies, John Edwards makes the case that being in the UK is a great opportunity to start a stamp collection – whether US or British Commonwealth focused.

Y

This 90c stamp issued in 1861 and showing George Washington is quite rare, but there are plenty of other stamps showing him to be collected, and United States Presidents is a popular subject to collect.

This stamp, issued in 1869, shows how at that time people thought horses ran with all their legs stretched out and off the ground between strides. The development of photography showed that horses do not run in that way.

18 October 2012

ou may have collected stamps as a child, and some readers may be thinking of renewing their interest. Or maybe you have never been a collector and are looking for something different to occupy those twilight hours. If so, you might like to consider taking up the absorbing hobby of stamps.

While advanced philatelists form highly specialised collections, for the average collector a general assortment of stamps can be just as rewarding; or they may collect by theme. In America, thematic collectors are called topical collectors, as they select stamps by a particular topic. Most people have a special interest in something. Perhaps classical music; a sport; motor racing; painting; reading; cycling; theatre or film-going; camping and scouting; horse racing; medicine and health care – the list is endless, but there is always a subject that interests people that is shown on stamps.

This year has been full of events in Britain that can be turned into a thematic (or topical) stamp collection. One of the favourite conversation subjects in Britain is the weather, and meteorology (to give it its scientific name) could be the subject for a collection.

At one time in the United States, letters were delivered with the weather forecast stamped on the envelope to help farmers decide the best time for harvesting their crops. As I write this article, Hurricane Isaac has reached the American coast; in the past stamps have been sold at more than the face value with the additional money going to help victims of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes.

The bobcat makes a colourful addition to a collection of animals.

A popular thematic subject is ‘animals’.

This is part of a much wider topic – wildlife and nature – which can cover such diverse areas as fish, trees, the theory of evolution, prehistoric animals and birds of prey. The number of stamps showing the American eagle is almost limitless! If you have a pet, you can put together several hundred stamps showing dogs or cats and even snakes. More exotic pets such as parrots, parakeets and penguins are also found on stamps.

Sports are well represented on stamps and the recent Olympics held in Britain highlight this as a very collectable subject, as also is Royalty to fit with the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations this year.

Getting Started

You can start by saving stamps off your correspondence and asking family and friends to save any stamps they get for you. You can also get a quantity of stamps by investing in a kilo-ware mixture. Scan the philatelic magazines on sale in your local newsagent and you will usually find a dealer offering a quantity of stamps on paper. For just a few pounds you can spend several hours of enjoyment soaking them off paper and sorting them into countries or themes. There are several hundred stamp dealers who sell stamps, many attend local stamp fairs and there will probably be one in your area. These fairs are listed on the internet or in the stamp magazines on sale at your newsagent.

The American

What next? Well, first a few words of caution. Damaged stamps are usually worthless.

In tearing stamps off envelopes be careful not to damage them. Tear around the stamp, leaving a margin, and soak it off the paper later, and tell anyone who is saving stamps for you to do the same. If the envelope looks interesting with a printed design relating to the stamp (known as a cachet), and perhaps a special ‘First Day of Issue’ cancel, it is advisable to keep the whole envelope. You will soon come to recognise other things which make it worthwhile to keep the envelope intact, such as markings applied by the post office indicating that more postage needs to be paid or the letter couldn’t be delivered.

To soak off stamps, put them in a bowl of water for about ten minutes. Most stamps can then be easily removed from the paper. If they do not come away easily leave them to soak a bit longer. Place the stamps between sheets of absorbent paper – blotting paper or paper kitchen towel – to get rid of the surplus moisture, and then put them on a clean surface to dry. When dry they can be pressed under a heavy weight to flatten them out – a heavy book is ideal. There are some stamps that are difficult to soak off because the gum used is particularly strong, or because the stamp is segmented so that it soaks off in bits. Not to worry; you will soon learn the art of soaking off by trial and error.

Next is the question of how to display your stamps. There are several different ways, and there is no right or wrong way of doing it – you please yourself. That is one of the beauties of stamp collecting. You make up the rules and decide what you want to collect and how to present your stamps. You can put them in a stock book, which has transparent strips to hold the stamps without the need for mounting them. The advantage of this method is that you can move the stamps around easily if you later get more stamps that fit between the stamps you already have.

Another way to display your stamps is to mount them in an album. For this you will need an album and stamp mounts. There are different types of album you can buy, but to

start with you can make your own with a ring binder and sheets of paper punched with holes. You can buy a packet of hinges from W H Smith to mount your stamps. Only mount them on one side of the page otherwise the stamps might become caught together if mounted on opposite pages.

If you get bitten by the collecting bug, join a stamp club. There are several hundred around the UK and most large towns have one. Your local library will usually be able to give you contact details. When you join a club you will not only be able to get advice from experienced collectors but also see how other collectors display their stamps, and be able to buy or exchange stamps.

Finally, the internet is a useful source of information. The American Philatelic Society’s site is well worth a visit at: http://stamps.org/ Starting-a-Collection A useful list of internet links can be found on the Yorkshire Philatelic Association’s site at: www.y-p-a.org.uk/page_10.html And of course stamp collecting is not just for dark winter evenings – you can collect all year round! H John Edwards is the Honorary Editor and Acting Secretary of The American Stamp Club of Great Britain – the society for collectors of American stamps who live in Great Britain.

You can contact him at 38 Carleton Green Close, Pontefract, West Yorkshire WF8 3NN, tel. 01977 793566, email ponte38@msn.com

Sometimes the paper gets folded during the printing of the stamps and produces a spectacular variety.

HM Queen Elizabeth II on this 1954 New Zealand stamp would make a nice addition to a Royalty collection.

Star Trek and sci-fi devotees have plenty of stamps to hunt for.

October 2012 19

The American

C

antina del Ponte is located on the south bank of the Thames and has a view of Tower Bridge that is breathtaking. As we sat at a small table inside the restaurant gazing at the scene that has been pictured often on television this past summer, Maxine Howe sipped her cocktail, Jump in the River (Absolut Vanilla Vodka, fresh ginger radish, lime juice and Prosecco), while I enjoyed the Raspberry Sensation (Absolut Raspberri Vodka, fresh lime juice, fresh raspberries) both £6.50. It was one of those perfect late summer evenings with a Turner coloured sky above and the Thames glistening gold and silver stripes under the sinking sun just a few feet away.

If you were to ask most Americans what their favourite food was, it would be Italian. It is our comfort food, our everyday food and often the food we serve guests at dinner parties. Inspired by cooking traditions all over Italy, Cantina del Ponte offers a variety of dishes that seem to please because every table inside and outside under the canopied terrace was occupied. The Calamari

Cantina del Ponte

Fritti (£7.50) with caper mayonnaise was deep fried and delicious, but it was the Linguine Allo Scoglio with mussels, squid, baby octopus, chilli and tomato (£16.50) that will have me return. It reminded me of a cioppino stew of crab and clams I used to order at my favourite Italian restaurant in San Francisco whose proprietor tired of my questions, pulled me from my chair one evening and, with 3½ inch heels (mine, not his) clattering against the tiled floors, took me to the kitchen where he personally showed me how his Ligurian fisherman grandfather

taught him to make it.

My Cotoletta Alla Milanese (£19.50) was as delicious as any veal Milanese I’ve had in the UK, but when I return I will have Saltimbocca Alla Romana (£15.50) that reminded Maxine and me of our favourite restaurant in Verona. We are not talking a 3-star Michelin restaurant where food is too often eaten in tomb silence, but a restaurant that knows their favourite customers by name and there is a vibrancy among the people dining there. Manager Corrado Lamanuzzi offered us a tasting of several of their Castello Banfi wines and we enjoyed them

The American

Peter Brown’s Cotoletta Alla Milanese

so much we plan to attend the Banfi wine tasting and dinner next month.

We sometimes forget that long before the French began planting vineyards, wine was an important part of Etruscan culture and the Romans were cultivating grape vines throughout their empire.

We ended on a sweet note of Pesche al Vino Rosso (£5.50) or peaches marinated in red wine with the most delicious peach sorbet I think I ever had. I might add, there are pasta, dessert, and bakery classes offered as well as wine tasting and dinners including a truffle menu available all of November.

CANTINA DEL PONTE The Butler’s Wharf Building 36c Shad Thames London SE1 2YE 020 7403 5403

COOKBOOK Around my kitchen table – 101 recipes

P

eter Brown, as he states in the preface, did not set out to write a cookbook; it just seemed to grow over the years.

In his eighties, the cookbook is a memorial to family and friends who have enjoyed dining around his table whether in his house in France or his pied-à-terre in London. A beautifully illustrated book with recipes that are easy to follow and interesting comments by Peter. £17.00 To purchase a copy, email petermarin2@aol.com

Baked Bananas

Peter suggests this is a perfect last minute dessert, and he was proved right when friends from the States stopped by and ended up staying for supper.

1 banana per person Juice of a Lemon Juice of an Orange 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey, depending on the amount of bananas you are using.

4 tablespoons rum, you can substitute brandy or even whiskey (I used Bourbon).

Cinnamon to taste Small knot of butter, size of a walnut

Method: Slice the bananas in half lengthwise with skins on and following the inside curve of the fruit. (The fruit must be ripe, yet firm, or you’ll have a mushy mess.) Lay the peeled bananas, cut side down in an oven proof dish large enough to take them in one layer.

Pour over the lemon and orange juice, alcohol and honey.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and dot with butter. If you have time, cover the dish with cling film and leave standing for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

Place in a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes and serve piping hot from the oven in the dish they were baked. They need no accompaniment, although I served this with vanilla ice cream as Peter suggested.

October 2012 21

The American

GARNIER Dining Out at

Reviewed by Virginia E Schultz

E

ric Garnier, co-founder of Racine, probably knows more about classic French cuisine than anyone in London except, perhaps, his brother Didier, the proprietor at Le Colombier in Chelsea. If you haven’t been there, it is the closest you’ll get to dining in Paris ...or was, until Eric opened Garnier on Earl’s Court Road near the junction with Old Brompton Road.

The interior in Garnier is long and spacious, with panelled mirrors and velvet banquettes and tables lining each side. The menu is divided according to courses and easily read in French or English.

From what Nelly Pateras and I observed, Eric is feeling relaxed and confident, and there was no hint of unhappiness at leaving Racine. He greeted customers from the past, like Nelly and myself, as well as newcomers in that reserved but friendly Gallic manner that the French have perfected. As it was a Sunday, there were several children under ten, and from time to time, Eric would stop to chat with them and their parents.

When a waiter accidentally dropped a dish, he was there helping without a raise of an eyebrow.

First came a selection of crudités

22 October 2012

which we nibbled on as we sipped a glass of Champagne and studied the menu. Nelly and I both started with Salade de Crabe (crab salad, samphire and avocado, £13.60) that was tasty, although not particularly attractive to look at. Nelly immediately winged in on the Foie de Veau, Sauce Soubise à La Sauge (calf’s liver, white onion sauce, buttered turnips and radishes, £18.90). It arrived beautifully cooked to pink perfection, as she ordered.

The bowl of chips set in the center of the table were as good as I’ve had in London.

Now, no one cooks chicken better than the French, and I was tempted by the Ballotine de Coquelet (baby chicken, £16.50), but as I’ve been ordered to increase my red meat intake, I decided on the Contrefilet Minute (sirloin steak, bone marrow butter and red wine sauce, £16.50) and regretted it on first bite, especially after noticing the couple at the table beside us oohing and ahhing over their chicken. The contrefilet was fine, but it didn’t revive that first time in Paris when I exclaimed, “Now I know why Zelda Fitzgerald loved dining in Paris!”

My thin French friend Nelly,

who eats twice as much as me, had to have dessert. There was Crêpes Suzette (£7.90) which would be too filling, so I settled on the French classic Crême Brulèe (£6.90). It had a hint of vanilla and was delicious.

However, next time, I shall have the Soupe de Melon et Fleur de Sureau, Sorbet Citron (elderflower and melon soup, £6.90) that came in a large bowl and which, Nelly assured me, was wonderful to the last spoonful.

If I hadn’t been driving, I would have had a glass or two of French wine, as the wine list showed a number of well chosen options reasonably priced. Service was excellent with waiters moving through the restaurant in a friendly and easy manner. Yes, I will return.

314 Earl’s Court Road London, SW5 9BQ Tel: 020 7370 4536

We are pleased to announce that Francesco Mazzei, the rising star of Italian cooking in London, has been appointed as Consultant Chef at La Capanna Restaurant.

His Head Chef is Claudio Milano and Davide Alberti is appointed as Sous Chef; both of whom have been working for him for a number of years.

We are pleased to announce that Francesco Mazzei, the rising star We are pleased to announce that “I am delighted to be associated with such an old and beautiful restaurant, now approaching its ofMazzei, Italian cooking in London, Francesco the rising star of Italian has 35th birthday. I am looking forward to introducing traditional Italian dishes cooked in the modern been appointed as Consultant cooking in London, has been appointed as style using the very best seasonal products sourced locally” Consultant Chefat at La Capanna Restaurant.

Chef La Capanna Restaurant.

Francesco Mazzei His Head Chef is Claudio Milano and Davide Alberti is appointed Sous Chef; His Head Chef is as Claudio Milani both of whom have been working for him and Davide Alberti is appointed for a number years.

We are ofpleased to announce that as Sous Chef; Francesco Mazzei, the both rising of starwhom of Italian have been has working for him as cooking in London, been appointed Consultant at La Capanna for aChef number of years.Restaurant.

CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER

Seasonal Celebration 2012

Special Offer

His Head Chef is Claudio Milano and Christmas at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward employees, Davide Alberti is appointed Sousfor Chef; La Capanna is offering a great as value impress clients or celebrate the festive season with family and both of whom have been working for him the new set lunch menu, friends.

Our exceptional food andwith service delight “I am delighted to be associated suchwill an old and your beautiful restaurant, now forapproaching a number its of years. guests.

35th birthday. I am looking forward to introducing traditional Italian dishes cooked in the modern style using the very best seasonal products sourced locally” from Monday to Saturday

Set Lunch Menu – Three-course Menu at £25.00 Francesco Mazzei Three-course meal at £18.50 Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 (August and September) ”I am delighted to be associated with suchatan£45.00 old and beautiful or Four-course Menu restaurant, now approaching its 35th birthday. I am looking forward to CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER a booking call us on Christmas Day £85.00 Menu introducing traditional Italian dishes cooked using To “I am delighted to be associated with such anin oldthe andmodern beautifulstyle restaurant, nowmake approaching its 01932 862121 th birthday. I am looking forward to introducing traditional Italian dishes cooked in the 35 modern Boxing Day £25.00 Menu the very best seasonal products sourced locally” or online at www.lacapanna.co.uk style using the very seasonal ” New Yearsbest Eve £90.00products Menu sourced locallyFrancesco Mazzei

Seasonal Celebration 2012

Christmas at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward employees, FORTHCOMING EVENTS CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER impress clients or celebrate the festive season with family and friends. Our exceptional food and service will delight your guests.

Special Offer

Francesco Mazzei

La Capanna is offering a great value for the new set lunch menu,

Seasonal SeasonalCelebration Celebration2012 2012

Special Special Offer Offer

from Monday to Saturday Set Lunch Menu – Three-course Menu at £25.00 La meal Capannaatpresents Three-course £18.50 La Capanna presents Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 (August and September) Christmas at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward employees, or Four-course Menu at £45.00 La Capanna is offering a great value for Christmas at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward employees,

La Capanna is offering a great value for impressEnjoy clientsgreat or celebrate the festive season with family and food and impress clients or celebrate the festive season with family and the new set lunch friends.

Ourthe exceptional and service will delight your rat pack ofmenu.

Opera return offoodfood the newThe set lunch menu, friends.

Our exceptional and service will delight your for an Exclusive To make a booking call us on Christmas Day £85.00 Menu guests.

Ian Gallagher guests.

An evening of great food and evening of Beautiful 01932 862121 Boxing Day to La Capanna as £25.00 Menu From totoSaturday entertainment Music together with a or online atMonday www.lacapanna.co.uk from Monday Saturday Set Lunch Menu – Three-course Menu at £25.00

Set Lunch Three-course Menu at £25.00 NewMenu Years –Eve £90.00 Menu Frank Sinatra Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 3 Course Dinner or Four-Course Menu at £45.00 Friday 7th September or Four-course Menu at £45.00£49.50

Chrismas Day £85.00 Menu 3 Course Dinner Friday 19th October FORTHCOMING EVENTS Christmas £85.00 Boxing DayDay £25.00 MenuMenu £49.50 Day £25.00 Menu New Boxing Years Eve £90.00 Menu

New Years Eve £90.00 Menu

Three-course meal at £18.50

Three-course meal at £18.50 (September and October) th November Friday 16September) (August and

3 Course call Dinner To make a booking us on To make a booking £75.00call us on 01932 862121 862121 or online at 01932 www.lacapanna.co.uk

or online at www.lacapanna.co.uk

La Capanna Restaurant – Address: 48 High Street, KT11 3EF. Tel: 01932 862121, www.lacapanna.co.uk La Capanna presents LaCobham, CapannaSurrey presents

Private Parking Available

FORTHCOMING EVENTS Enjoy great food and the return of

The rat pack of Opera

The American

Cellar Talk

By Virginia E Schultz

Last of the Summer Wines

S

ummer was not summer in the UK this year. It went from rainy to cool to warm to hot to rainy in less than seven days more than once.

As a result, the Sauvignon Blanc and rosés from around the world I bought to celebrate all the special events such as the Queen’s Jubilee were often replaced by a lovely cup of Earl Gray or a cup of coffee after one or two glasses of wine. At the moment, I am looking over the rosé wines trying to decide which I can put away for next summer

CHAMPAGNE OF THE MONTH Piper Heidsieck 2004 (Expensive) There’s a wonderful advertisement that I came across while sipping this lovely Champagne with its long floral finish, called The Ritual. It’s based on the Cinderella story and shows Piper-Heidsieck being drunk from one of Christian Louboutin’s signature red sole shoes. Women, it has been noted, deserve much of the credit for Champagne’s fame and I cannot lie, I love Champagne no matter my mood, and a glass (well, two glasses) of this vintage brut help me forget the awful rainy weather raging across the Thames. But, I might add, as much as I loved this Champagne, I drank it from a crystal glass and not one of Louboutin’s very expensive shoes.

24 October 2012

and which I need to drink now. Fortunately, rosés have improved in quality and for a dinner given by a friend just back from a holiday in Scotland, I suggested I bring several bottles of rosé for us to try.

After some debate with myself, I decided a bottle of Dry Creek Zinfandel Petite Zin Rosé 2011 from California, Buil and Giné Priorat Rosat Giné from Spain and a bottle of Chateau d’Esclans Cotes de Provence Rosé Les Clans 2010 were varied enough to go with whatever my friend was serving that evening. To say this friend was dubious about the rosés is an understatement, and he had several bottles of Sancerre and Bourgogne set aside just in case.

With the Jamón Ibérico, I suggested instead of opening the Cava, we have instead the Buil and Giné.

The six of us all concluded that the rosé turned out to be a perfect pairing for the saltiness of the meat, perhaps even a better choice than a sparkling wine, my friend reluctantly agreed. Barbecued trout caught two days before in Scotland came next, and this time both the Provence rosé and Petite Zin Rosé were opened. It was a tie to which we liked best; whether this was the palate between two sexes, I don’t know, but the three men preferred

the Provence rosé while we females declared the Petite Zin Rosé was definitely the winner. I might add, we wrote down our choices so none of us knew what anyone else had chosen. For our dessert of sweetened oranges and home baked pound cake, we had Orange Blossom Muscat made by Andrew Quady from Madera, California who makes only dessert wines. Why dessert wines are so often avoided I don’t know, but the Quady was the perfect ending to our meal.

The Provence region in France is the leader in quality and production for rosé. Their best pinks are usually a blend of Grenache and Syrah with a touch of Carignan and once in a while Cabernet Sauvignon.

There was an explosion of rosé coming from Provence in 2011 compared to 2010, and even in France more rosé was drunk than white wine overall. In fact, great quality rosés are coming from all over the world including the States, Argentina, Australia and Chile. California, the home of white Zinfandel, is now giving their attention to using Pinot Noir, Grenache and Syrah. The rosés from New York, Oregon and Washington have also improved in quality. One of my favourites is Bonny Doon’s Vin Gris de Cigare, which is a blend of Grenache (about 70%) and the rest mainly the white grapes Roussanne and Grenache Blanc. I served this wine recently to two friends with roast chicken, tiny boiled potatoes and purple broccoli, and the three of us finished the bottle to the last drop. H

The american women’s healTh cenTre london www.awhc.co.uk

Francesco Mazzei, the rising star of Italian cooking London, has been appointed asthat We in are pleased to announce Consultant Chef at La Capanna Francesco Mazzei, the rising Restaurant. star of Italian cooking in London, has been appointed as His Consultant Head Chef Milano and Chefis atClaudio La Capanna Restaurant.

Davide Alberti is appointed as Sous Chef; both whom Chef have been working for himand Hisof Head is Claudio Milano for a number of years.

Davide Alberti is appointed as Sous Chef; both of whom have been working for him for a number of years.

Circumcision Matters

Are you having problems arranging circumcision for your new-born boy?

OB GYN

“I am delighted to be associated with such an old and beautiful restaurant, now approaching its 35th birthday. I am looking forward to introducing traditional Italian dishes cooked in the modern style“Iusing the very best products sourced locally am delighted to beseasonal associated with such an old and” beautiful restaurant, now approaching its 35th birthday. I am looking forward to introducing traditional Italian dishes cookedMazzei in the modern Francesco style using the very best seasonal products sourced locally”

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Francesco Mazzei

CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER

CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER

Appointments: 7390 8433 2012 (Phone) Seasonal020 Celebration 0844 800 3006 (UK only) Celebration Christmas Seasonal at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward 2012 employees, 020 4162with (Fax) impress clients or celebrate the7383 festive season family and

If so, go to www.circumcisionmatters.com

Special Offer Special Offer La Capanna is offering a great value for or call 0207 390 8433

the new set lunch menu, La Capanna is offering a great value for the new set lunch menu,

friends.

Our exceptional food and service will delight your Christmas at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward employees, guests. impress clients or celebrate the festive season with family and friends. Our exceptional food and service will delight your Set Lunch Menu – Three-course Menu at £25.00 guests.

Circumcision Matters

dickinson B. cowan

from Monday to Saturday Three-course meal at £18.50 from Monday to Saturday (August and September) Three-course meal at £18.50

Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 www.docTorcowan.co.uK Set Lunch Menu – Three-course Menu at £25.00 or Four-course Menu at £45.00 Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 or Four-course Menu at £45.00 Christmas Day £85.00 Menu

(August and September)

To make a booking call us on 01932 862121 To make a booking call us on or online at www.lacapanna.co.uk 01932 862121 or online at www.lacapanna.co.uk

Boxing Day £25.00 Menu Christmas Day £85.00 Menu New Years Eve £90.00 Menu Boxing Day £25.00 Menu New Years Eve £90.00 Menu

FORTHCOMING EVENTS FORTHCOMING EVENTS We We

are are

pleased pleased

to to

announce announce

that that

Francesco Mazzei, the rising star of Italian La Capanna La Capanna presents Francesco Mazzei, the been rising star presents of Italian La Capanna presents La in Capanna presents cooking London, has appointed as cooking in Chef London, has been appointed as Consultant at La Capanna Restaurant.

La Capanna presents La Capanna presents Consultant Chef at La Capanna Restaurant.

Enjoy great food and The rat pack of Opera His Head Chef is Claudio Milano and the return of for an Exclusive His Head Chef is ClaudioasMilano and Enjoy great food and Davide Alberti is appointed Sous Chef; Ian Gallagher TENORS Unlimited An evening of great food and evening of Beautiful Davide is appointed asratSous Chef; The pack Opera both of Alberti whom have been working forof him the returnasof to La Capanna entertainment The rat pack of Opera for an Exclusive Music together with a both of whom have been working for him for a number of years. for an Exclusive IanSinatra Gallagher Frank evening of Beautiful for a number of years. An evening of great food and An evening of great food and to La Capanna as evening of Beautiful3 Course entertainment Music together with a entertainment Dinner Music together with a th September Friday 16th November Sinatra Friday 7Frank £49.50 3 Course Dinner 3 Course Dinner3 Course Dinner Friday 16th November 3 Course Dinner 7thDinner September £49.50 £49.50 3Friday Course £75.00 Friday 19th October

Miss Kirsty Anderson

£75.00 £49.50 th Friday 16th November 3 Course Dinner 3 Course DinnerFriday 19 October Friday 19th October £75.00 “I am delighted to be associated £49.50 with such an old and beautiful restaurant, now approaching its “I th am delighted to looking be associated with such an old traditional and beautiful restaurant, now approaching its 35 birthday.

I am forward to introducing Italian dishes cooked in the modern 35th birthday. am looking forward to introducing style using the Ivery best seasonal products sourced traditional locally” Italian dishes cooked in the modern style using the very best seasonal products sourced locally” La Capanna Restaurant – Address: 48 High Street, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3EF.Mazzei Tel: 01932 862121, www.lacapanna.co.uk Francesco Private Parking Available Francesco Mazzei

La Capanna Restaurant – Address: 48 High Street, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3EF. Tel: 01932 862121, www.lacapanna.co.uk

CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER

Private Parking Available

The American

The Civil Wars

John Paul White and Joy Williams went separately to a songwriters’ workshop, were unexpectedly put together, and one of America’s greatest folk-country duos was born. Hear the extraordinarily intimate blend of their voices: October 28th Belfast, Mandela Hall; 29th Dublin, Olympia Theatre; 30th Manchester Apollo; November 1st Liverpool Philharmonic Hall; 2nd Glasgow ABC. [Stop press: more dates added see www.thecivilwars.com]

The Killers

Brandon Flowers and his Vegas friends are back together again, after long term rumors said they would never reform. They’re heading this way with music from their new long player Battle Born.

October 26th Glasgow SECC; 27th Aberdeen AECC; 31st Birmingham LG Arena; November 3rd Nottingham Capital FM Arena; 4th Newcastle Metro Radio Arena; 5th Cardiff Motorpoint Arena; 8th Sheffield Motorpoint Arena; 9th Liverpool Echo Arena; 13th & 14th Manchester Arena; 16th & 17th London The O2.

Brandon Flowers of The Killers

MUSIC

LIVE AND KICKING Pokey LaFarge

Among the most exciting exponents of roots American music are Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three, from St Louis, Missouri. Their mix of early jazz, string ragtime, country blues and western swing pleases purists but it’s far from a museum experience. Pokey says, “It’s not retro music, it’s American music that never died.” October 20th Brighton, The Haunt; 21st Norwich Arts Centre; 22nd London, KOKO; 23rd Liverpool, The Kazimier; 24th Glasgow, Oran Mor; 25th Belfast, Empire Music Hall.

Beverly Smith & Alice Gerrard

The American duo bring their oldtime duets, fiddles and banjos across the pond for a night of authentic bluegrass and folk. They have been praised by The Judds, while Tim O’Brien has said “They show us ways to make something old into something new.” October 11th Wolferton, Norfolk, The Wolf Folk Club; 13th London, Exmouth Arms, The Cellar Upstairs; 14th Towersey, Thame, Oxfordshire, The Three Horseshoes Pub; 16th Dartford Working Men’s Club; 17th Gillingham, Kent, The Barge Pub; 20th Warminster, Wiltshire, The Yew Tree; 21st Bath, The Bell Inn; 24th London, Birkbeck Tav-

ern; 25th Lewes, Sussex, The Royal Oak; 26th Halesworth Arts Festival.

Neil Sedaka

For over 50 years, Neil Sedaka has been a major contributor to rock ‘n’ roll and pop music, from Oh! Carol to Laughter in the Rain and beyond.

October 6th Gateshead, The Sage; 8th Glasgow, Clyde Auditorium; 10th Manchester, Bridgewater Hall; 12th Bristol, Colston Hall; 15th Birmingham, Symphony Hall; 17th London, Royal Albert Hall; 18th Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall; 20th Bournemouth, International Centre; 22nd Cardiff, St. David’s Hall; 24th Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall.

Don McLean

The legendary American Pie troubadour tours the UK this month. October 19th Bristol, Colston Hall; 20th Manchester, Bridgewater Hall; 21st Gateshead, The Sage; 23rd Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall; 25th London, Royal Albert Hall; 27th Birmingham, Symphony Hall; 28th Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall; 29th Cardiff, St David’s Hall; 31st Basingstoke, The Anvil; November 2nd Dublin, Ireland, Olympia Theatre; 3rd Londonderry/ Derry, Millennium Forum; 4th Killarney, Ireland, INEC.

T

his year sees the 50th Anniversary tour of a British R&B band that molded the sound of ‘60s Rhythm & Blues. But it’s not the Stones. To quote one of their biggest hits, “Uh huh, it was the Manfreds!” Singer Paul Jones tells Michael Burland about fifty years at the top of British blues South African-born Manfred Lubowitz arrived in Britain in 1961.

Renaming himself Manfred Mann, the accomplished jazz pianist set up a band with drummer Mike Hugg.

Talented musicians including Mike Vickers and Tom McGuinness were drafted, topped by the voice of Paul Jones. The band’s self-penned 5-4-32-1 was followed by a string of hits including Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Sha La La (also a hit for the Shirelles), and Oh No Not My Baby. After topping the UK charts in 1966 with Pretty Flamingo, Paul left, to be replaced by Mike d’Abo. More hits followed, including Bob Dylan’s Just Like A Woman and Mighty Quinn before Mann and Hugg disbanded the outfit. Paul Jones now hosts BBC Radio 2’s Blues show – appointment listening for blues fans – and sings with his own The Blues Band. Jones, D’Abo, Hugg and McGuinness also appear without Mann as The Manfreds.

Is it true that the blues was revitalized in the ‘60s by a new breed of British musicians?

I have heard people corroborate this, even Buddy Guy, and you would expect him to speak the truth about the blues. There was a feeling among young black Americans that the blues related to slavery times and the then

burgeoning soul music related to ‘now’, to black power and freedom. BB King championed Peter Green, who had a more American sensibility about the blues, a sense of relaxation that didn’t happen much in British blues artists – we were all a bit frantic.

Were you trying to change it into something more British?

No, slavish imitation was the order of the day! And we chose some of the most difficult people to imitate the likes of Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters – absolute titans of the blues.

How did a nice English grammar school boy and Oxford student get involved in the blues?

I was already a jazz fan and although I didn’t realise it I was already listening to blues when I heard Louis Armstrong. When R&B started to become popular here it didn’t seem that much of a leap. But It wasn’t until I heard electric blues that I wanted to play it myself.

Did you think there was a career in it?

No. Brian Jones rang me in 1962, said he was forming a band and would I like to be the singer. I said no, we’d never make a living playing the music we loved! We were good friends, but I had just got a job singing with a dance band. They got someone called Mick instead. I’m not the least bit upset about that – I’ve enjoyed my career too much.

Instead you joined Manfred Mann and had many hit records in a short period. Was that exciting?

Yes. There was an ambition in all of us to be successful. We were commissioned to write a signature tune for Ready Steady Go!, and that was a hit. Pretty soon we were playing six, seven and even eight gigs a week.

But in the industry then, particularly at EMI, groups were told they couldn’t write their own material. From that point on we could write B-sides and album tracks but we never put out an A-side that we had written. Once you have a Number 1, songs come tumbling in, and they got increasingly poppy. I was in the process of leaving the band before we did the last three singles, including If You Gotta Go, Go Now, and Pretty Flamingo.

You play with The Manfreds, The Blues Band and solo, then you have your radio show. If you had to give up everything else, which aspect of your career would you choose?

That’s very simple. If I had to give up everything else, the only thing to survive would be what I do with my wife. We go round churches and Christian-organised events around the world, telling people the good news – that God loves us. That’s really the rest of my life’s work.

Check out www.themanfreds.com for tour dates. Read an extended version of this interview at www. theamerican.co.uk/manfreds

October 2012 27

The American

Hal David, Burt Bacharach’s, songwriting partner, dies What Do You Get When You Fall in Love? You get one of Hal David’s great lyrics. David, with his main songwriting partner Burt Bacharach, wrote some of the greatest popular songs of the 20th Century.

A short list of just some of them includes 24 Hours from Tulsa, Alfie, Close to You, Do You Know the Way to San Jose, Don’t Make Me Over, I Say a Little Prayer, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, The Look of Love, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, There’s Always Something There to Remind Me, This Guy’s in Love With You, To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before, Trains and Boats and Planes, Walk on By, What the World Needs Now is Love, What’s New Pussycat?, Wishin’ and Hopin’ and Wives and Lovers. Many were written for David and Bacharach’s muse Dionne Warwick.

David also wrote the lyric to You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If you Break My Heart). His words did break our hearts, but he’s surely upstairs now, enjoying the love still held for his songs. David died in Los Angeles aged 91. The cause was a stroke, according to his wife, Eunice, who said he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Hal David (left) with fellow songwriter Darden Smith.

PHOTO: JODI MARR

28 October 2012

ALBUMS THEOF MONTH Hank Williams, Jr.

Old School New Rules Humphead (UK), Bocephus (USA) Hank Jr. has made an entire career not on being his father’s son (although he could easily have done) but on plowing his own furrow as an original country outlaw. The ‘O’ word often means an artist with a PR department that litters releases with hints of ‘edge’ and ‘bad behavior’ but Hank Jr. is the real deal. If you had to select one word to sum up the man, the music and the history, that word would be rowdy. And Old School New Rules fits the bill. On half of the album that is an attractive attribute. The other half, well that will depend on your politics. The apolitical tunes are bigchested rocking country that have a beer and a laugh (I’m Gonna Get Drunk and Play Hank Williams, written by HWJr. with John Hickman) or a beer and a reminisce (Old School, remembering his first meetings with Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and many more). But the rest ally quality playing with cartoon redneck complaints about Federal government and in particular Barack Obama (Takin’ Back the Country, ‘co-written’ with Dad as it samples Hank 1’s Move It On Over, tells the President to ‘get back to Chicago’). Whether that floats your boat depends on your affiliations. In music the political can inform the lyrics, but the subtle beats the sledgehammer every time. Standout track, Jr’s cover of Hank’s You Win Again.

Lyrics ?????

Music

Hank Williams, Jr.

Aimee Mann Charmer Proper Records

Aimee Mann’s output isn’t what you’d call prodigious. Charmer is but her eighth studio album and the first in four years. It doesn’t move on much from her previous work, with the exception of the retro synths in Living a Lie, a duet with James Mercer of The Shins. But would you want her to leave out her trademark clever lyrics, biting wit, self deprecating humor and vein of melancholy, matched by well played new wave rock so reminiscent of quirky ’80s British artists like XTC and Elvis Costello? The video for the title track is classic Mann – jaded by touring and signings she buys a robot Aimee to handle her personal appearances and settles down to relax at home, only for the cyber-singer to become more popular and fun. “When you’re a charmer, the world applauds/they don’t know that secretly charmers feel like they’re frauds.” she sings, but in Aimee’s case, the charmer is for real. Ans as so often with Mann, repeated listenings yield great rewards.

The American

Coffee Break QUIZ 1 NASA’s robotic vehicle,

5 How many former

Curiosity, landed on which planet in August this year?

US Ambassadors and Ministers to the UK went on to become US President?

2 Curiosity is carrying some

6 Where in London was the

money. How much, and why?

first US Embassy?

Stage names:

3 How long does it take

to send a message from Earth to NASA’s Voyager 1 satellite?

7 Stanley Burrell became

famous as who?

8 Who is Alphonso Joseph

D’Abruzzo better known as?

9 What is Moby’s real name?

10 And who is Myra Ellen Amos?

4 After the American

Revolution, in which British city was the first American Embassy for the former colonies established?

2 1 9

3

3

9

4 5 7 4

4 1 6

1 7 3

3

NASA/JPL-CALTECH/ MALIN SPACE SCIENCE SYSTEMS

The following TV shows are or were all spin-offs from another TV show. Identify the original show: 11 Ponderosa

6 3 8

5 2

8 2

You won’t be picking up this penny any time soon

12 Kate Loves a Mystery 13 The Facts of Life

7

9

3

6 1 2

14 Mork & Mindy 15 Beverly Hills Buntz 16 Lewis 17 Boston Legal

Answers to Coffee Break Quiz & Sudoku on page 65

October 2012 29

Art s choice The American

by Richard L Gale

Painting: Pulled, Stretched, Revealed

Sumarria Lunn Gallery, London W1K 5AB www.sumarrialunn.com October 25 to November 23

Derek Williams

Welsh collection of British art to visit the Orkney Islands Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney & City Art Centre, Edinburgh pierartscentre.com In Orkney until November 17, then in Edinburgh December 1 to February 24 Over 40 works by some of the greatest British artists of the 20th century are presently on show in Scotland. The Derek Williams Trust Collection contains works by L.S. Lowry, Henry Moore, John Piper, and Ceri Richards is currently on a limited tour. Derek Williams (1929-1984), began his collection in the 1950s. With a passion for the work of Piper and Richards, whose works make up the majority of his collection, he added works by Stanley Spencer, Victor Pasmore and Lucian Freud. The whole collection is on long-term loan to Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales), with this new exhibition visiting Edinburgh soon.

30 October 2012

May I present my new favorite artist – Jan Maarten Voskuil. With picture series and exhibitions entitled ‘Pointless’, ‘There is no Point’, ‘A Bit O White’, and ‘Rip Off ’, there’s no hint of the pseud about this Amsterdam artist’s abstraction, yet there’s no cynicism in the works themselves either. Another of his titles, ‘Soft Collision’ describes his style aptly, his monochromatic geometry inhabiting a space between two and three dimensions, peeling from the wall here, distorting as it meets a wall there, and refusing to be constrained to the flat world of a gallery wall.

This current exhibition also includes

Above: Jan Maarten Voskuil, There Is No Point In Purple-Blue, acrylic on linen, 60 x 60 x 15cm Below: Jan Maarten Voskuil, There Is No Point In Deep Red (Corner), acrylic on linen, 60 x 40 x 18cm

two British artists – Alexis Harding and Simon Callery – whose colorful contributions both defy and exploit gravity to escape their canvases.

Adam Pendleton: I’ll Be Your Pace Gallery, 6-10 Lexington Street, London W1F 0LB www.pacegallerylondon.com To October 27 The sometimes overlooked Pace has two noteworthy offerings this month. American conceptual artist Adam Pendleton has his first London exhibition, investigating print, collage, photography and video with the theme of ‘Black Dada’, echoing the letters from the phrase into his work to create cross-media resonance. With passing hints of the work of fellow New York artists Christopher Wool (see page 34), and Mel Bochner (whose work is also in London this month at the Whitechapel Gallery – www.whitechapel.org), Pendleton explores the linguistic relationship of publishing, print and paint.

The American

Left, top: Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1969, acrylic on canvas, 81 x 93”

LAST CHANCE TO CATCH...

© 1998 KATE ROTHKO PRIZEL AND CHRISTOPHER ROTHKO / ARTIST RIGHTS SOCIETY, NEW YORK (ARS) COURTESY PACE GALLERY

Left: Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lake Superior, Cascade River, 2003, gelatin silver print, 47 x 58 3⁄4” © HIROSHI SUGIMOTO, COURTESY PACE GALLERY

More New Yorkers in London

Rothko/Sugimoto: Dark Paintings and Seascapes 6 Burlington Gardens, London, W1S 3ES www.pacegallerylondon.com October 4 to November 17 The other Pace Gallery exhibition this month pairs the emotive abstraction of Russian-American Mark Rothko and the subtle minimalist seascapes of Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, both of whom found homes in New York (a coincidentally recurrent theme this month). The visual appeal of combining the two in one exhibition is readily apparent above.

While Rothko has an intimidating space at Tate Modern devoted to his Seagram Murals, this exhibition is a great opportunity to view Sugimoto’s seascapes, familiar to non-gallery goers for his cover to U2’s album No Line On The Horizon. Whether there is more than superficial similarity between Rothko’s late dense acrylic slabs and Sugimoto’s photography is an interesting matter for the viewer.

Not wanting to fight against the unexplained alignment of so many New York artists in Britain’s capital at the moment, we’ll just mention a couple more contemporary artists whose work is worth a protracted visit. The shimmering colors of NYbased painter Rita Ackermann’s Fire by Days is to be found at Hauser & Wirth (196a Piccadilly, London W1J 9DY www.hauserwirth.com) until November 3; while the South London Gallery hosts the conceptual post-black art of Rashid Johnson in Shelter, the artist’s first solo exhibition in London – he also curates an exhibition in the SLG’s first floor galleries – which lasts until November 25 (Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH www.southlondongallery.org).

Rashid Johnson, Traveling Jules, 2012. Branded red oak flooring, black soap,wax. 74 x 74 x 3”.

PHOTO: MARTIN PARSEKIAN © RASHID JOHNSON. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND HAUSER AND WIRTH

Edvard Munch, The Girls on the Bridge 1927, Munch Museum © MUNCH MUSEUM/MUNCH-ELLINGSENDGROUP/DACS 2012

Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye Tate Modern, London SE1 9TG www.tate.org.uk Until October 14

While Munch’s The Scream has traveled from fame to icon and on to cultural parody thanks to a certain series of halloween mask-related films, much of the rest of his work remains unknown to the general public. This exhibition has been doing a fine job of filling in that knowledge gap, and includes sixty paintings (many from the Munch Museum in Oslo) plus his film and photography work. While The Scream marks Munch down as a symbolist, much of the material here is purely expressionist, and includes such works as The Sick Child and Girls on a Bridge, subjects he returned to, multiple versions appearing together here at the Tate.

October 2012 31

CATESBY WATERCOLOUR © ROYAL COLLECTION ENTERPRISES LTD

The American

Book Review: The Natural History of Carolina, Florida & The Bahama Islands Addison Publications, £32,500

Mark Catesby was an 18th century English naturalist and artist known for his extraordinarily detailed and beautiful watercolors of flowers, birds and fish. His Natural History of Carolina... is considered both an artistic and scientific masterpiece, and his three leather-bound volumes were purchased by King George III in 1768, and remain in today’s Royal Library at Windsor Castle. Fifty high quality facsimiles of the 256 images have been created for the very first time, including Catesby’s original text, a preface by Jane Roberts (the Royal Librarian), an index, and a map of Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas. Twenty of these sets have been handbound into four-volume sets, and, to reassure investors that fifty more copies aren’t just around the corner, the printing plates for each image were destroyed after the print run.

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has since added silkscreen and even computers to his choice of media.

Here, images, essays and analyses add up to a definitive study.

Bronze

Main Galleries, Royal Academy, Burlington House, London W1J 0BD www.royalacademy.org.uk To December 9 Christopher Wool in his studio, NY 2006.

PHOTO: EUGENE RICHARDS

Photo: Eugene Richards

Book Review: Christopher Wool

By Hans Werner Holzwarth Hardcover, 424 pages, £44.99 Multilingual: English, French, German

Continuing the New York connections, publishers Taschen have released a retrospective tome of New York artist Christopher Wool. To call Wool an abstract painter is a little like calling him a painter-decorator, though paint from some ‘80s works

by Wool were applied with rubber rollers, before his distinctive word paintings (‘Trbl,’ ‘Riot,’ ‘Sell the House, Sell the Car, Sell the Kids’) captured the wider public imagination. He

Another definitive work, though this time an exhibition. From ancient to modern, this event organized by the Royal Academy of Arts brings together the finest bronze works spanning 5000 years, with over 150 bronzes from three continents.

Many of the pieces have never been seen in the UK before. Eschewing a chronological display in favor of thematic arrangement, sections include the human figure, animals, objects, reliefs, gods, heads and busts, with works including Ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan bronzes, as well as Medieval, Renaissance and later works by Ghiberti, Donatello, Cellini, Giambologna, De Vries, Rodin, Picasso, Moore and, er, more. Part of the exhibition also explains the involved process of making bronze.

Chimera of Arezzo, Etruscan, c. 400 BCE, Bronze, 78.5 x 129 cm PHOTO ANTONIO QUATTRONE, FLORENCE

@

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of Democracy’, and ‘Anglo Saxon Capitalism – a shared inheritance’.

Though it isn’t likely to be a bestseller, this is clearly a compilation borne of passion, and ideal for anyone with Virginian connections. – EE

Code Name Habbakuk

By L.D. Cross (Heritage Group Distribution, £8.50)

Reviewed by Virginia E Schultz, Richard L Gale, Elena Erickson, and Jarlath O’Connell

Linda McCartney: Life In Photographs (Taschen Books, £44.99) Even before she met Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman was capturing the world on film. Her shots in this book range from spontaneous family portraits to studio sessions with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson as well as artists Willem de Kooning and Gilbert and George. One feels her sensitivity whether she’s photographing children, celebrities, animals or moments in everyday life. This volume, selected from an archive of over 200,000 pictures, was produced in collaboration with Paul and their children and is a moving testament to a warm and talented woman who died far too young. – VS

Messages from the Lorax

By Shannon Guest (Gazelle Book Services Ltd, £29.99) Subtitled Photographs of the Expression of Nature, this book is perfect for the sort of person who sees shapes in clouds, or, like my small daughter, perceives animals in the artexing.

This collection of photographs reveal elemental faces and shapes

in the bark of trees and profile of rocks... if you have the eye for seeing nature’s attempts to communicate, as the author does. A diverting hour or so may be had deciding whether Shannon Guest is at one with nature or merely away with the fairies! – RG

The Queen and the USA

By Lord Watson of Richmond CBE and H. Edward Mann (Dementi Milestone Publishing, £29.50) Effectively a series of short articles written by those with transatlantic interests (former Chairman of the English Speaking Union and Panorama presenter Lord Watson of Richmond, Professor of History at the University of New Orleans Dr Warren M Billings and former UK Government minister Lord Howell of Guildford to name but three), this book offers both a pictorial record of Queen Elizabeth II’s visits to the USA (specifically the Commonwealth of Virginia) and perspectives on the shared heritage of two nations.

Chapter headings include ‘Virginia and Britain: English Antecedents of American Politics and Governance’, ‘The Queen, English and the Spread

This small book is a wonderful illustration of human ingenuity in the face of challenging circumstance, as eccentric inventor Geoffrey Pyke tries to persuade the WW2-era British Government to build an aircraft carrier, first in the Rockies, then in the Atlantic ...out of ice. Sounds absurd, yet it’s historical fact. Part of the ‘Amazing Stories’ range which also includes volumes on the Northwest Passage and The Pig War, these are marvellous yet more obscure chapters of human history that should be in every high school library. – RG

Broadway Musicals: From the pages of the New York Times

By Ben Brantley (Abrams; £35.00) There are dozens of compendiums of musicals, most lazy patchworks of cuttings, indifferently written and with pics we’ve all seen before.

They’re neither use nor ornament and you can always find them in remainder bookstores. This book is of different order, however; it is an intelligent gem.

Over the last century the New York Times’ six leading critics – Brooks Atkinson, Howard Taubman, Clive Barnes, Walter Kerr, Frank Rich, and Ben Brantley – have offered perhaps the most authoritative and influential commentary there is on the Broadway musical and here in this gorgeously produced volume we

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get their original reviews of the 119 most important shows, selected by current chief theater critic Ben Brantley. Each review is illustrated by stunning archive images from each show’s first production as well as images from a select few of the more celebrated revivals.

The book is organised chronologically from The Merry Widow (1907) right up to The Book of Mormon (2011) and each decade is book-ended with truly insightful essays from Brantley, mapping the ebb and flow of this great art form.

Scanning the reviews from each decade, it is interesting to observe how their tone changes. In the early years of Ziegfield Follies the critics often seemed to be holding their noses. Occasionally the odd operetta would arrive from Europe and raise the tone. Showboat and later Oklahoma would change all that, as they marked milestones in the development of the form – tackling serious issues and fully integrating the book and the music.

It is astounding to read the section from Oklahoma (1943) to Gypsy (1959) and realise the sheer richness of that era. Frank Rich dubbed Gypsy as Broadway’s answer to King Lear. It “speaks to you one way when you are a child then chases after you to say something else when you’ve grown up” he says.

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By the ’50s, thanks to Rodgers and Hammerstein, it was taken for granted that the song should spring seamlessly from the plot and that dance could be used not just for decorative flourish but to propel and amplify the story e.g. West Side Story. This set a standard that the musical theatre has since been struggling to uphold.

By the 1960s the musical’s relationship with what Americans were actually listening to on the radio or humming in the shower had shifted. Although in 1969 Hair stormed the middle class citadel of the musical, in the era of the Rolling Stones, Hello Dolly looked old hat.

In the early ’70s the form turned a corner when Stephen Sondheim perfected the non-linear ‘concept’ show and transformed the musical into a work of introspection. The ambivalent response to Follies (1971) and two opposing reviews included here demonstrate just how much he upset the cart. His work exemplifies how premiere productions might not always get it right and how critical responses and critical tastes evolve over time.

The book is no sentimental wallow. Bringing us right up to date Brantley points out that The Book of Mormon and Spiderman both embody what the American musical has become and where it might be going. Spiderman, with its £65m budget and 183 previews is a critic proof theme park ride. The Book of Mormon, however, gives us hope for the art form; lauding its intelligence, he notes that it is “fluent in the language of musical entertainment”. Quite unexpectedly, it is a throwback to the classic Broadway musicals of old and yet it is a phenomenal success. The musical is dead, long live the musical. – JOC

THEATER PREVIEWS A Chorus of Disapproval achorusofdisapproval.com Until January 5 Show-within-a-show time, as a wobbly production of The Beggar’s Opera is the backdrop to drama off-stage. A revival of the 1980s winner, Chorus is in stellar hands with director Trevor Nunn and TV favorites Rob Brydon (Gavin and Stacey) and Ashley Jensen (Extras, Ugly Betty). You can look forward to our review in the November issue of The American, which includes an interview with Jensen herself.

The Mystery of Charles Dickens Playhouse Theatre, London www.playhousetheatrelondon.com Until November 10 Simon Callow, familiar to regular theater-goers for roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Shakespeare In Love, is no stranger to playing Dickens, having played him on stage (and in a subsequent video release) in this same production twelve years ago, and even in an episode of Doctor Who. Callow breathlessly takes up the role of narrator, Dickens, and 49 of Dickens’ most famous characters in this one-man show.

Hedda Gabler The Old Vic, London www.oldvictheatre.com Booking to November 10 Twice Olivier-winning Sheridan Smith (Flare Path, Legally Blonde), joins Anne Reid, Fenella Woolgar and others in Brian Friel’s version of Ibsen‘s societal masterpiece, as the

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Actors Julian Ovenden (left), Rosalie Craig (right) and director Rob Ashford (center) find Neverland in Leicester

Finding Neverland Curve Theatre, Leicester www.curveonline.co.uk Until October 13 The World Premiere of Harvey Weinstein’s stage production, based on the Academy Award winning film of J M Barrie’s meeting with widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and the inspirational times that led to the writing of Peter Pan. Award-winning choreographer Rob Ashford and lyricist and composer Grey Gardens are also aboard for a production that promises to transfer quickly to London and New York.

The Magistrate The Olivier Theatre, London, SE1 9PX www.nationaltheatre.org.uk Previews begin November 14 US star of stage and screen John Lithgow is to headline The Magistrate alongside Olivier winner Nancy Carroll at the National Theatre this

November. Lithgow’s talents for both straight and comedic roles would seem perfect for Arthur Wing Pinero’s Victorian farce of deception and scandal-dodging, and is an unexpected treat after director Timothy Sheader had to find a replacement project following the postponement of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Other productions of note

Also worthy of your attention this month: another of Arthur Wing Pinero’s plays, The Second Mrs Tanqueray, stars Olivier winning Laura Michelle Kelly (Speed the Plow) as the ‘woman with a past’ alongside James Wilby (Gosford Park) at the Rose Theatre, Kingston (www. rosetheatrekingston.org); more Victorian farce as Mathew Horne (from Gavin and Stacey, again) headlines Charley’s Aunt at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London (www. menierchocolatefactory.com); screen star Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth) joins Singin’ in the Rain at the Palace Theatre, London (www.singinintherain.co.uk); and there’s stonier-faced intrigue at an army convalescent home in Our Boys, starring Laurence Fox (Lewis) and Arthur Darvill (3-3 between Doctor Who and Gavin and Stacey mentions, in case you’re keeping score). (duchess.officialtheatre.co.uk). H

PHOTO: JAY BROOKS

title character is driven by fear and loathing of her ill-suited marriage to disrupt the world around her.

The role of Gabler is considered the ‘female Hamlet’ of roles – Smith has come a long way since TV’s Two Pints of Lager, Gavin and Stacey and a radio role as Doctor Who’s companion!

PHOTO: PAMELA RAITH

Below: John Lithgow is to appear in The Magistrate for The National Theatre; and darling of the London stage, Sheridan Smith, takes on the role of Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic

MOVIE OF THE MONTH

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THEATER REVIEWS

King Lear

By William Shakespeare Almeida Theatre, London • Reviewed by Daniel Byway

PHOTO: KEITH PATTISON

W

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hen you entrust King Lear to a performer of Jonathan Pryce’s experience, you know that he’s in safe hands. Perhaps the least surprising thing about Michael Attenborough’s staging of this eminent tragedy is just how dynamic Pryce is.

Shifting seamlessly between Lear’s varied temperaments, he shows the full depth of Shakespeare’s tragic figure, from anger to despair, to madness and hysteria.

Navigating those shifts in tone can be tricky. Shakespeare situates comedy daringly close to serious plot points, and unless handled with care scenes that should strike at the heart can end up unsettling the stomach. The cast conquer this with precision timing and delivery, Kieran Bew as Edmund and Trevor Fox as (a Geordie) Fool are both outstanding at inserting that one pithy line without undermining the more tender or dramatic scenes. Pryce does a wonderful job during Lear’s madness, injecting that humour whilst still accentuating Lear’s frailties as the once great King now cast aside.

Part of this success is down to an oft-overlooked element of Shakespeare – enunciation.

Soul Sister

It’s bread and butter on stage, but because Shakespeare is all about the words, diction and projection are crucial. As you’d expect from a cast with such resumes, they all excel in elocution. Steven Elliott as Oswald and Clive Wood as Gloucester in particular are on fine form.

One area where the play feels like it misses an opportunity is the storm of Act Three. David Farr’s production of King Lear at the RSC featured a real deluge of water, and whilst The Almeida’s enclosed space is the perfect cauldron for tension, Attenborough’s storm largely relies on sound, light and smoke to evoke the conditions. A British downpour would have actually been welcome here. Although Pryce’s performance does the famous heath scene justice, a more substantial splash of water would have hammered home the symbolic significance of the tempest.

Above all, King Lear at The Almeida is a strong reminder of Jonathan Pryce’s inimitable contribution to theater, and alongside a strong ensemble, should go down as one of this year’s stage successes. H

PHOTO: KEITH PATTISON

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f men didn’t cheat and hit their wives, what would Tammy Wynette have to sing about eh?” asks Tina Turner, with a raised eyebrow, at one stage in the new musical biog Soul Sister, and she gets to the nub of it.

The jukebox show, where a producer shoehorns some great pop star’s back-catalogue into a narrative, is a much maligned format, but here it works, and this is down to a towering performance by Emi Wokoma in the lead and a great band, arranged by Keith Strachan.

Until now, Wokoma was working her way up the musical theatre ladder, but here she becomes a star.

Blessed with a big rasping voice, a great feel for soul music and a commanding stage presence, she will be one to watch. This is more remarkable as there isn’t much of a physical resemblance with Tina – she’s tall and gangly and lacks that leonine quality. She embodies the spirit though, and can really deliver the musical numbers.

Most jukebox shows have dialogue which thuds along under

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Inspired by the music, life and times of Ike & Tina Turner • Savoy Theatre, London, and on tour • Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell PHOTO: MARILYN KINGWILL

the weight of exposition, emotions presented rather than generated dramatically. This is no different. The dramatic bits lack space to breathe and here, by the end of the second act, they give up the ghost and settle into an extended concert set.

What’s Love Got To Do With It, possibly her greatest number, cries out for a staging with some dramatic flair but instead gets dropped into the middle of a set. It sums up the dilemma of the piece – it can’t decide if it’s a drama or a sober plod through the chronology with concert set pieces.

When it is in documentary mode, though, it speeds along with generous use of video projections and sliding screens. Sometimes they zip by so fast you miss the words.

They do, however, help locate her story within the events of the time, and they also illustrate the extent of the struggle Ike and Tina had to be accepted in the 1960s music business, where they were often judged too black for a white audience and vice-versa. That frustration partly fuelled Ike’s great bitterness and it

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PHOTO: MARILYN KINGWILL

is poignant that it was only after going solo that Tina successfully managed the crossover.

Ike, here played with gusto

by Chris Tummings, has always come out badly of biopics, with the movie What’s Love Got to Do With It being a particular hatchet job. While he deserves his villain status because of the abuse Tina suffered, a drama needs to do a bit more with this fact and John Miller and Peter Brooks’ book is to be commended for trying to help us understand what made Ike, what drove him, and eventually what led him to his path of near selfdestruction.

If you love the music, this is a great wallow, if you don’t know the story it’s a great gallop through an extraordinary time in pop music. Tina’s journey from being that gawky teenager who first auditioned for Ike in 1956 to the diva of the stadium tours of the ’80s is a remarkable one, and here it is given a deservedly full blooded staging.

After a month at the Savoy, Soul Sister tours to York, Milton Keynes, Dublin, Coventry, High Wycombe, Southampton, Darlington and Edinburgh.

PHOTO: ROBERT WORKMAN

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JUMPY J

umpy is another gold-plated hit which has transferred from the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square to the West End. If you’re expecting or dreading kitchen-sink realism or political theatre, you’ll be disappointed, as the piece is decidedly middle-brow, but it is also sharp, engaging and at times deliciously funny. The main reason to see it though is Tamsin Greig, one of Britain’s greatest comedy stars, who gives a towering performance as Hilary, a mother going through a midlife crisis and wondering what ever happened to her idealism.

Anyone who has had to enjoy/ endure stroppy teenagers will wince in horror at this acutely observed portrait of mother-daughter relations. The humour comes thick and fast and Bel Powley is a joy as pouty, 15 year old Tilly, invariably dressed like a strumpet and screaming “You are ruining my life” as she slams yet another door.

By April de Angelis Royal Court at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell

Her mother is losing it. Her job at a literacy project is in jeopardy because of government cuts, she’s having panic attacks on the tube, and she’s getting far too dependent on a glass or three of Sauvignon Blanc of an evening.

Now ensconced in the suburbs, the idealism of her youth when she was a Greenham Common protester (iconic early ’80s protests against nuclear weapons outside a US air base in Berkshire) is long gone. She valiantly clings to her feminist ideals, but it’s a losing battle up against her vamping daughter with her tabloid values and a sex obsessed best friend, Frances. Comedy sketch star Doon Mackichan delights as the over-the-hill actress, whose sexual rapacity is fuelled by utter horror at the ravages of ageing. Thinking Burlesque might spice up her career as well as her sex life, she even performs an unintentionally hilarious routine in front of the astonished family.

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Hilary’s marriage to Mark (Ewan Stewart) is also struggling, as is his business, and it rankles that he rarely backs her up in her daily squabbles with Tilly. The revelation that Tilly is sleeping with boyfriend Josh, and later that she is pregnant, brings the family into collision with Josh’s parents. The father, Roland (Richard Lintern), is a dozy thespian and the mother, Bea (Amanda Root), a tough career woman who turns into a lioness where her precious son is concerned. There are echoes of Yasmina Reza’s Gods of Carnage here as the two sets of parents slug it out defending their pampered offspring.

De Angelis balances all this middle class neurosis by introducing Tilly’s gloriously ordinary schoolmate Lyndsey. Seline Hizli perfectly encapsulates the class differences here as she has her own rather laid back approach to teenage parenthood. Lintern too gives the amorous Roland just the right mix of self-absorption and insight and De Angelis excels here at mapping out the contours of a fading marriage, just before the empty nest stage.

De Angelis’ writing is deeply perceptive but she stumbles in the end by trying to neatly tie up too many loose ends. She beautifully calibrates the development of the relationship between mother and daughter only to undermine it later with an ending that is too pat.

Nina Raine’s direction is solid and the whole cast mine the piece for every nugget, but the evening belongs to Greig. Swinging between empowerment (from her feminism) and a debilitating sense of futility (from being a parent), she manages to combine strength and vulnerability in equal measure. It’s a performance that transcends any shortcomings the play might have.

Edinburgh Impressions Jarlath O’Connell picks his Fringe highlights

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merican Girlfriend is American comic Laura Levites’ engaging tale of her love affair with Britain and her struggles to get her English boyfriend a visa so he could come join her in LA. It failed, he failed her, and she lives to fight another day.

Like Ruby Wax’s glam young sister, she combines Jewish chutzpah with a sharp eye for British foibles.

Edinburgh was overflowing with American talent this year, and one of the brightest is David Mills, whose show Smart Casual was also at the Alternative Fringe at the Hive. Already quite established in London, and a winner of the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, his delivery is as sharp as his suits, and his material is fresh and challenging. He is going places.

Re-Animator: The Musical is a sleeper hit. Direct from LA and starring George Wendt (Norm from Cheers), it is a gloriously unique creation – a splatter horror musical.

The front rows get rainwear to protect them from the floods of blood and gore and some lucky punters even get to handle the organs at a post mortem. Oklahoma it ain’t.

Based on the cult splatter movie, it centres on a dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend who become involved in bizarre experiments on re-animating dead tissue, when an odd new student

arrives on campus. All the horror clichés are present and correct: the mad scientist thwarted by authority, his nerdy med school usurper, the fresh faced all-American kids, and an experiment gone horribly wrong. Mark Nutter’s score is wonderfully cheesy and perfectly played on just a synthesizer but its vocal lines are actually sophisticated and its lyrics wonderfully sharp. It knows what it’s doing and it delivers with great energy. A full blooded evening!

The highlight, though, was New York cabaret sensation Lady Rizo. Think the explosive talent of a Streisand, the wit of a Midler, the wackiness of Lady Gaga and the raw yearning of Amy Winehouse and you might come close.

An elegant and sassy glamour puss, her command of an audience is total. Her musical choices are inspired (Jimmy Hendrix, Piaf, Blondie and Dolly Parton) and she adds to the mix some great original songs of her own, which are expertly played by her five piece combo. Her saving grace is that she eschews irony and leaves the banter for between the songs. Her rapport with her audience is bold and she devises devilishly clever ways to beguile her admirers. She is startling and fresh and just what you need after a dozen shows. H

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Heather Headley Michael Burland talks to Grammy and Tony winner Heather Headley as she prepares for December’s world stage premier of The Bodyguard in London

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t was early in the morning NYC-time when the phone connection was made. Too early for the singer and actress? Not so, as it turned out - a certain two and a half year old makes sure Heather gets up early these days. But luckily as we started to talk, little John’s nanny came through the door and took over those duties, leaving us free to chat about how she got involved with the new stage version of The Bodyguard.

Heather Headley: I did Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida twelve years ago and that show was really good to me. I loved working with the producers and with Disney [Heather had previously been the original Nala in The Lion King on Broadway]. After Aida everyone asked me, ‘What’s next?’ I thought, it’s like when you have a really good spouse – who could come after them? So for years I’ve been looking for the next stage project. I wanted to be a recording artist as well, and I’ve been lucky enough to do my album. There have been ideas for shows, but although I’ve wanted to get back on stage they weren’t right.

A year and a half ago my agent called me and said he had something I might be interested in. When he said it was The Bodyguard, I started laughing because over the years so many people have said they were going to make a stage musical of the movie and it’s never hap-

40 October 2012

pened. He said no, they’re doing it and they want you to read the script.

I said, OK, but let me know what music they’ve written for it because there’s no way they have the music.

He said, no, they have the music. I thought that was impossible but it turned out that Michael Harrison, one of the producers, had spent six years getting the rights from Warner Brothers and all those amazing writers, and Kevin Costner. I have to give great credit to Alex Dinelaris too. The way he wrote it, you almost think Whitney took all those songs from a musical and performed them after, not the other way round. He’s woven them quite amazingly through the show. I went for a reading, and even in those early stages I thought yes, this is the one!

It’ll be a very different experience for the audience. Lawrence Kasdan, the writer of the movie, has always had some ideas he’s wanted to put in and he and Alex have really rewritten the show. I came into it as a fan – Whitney was like a voice tutor to me and I’ve been watching the movie since I was fourteen – and I think they’ve made it even better. When I knew I was going to do the show I watched it again, but then I had to put it away and do my own thing.

Let me put things straight with you.

I said I don’t want to be compared with Whitney simply because I cannot be. Whitney had one of the greatest voices we have ever heard.

She’s in a league of her own. What I can do best is honor her legacy, but make these songs my own.

Film fans might remember that the movie had a long gestation too – it was originally intended to be made in 1976 starring Steve McQueen and Diana Ross but legend has it that McQueen refused to be billed second to Ross. Ryan O’Neal was mooted, but he too had problems with Ms Ross. The project then went through many mutations, none of them successful, until in 1992 the movie came out, starring Costner and Whitney Houston. Will the stage musical be very different? And is it true that Heather has said that she doesn’t want her performance to be compared to Whitney’s?

The movie spawned the biggest-selling soundtrack album in history – is the new show planning to follow it?

Yes, the show is so different, we’re definitely doing a cast album. And I’m so excited because today, after we’ve finished this interview, I’m finishing mastering my own new album too.

Heather’s rich speaking voice is as beautiful as her singing, and I could pick up some Caribbean vowels.

When did she move to the States?

And did her Trinidadian background affect her career?

We moved to Indiana a week

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before my fifteenth birthday. But Trinidad is where I found out about Whitney, and learned about music, and God, and being a woman and what I wanted to be. My father was a pastor and we lived next to the church – a wall separated my bedroom from the church. Without being disrespectful, it was my playground. Every day I would practice piano in there, then find a microphone and sing to the pews.

I think the angels and people who had passed on were there, laughing.

Trinidad was a great place to grow up in music. My father would play country music, soca, calypso, steel pan music and reggae, and on Saturday I would play Whitney and CeCe Winans and Bollywood – there’s a big Indian community in Trinidad.

That eclecticism comes through in Heather’s career, in which she’s recorded with Jam & Lewis and other hip hop producers and sung with Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Al Green. Surely not many people can have worked with all of them?

When you say it, I think that makes no sense at all! But I love it. I hate practising, and rehearsing, and recording, but I love singing live to an audience.

Heather is married to former New York Jet Brian Musso, her college sweetheart since they met at Northwestern U. Will the family come over with her for the London run?

John and his nanny will be here, and Brian will be over every couple of weeks while still running his financial company in the States. But it will be difficult. Brian has been next to me for everything I’ve done, and it will be the toughest part not having him with me every day. He’s

the one who pushed me to sign the contract for The Bodyguard – he said it was perfect for me – and he’ll be there a whole lot. But let me tell you something – Brian cheats on me as much as he can... her name is golf and he’s looking forward to being at her birthplace!

Previews of The Bodyguard start November 6th, opening night is December 5th.

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IMAGE: DONKEY HOTEY

The

I

may regret this and hope that I am wrong, but... I think I have finally run out of track as far as US politics is concerned. Although I'm an American, working in British politics for a decade I became attuned to the ebb and flow of political ‘fracking’.

One can anticipate, even predict the political knee-jerk response to this, the media frenzy-feed reaction to that, the ceaseless round of point/ counter point – even if the ‘point’ is often no sharper than a butter knife.

However, when I returned to the US I couldn’t help feeling ‘foreign’ in the political world. The depth of separation only possible when a common language stands between us never seemed so – well – deep before. I understand, on an intellectual level, that there is a necessary megaphone element to American politics. The size of the country, to say nothing of the range of cultures and micro-climates of political weather, necessitates a kind of telegraphic political discourse; a problem not helped, in my lonely minority view, by the Stephen Colberts and Jon Stewarts of the world. Their kind of cheap-shot ‘news’ leaves me worried for the level

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Chair

Convention season came and went. Rather than making her day, Alison Holmes feels strangely empty of debate and none the wiser as to what is really going on. Thus, I have become accustomed to watching the political news much the way one might watch the Olympics in another country. Not the sports you know, not the personalities you have heard of, but hey – ‘faster higher stronger’ – it’s all the same on some level – right?

Alas, evidently not. Just when I thought politics couldn’t get more ‘foreign’, couldn’t be less commonsense- or fact-based, they go and do a Tampa: a clash of media cultures and generational codes that, apparently, epitomises many of the themes of this election. Babel eat your heart out, as we are certainly doing biblically sized portions of talking at cross purposes here in America. What could possibly have prompted such a reaction – with the prospect of an almost inevitable encore/echo right around the corner? Clint Eastwood.

I got the buzz about Clint’s ‘stunt’ and so, like millions of Americans, got it isolated from the rest of the Convention via YouTube. I watched as Clint Eastwood addressed an empty chair as if the President

was sitting there beside him. Now maybe it’s because I remember Bob Newhart that I immediately grasped the genre. The whole joke rests on the same premise as the ventriloquist and his dummy. One plays straight man and puts all sorts of things into the mouth of the mini-me, the ‘other’, the funny-ifslightly-dim counterpart. Evidently, I got it wrong. Evidently, Eastwood was NOT calling up Newhart or even HG Well’s version of the Invisible Man, but Ralph Ellison’s much darker story with all the racist overtones that implies. Rendering the President invisible, Eastwood – who, as far as we know, has never been accused of being racist – reduced the President to a ridiculous presence and supposedly revealed his own latent racism for all the world to see. Evidently, making your opponent the object of derision and sport is not allowed in politics anymore?

I say evidently, because this interpretation was not the first thing that came to my mind as I watched.

On one level I saw an older man (I say that cautiously lest I am accused of ageism), employing an old gag, to an audience that would probably cheer

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him to the rafters if he just stood there and said ‘make my day’ for the 11 minutes 40 seconds duration of his slot. On another level, I saw an icon of American cinema, who often played a misunderstood/wronged soul out to fix some injustice and who embodies many notions of freedom and self-initiative, take an (equally) old comic device and introduce it to the political arena; an initiative that, in itself, has caused comment on the blog-ways as a ‘denigration’ of the political process.

Evidently, entertainers can meddle in politics, but politicians can’t ‘do’ entertainment – at least not while on a political stage. There are now lots of arguments as to whether this was Republican bonus or backfire as it has swamped the response to the Convention in a way that Romney’s speech was never going to do.

Frankly, this may have been their goal all along.

It never ceases to amaze me that pundits make the mistake of thinking that conventions are for the people in the hall, or maybe the faithful out in the land. Conventions are a deliberate piece of theatre designed for a mass market television audience. The vast majority of the American public only cares about politics to the extent they are allowed to get on with their lives. People don’t want to know how the carburettor works as long as the car starts. Most will not ‘tune into’ the election until the final few days and even fewer will study Mitt Romney’s speech or analyse his policy statements. They will, however, remember Clint.

To date, the traditional poll bounce enjoyed after a convention has not materialized for Romney and his team. After Tampa all eyes turned to Charlotte as the commentgentsia arrived to spout their views

and pad their expense accounts.

A new-found alliance with the Clinton-istas seemed complete as a new campaign launched with Bill leading the charge. Despite the fact that incumbents are expected to have the edge, Democrats are working hard to ensure their voters will turn out. In much the same way they built their war chest five bucks at a time last time, nothing is being taken for granted. And indications are they will need it all as the President’s ratings are not exactly stellar.

According to Gallup, at the time of writing the President’s approval rating was running at about 44% higher than six months or so ago, but lower than others at this point in

cate and obscure the truth, rather than actually get things done, clearly plays to Republicans. Combine that with the fact that the economy is often perceived as being in ‘safer hands’ with the Republicans at the helm, and Democrats have a fight on their hands to convince the electorate that they know how to balance a budget or get the economy moving again.

There was a rising tide on the internet that Obama should have Betty White introduce him in Charlotte. A rediscovered national treasure, White, they argued, would surely be able to show Clint how it’s done.

Then again, it may just point out the fact that our politics continues to fol-

“Clint's sharpest moment came as he asked why we want a lawyer in the White House ... conveniently ignoring Romney's law degree, such a dig finds resonance in the American public” the election cycle. The real question may not be the Republican chant of the moment, ‘Are you better off?’, but ‘What did he do that was any different?’

Perhaps Clint’s sharpest moment came as he asked why we want a lawyer in the White House when we could have a businessman. Conveniently ignoring Romney’s law degree, such a dig finds resonance in the American public.

There is a deep scorn of lawyers in America that is like poison in the groundwater, so attaching to Obama the feeling that lawyers overcompli-

low culture down a path of shallow least resistance. The fear is that the emptiness of the chair signifies an emptiness of politics as a whole.

The response from the White House: this photo and the message 'This seat is taken'

October 2012 43

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US ELECTION 2012 With a month to go to November 6th, political analyst Sir Robert Worcester is lengthening his odds against Romney/Ryan

T

he first senior politician I conducted polls for, over 40 years ago, was British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who said “A week is a long time in politics” – a cliché today, but so often true. Will it be this November?

The truth is it hasn’t been so far in this seemingly interminable election. For most of the year the national polls were static, around Obama 46%/Romney 46%. Now it appears that the election is sliding away from the Romney/ Ryan team, and the key states are lining up, if narrowly, for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

In Britain, we have ‘long’ elections and ‘short’ elections, not so long as in the USA, and really short compared to the distance between America’s Labor Day, the first Monday in September, and Election Day, the first Tuesday in November. That's two months, give or take a day or two, twice as long as the usual three-four weeks in the UK.

PHOTO: MALLORY BENEDICT FOR PBS

Latest forecasts run from 3:1 to 9:1 odds that a second term for Obama looks likely, depending on which pundit you back. I've lifted my forecast of 3:1 a month or six weeks ago to 5:1 – Sir Robert Worcester

44 October 2012

The American Voting Intention among Likely Voters Elections in the States start in earnest the year before, with the undeclared candidates just happening to visit Iowa to raise their profile and tick that box (Iowa’s caucus is the first). Then off to New Hampshire, the first primary election.

These forays are much commented on by the journos and pundits, raise the profiles of the candidates, and most importantly raise (or not) the money.

No fewer than 52 Republican candidates for president filed their candidacy in one state or another, and the dozen or so ‘serious’ candidates in more or less all the 50 states and elsewhere. The Republicans, unlike the Democrats, do not yet recognise Republicans Abroad in their nomination process. Democrats Abroad have had voting delegates and primary balloting since the Carter convention in 1976.

Eleven different Republican candidates led the popularity polls during the long primary campaign at one time or another before Romney finally clinched the deal.

The highlights of this past month have been the nominating

% 50

Reuters / Ipsos Convention Tracker Obama 46%

Obama 47%

+4

45

+4

40

42% Obama

Day 1

http://spotlight.ipsos-na.com/index.php/elections

BASE: 1,000+ INTERVIEWS WITH REGISTERED VOTERS AGE 18 AND OVER CARRIED OUT ONLINE AS PART OF FOUR-DAY ROLLING POLL. DATA WEIGHTED TO NATIONAL POPULATION PROFILE.

conventions. No surprises, as even the Vice Presidential running mates were known before the conventions began. The Republicans met August 27-30; the Democrats September 4-6. Seems a long time ago.

Our friends at Ipsos, chiefly Cliff Young and Julia Clark, tracked daily during the conventions. Barack Obama began the convention season with a four-point lead; the Republican Convention began in a hole four points deep, climbed out of it to lead at one point only to lose

Obama has 16 point lead on health issues (+6) Q. ”In your opinion, which candidate for President has the better policy or approach to... Healthcare?” ... the US Economy” None

None

15%

14% DK

44%

14%

Obama

43% Obama

DK

36%

Obama

13%

28%

Romney

BASE: 1,231 AMERICAN REGISTERED VOTERS, SEPT. 9-13 2012, ONLINE

35%

Romney

SOURCE: REUTERS/IPSOS

the ‘Big Mo’ to Obama when the Democratic convention began and his one-two-three (and a half - his Veep, Joe Biden, didn’t get much of a look in). The big hitters, Michele Obama, Bill Clinton and then the President himself one by one wowed the 5,000+ delegates, the 10,000+ media in the hall and millions on the television. (See graph) The continuing stream of national polls shows the gap widening even further - Ipsos says by six points while CBS/NYT and Gallup are steady at three points. The two key issues are the state of the economy in the United States, and health care, following the passage of the Obama healthcare bill. On healthcare, Obama, in just a week, has widened a ten point lead to 16, a three point swing, and on the US economy has overtaken a Romney lead to a point ahead.

With an increasing lead in the country as a whole, the key factor when it comes to the election of an American president is how he’s doing in the half dozen key states, and only in North Carolina is Romney looking safe. For RealClearPolitics' reading of the rest, Obama has

October 2012 45

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a lead, even in Wisconsin, the home state of Paul Ryan (the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate chosen

by Romney as his running mate).

In marginal Virginia (where RCP calls it, when pushed, for Obama for President) in the vital race for Senate RCP calls it for Republican Governor Allen, which would swing the Senate 270 TO WIN

The Battle for the White House (Including Toss Up States) Dem: 247; Toss-Ups: 100; Rep: 191 WA 12 OR 7

MT 3 ID 4

NV 6 CA 55

AZ 11

MN 10

SD 3

WY 3 UT 6

VT 3

ND 3

IA 6

NE 5

CO 9

WI 10

KS 6

IN 11

PA 20 WV 5

MS 6

AL 9

GA 16

RI 4

NJ 14 DE 3 MD 10

FL 29

DC 3

The Battle for the White House (No Toss Up States) Dem: 332; Rep: 206.

WA 12 OR 7

ID 4 NV 6

CA 55

MT 3

AZ 11

CO 9

KS 6

TX 38

NH 4

IL 20

IN 11

OH 18 KY 8

PA 20 WV 5

LA 8

MS 6

AL 9

Obama/Biden Romney/Ryan

VA 13 NC 15

TN 11 AR 6

ME 4 NY 29

MI 16

MO 10 OK 7

NM 5

HI 4

WI 10

IA 6

NE 5

AK 3

46 October 2012

MN 10

SD 3

WY 3 UT 6

VT 3

ND 3

GA 16

SC 9

MA 11 RI 4 CT 7 NJ 14 DE 3

FL 29

PHOTO: JARED SOARES FOR PBS NEWSHOUR

CT 7

SC 9

Romney/Ryan Solid Likely Leans Toss up

Obama/Biden Solid Likely Leans

MA 11

VA 13 NC 15

TN 11

LA 8

HI 4

OH 18 KY 8

AR 6

TX 38

AK 3

IL 20

ME 4 NY 29

MI 16

MO 10 OK 7

NM 5

NH 4

MD 10 DC 3

to a 51/49 Republican majority. The latest poll in Virginia by Rasmussen, which usually looks slightly biased to Republicans, has former Democratic National Chairman Tim Kaine three points ahead. If Kaine wins, then the Senate is split evenly, 50 to 50.

Should that occur, who sits as the presiding officer of the Senate of the United States? Vice President Joe Biden casts the deciding vote in the case of a dead heat, and we know who he’d vote for.

But there is a wild card that could change the game, a former governor running for the Senate is an independent in Maine, Angus King. So if the balance is 50/49 Republican, he could vote Republican to give the GOP a clear majority. H Sir Robert Worcester is the founder of MORI. Follow him for updates on Twitter: @RobertWorcester

The American

Shelby Would Approve

DRIVETIME

Is it a bird, is it a plane, is it a... Terrafugia?

I

n deepest Massachusetts a monster lurks. At least it could be a monster to bunny huggers – a cross between an airplane and a car. To the rest of us, at least those of us in possession of $279,000 and a sport pilot license, it could be the key to the freedom of the skies and the roads. The ultimate hybrid, if you will.

Just outside Boston in Woburn, MA, a company called Terrafugia is developing the Transition with the aim of giving pilots the convenience of a dual-purpose vehicle – or to put it another way, giving earthbound drivers the power of flight. This is no pipe dream of some wacky Pat Pending inventor working sleepless nights in a barn. Terrafugia is a serious corporation, founded by five former MIT students who all fly. It appears to be properly funded by private investors, who see this as a business opportunity, enabled by new Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The name Terrafugia is derived from the Latin for ‘Escape the Earth’, and that age-old dream may soon be a reality as the FAA have given the Transition approval in the Light Sport Aircraft category. In July the vehicle moved

47 September 2012

into Phase 2 of its six planned phases of flight-testing and 100 Transitions have been ‘reserved for customers’.

Terrafugia says that the Transition drives like a car, uses normal highoctane gasoline, has front-wheeldrive and comes with airbags. Its fuel economy is about 30 miles per gallon on the road. So far so normal, but when the skies call it can unfold its wings and fly. You’ll only need a one-third of a mile strip for a runway, meaning you could conceivably even use your own street – local laws permitting! It is powered by a rear propeller and flies at about 115 miles per hour. Terrafugia claims it’s potentially one of the safest aircraft around as, if the weather turns bad, the plane can land and simply drive home instead.

It won’t be your choice for family trips or taking tons of baggage – it only carries about 460 pounds including fuel and passengers – but it’ll be possible for two people to fly to a regional airport with a couple of bags or attaché cases and drive away to their weekend break or business meeting without waiting around to hire a car.

A group calling itself ‘Friends of Carroll Shelby’, including Ford Motor Company, Shelby American and Ford Racing among others, has created this unique car as a tribute to the recently deceased Carroll Shelby. The one-off beast also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the marque. The modified Ford Shelby GT500 Cobra now boasts an 850hp Ford Racing supercharged V8 housed in a Shelby American wide-body kit, and is finished in a historic Cobra Guardsman Blue/Wimbledon White stripe paint job. The car was unveiled by FoMoCo board member Edsel Ford II, Ford’s group sales and marketing VP Jim Farley, and Shelby American president John Luft at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

“Even at 89 years of age, Carroll was an inspiration to us all,” said Farley. “This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Shelby Cobra. The one-off car we have created represents the very idea he had about making the 2013 Shelby GT500 into a true Cobra.

You might also know that Carroll was a philanthropist, noted for supporting causes that moved him,” he added. “In that spirit, this car will be taken on tour around the country, and hopefully will be used in a special way at the end of its tour – a way Carroll would appreciate.”

A road at Ford’s Product Development Center in Dearborn, Michigan, has also been renamed in tribute to Shelby.

October 2012 47

T

hirty years ago, nobody thought it was possible to race sailboats single-handedly, non-stop around the planet, but now the Vendée Globe has become the biggest yacht race in the world. Nearly 25,000 miles alone on a 60ft sailboat, racing through some of the most temperamental waters in the world: this race claims lives, and boats. It’s a serious test of individual endurance, one of the most extreme challenges a human can face, and it’s regarded by many as the ultimate in ocean racing.

Created by Philippe Jeantot 23 years ago, after he won the BOC Challenge twice (a round the world race with stop-overs), the Vendée Globe sails around the world from west to east via the three major capes; Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn. Competitors can stop at anchor, but can’t draw alongside a quay or another vessel nor receive outside assistance, even customised weather or route information.

The course takes competitors far from the reach of any normal emergency response, and if any help comes it’s usually from fellow competitors. In the 2008-9 race, Jean Le Cam, in third place, capsized 200 miles from Cape Horn. Vincent British Vendée Globe skipper Mike Golding © LLOYD IMAGES

48 October 2012

PHOTO: JEAN MARIE LIOT / DPPI VENDEE GLOBE

The American

Vendée Globe

...probably the toughest sailing race in the world.

Jane Bowles tells us more Riou was the first to reach the area and found the upturned hull of VM Matériaux [pictured above]. He rescued Jean but damaged his own boat in the process and in spite of emergency repairs it was dismasted the following night.

It is tough from the outset, having to negotiate the notorious Bay of Biscay on the way to the Atlantic and the western tip of Spain, Madeira and the Canaries. From here they pick up trade winds through the Cape Verde islands and the Doldrums. The stage between the Doldrums and St Helena requires good strategies with erratic winds, violent thunderstorms and often torrential rain. Having conquered this leg, they cross the Equator around St Helena and turn east, picking up the down winds as they sail towards the Indian Ocean section, a huge wilderness between the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania to the south east of Australia, nick-named by the first winner of the ‘VG’, Titouan Lamazou, as the ‘shadowy zone’.

Decision-time here: do they take the long or the short route? They then head for the Pacific Ocean.

The next landmark is the legendary Cape Horn with its strong winds, large waves, powerful currents and dangerous icebergs, particularly ‘growlers’ , small chunks of drifting iceberg sometimes less than a yard above the surface of the water which can weigh thirty to forty tonnes and sink a boat. Hours are spent on deck looking out for these, which saps the stamina. Then on to the South Atlantic, which often forces retirements. In violent gales around the Argentinian coast they sail upwind and the Doldrums loom ahead again, then with extra layers of clothing against the cold, skippers can start to count down the miles to the finish at Les Sables d’Olonne, just north of La Rochelle on the Bay of Biscay.

People around the world get caught up in the dramas of the race, nicknamed ‘the Everest of the Seas’ via the media and internet, culminating in crowds gathering along the coast of Vendée, even at night, to

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await the return of each boat.

Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux is the only two-time winner of the race (2000/1 and 2008/9). In his second VG he experienced a difficult start and had to return to Les Sables d’Olonne to fix his boat. After a stopover of forty-one hours he eventually re-started, yet won the race, holding the record for completing the course in 84 days, 3 hours and 9 minutes.

To mitigate the risks, Globe competitors are required to undergo medical and survival courses and demonstrate prior racing experience, having completed a single-handed trans-oceanic race or a previous VG using the same boat as for the current Vendée Globe or a trans-oceanic observation passage of not less than 2,500 miles at an average speed of at least 7 knots with a new boat.

It’s such a tough challenge, most boats don’t finish. Thirty competitors started the 2008/09 race and only eleven completed. One of those to cross the finishing line was French Skipper Arnaud Boissières, taking seventh place in Akena Vérandas.

This year he will be racing the winning boat from the 2004-05 Vendée Globe. Both boats were designed by

There aren’t any American boats in this year’s race, so why not watch out for the three British entrants:

How old were you when you started sailing?

I was six years old and started sailing in an Optimist [dinghy for under 15s]. I was inspired by Yves Parlier, Titouan Lamazou and of course Alain Gautier, who was the idol of my generation.

Mike Golding (52, from Southampton, Hampshire. Boat: Gamesa), who you may have seen at the Southampton Boat Show with his boat this summer.

Vendée Globe: 4th time (7th 2000/01, 3rd in 2004/5, retired 2008/9) www.mikegolding.com

Alex Thompson (38, from Titchfield, West Sussex. Boat: Hugo Boss), who’s just smashed the single-handed monohull transatlantic record this summer, setting the new time at 8 days 22 hours 8 minutes from New York to The Lizard, Cornwall.

Vendée Globe: 3rd time (retired 2004/05, 2008/09) www.alexthomsonracing.com

How do you cope with the isolation?

I am never bored when I am at sea because there is always something to do …

Samantha Davies (38, from Portsmouth, now living in Concarneau, Finistère, France. Boat: Savéol), the only lady in the race (Liz Wardley’s sponsors let her down badly when they reneged at a late stage.)

Vendée Globe: 2nd time (4th in 2008/09) www.samdavies.com

What do you eat? ... most of the time vacuum packed food... (so no fruits de mer then!)

How many skippers normally finish?

That depends on the race. It isn’t an exact science, a lot can happen in 3 months at sea.

Why not spend the weekend of the 10/11 November at Les Sables d’Olonnes and experience the start yourself – I certainly intend to... see you there!

For more information, visit www.vendeeglobe.org and follow it on Twitter #VG2012.

PHOTO: JEAN JACQUES VAPILLON / DPPI VENDEE GLOBE

Arnaud Boissières with Jane Bowles

the American company Farr Yacht Design. Farr, based in Annapolis, Maryland, have gained a reputation over the last quarter century as the top racing-yacht design team in the world, with winning boats in 40 World Championships, the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race), The America’s Cup, Vendée Globe and many more.

I caught up with Arnaud Boissières, a seasoned French skipper with a wicked sense of humour, and asked him a few questions:

Samantha Davies

49

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39 Steps into Wembley Richard L Gale chats with Rams running back Steven Jackson ahead of St Louis’ clash with New England in London this month

W

hen the St Louis Rams visit Wembley, October 28th, they won’t be favorites, but they won’t lack impact in the backfield, where Steven Jackson is working on his eighth straight 1,000-yard campaign.

A few seasons ago I spoke with LaDainian Tomlinson at around the same point in his career. At the time, LT was on course to challenge Emmitt Smith’s all-time yardage mark.

Tomlinson was reticent to consider himself in the chase and said he didn’t intend to be around that long.

This off-season he retired, seemingly having worn down far short of the record. I asked Jackson whether the Rams offensive philosophy was keeping him feeling young.

Steven Jackson: I definitely want to play another five seasons [then] evaluate how much longer. It worked itself out that I’ve been able to be so consistent. My rookie year I had the privilege to watch Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, future Hall of Famers and see how they prepare themselves, week in week out, and really became a student of the game.

I take great pride in my work.

Marshall Faulk (Jackson’s predecessor) was a great receiver, and a good protector too; did he pass some of that on to you?

I’ve always been able to be a receiver out of the backfield. Once I left university, I played with Marshall two seasons, saw what a great route runner he was. I really wanted to make sure that was a staple of my

50 October 2012

“...Peyton Manning went into Indy and turned that team around ... Drew Brees went to New Orleans and turned that franchise around. I look at Sam the same way.

He has all the capabilities of being an elite quarterback” – Steven Jackson on Rams QB Sam Bradford game too, [that there’s] no reason the coach feels he has to take me out of the game. Once I had proven myself in that area I was fortunate enough one season to catch 90 receptions.

Backs my size are only known for 4-5 yards and a cloud of dust and I really separated myself.

What have you practiced or developed over the years for making contact with the opposition, to give yourself longevity?

I’ve definitely learned it’s better to be delivering it than absorbing it.

Through the course of a game you get a real feeling for how a defense is attacking you, and I know when a play is over, when to protect myself, [or] when at times I might need to be the dynamite, and get the team going. It’s not only the coaches having a chess match – we as players get a feel for what the opponent is trying to do, and we try to counter attack, so at times during the game I might become a little more aggressive just to set the tempo. I’m fortunate I’m big enough that I’m able to absorb as much as I give.

There are rumors you and your agent are pressing the Rams for a new contract. Even now the Rams have arranged for you to be over here doing interviews. You clearly have a very good relationship with the Rams organisation that contracts are aside from how you feel about the club.

I was able to get a grasp of the business very early in my career. The guys in the locker room, the people around the building from our equipment manager to the people in the cafeteria, I have a great relationship with everyone in the building. So contractually, I understand that’s a business. If one day I have to wear another jersey I’ll be grateful for the experience I had in St Louis.

Would you be happy to have all of your career with one team?

That rarely happens these days.

My career has been very rare, from having 7 consecutive 1000 yard seasons, to not being on a winning team in my career. So rarity is a part of my legacy, and I would love to only have to play for one team, and if we can work that out, that would be

PHOTO © G. NEWMAN LOWRANCE/ST. LOUIS RAMS

awesome, because in these days of free agency that doesn’t happen.

Does it bother you that the Rams haven’t enjoyed success, or play on your mind that maybe you could go to another team and not be part of the Rams’s streak of not quite making the playoffs?

Yes, it’s played on me a couple of times, but the way the community receives me and celebrates me being so loyal to them makes it hard to want to seek out other areas.

How does having quarterback Sam Bradford around help you refocus on the Rams?

It makes me think of when you have these young guys, like when Peyton Manning went into Indy and turned that team around, or when Drew Brees in free agency went to New Orleans and turned that franchise around. I look at Sam the same way. He has all the capabilities of being an elite quarterback. Now we have to surround him with some great talent.

Do you ever glance across at the [divisional rival] San Francisco 49ers and feel slightly jealous of [veteran running back] Frank Gore?

I’m really good friends with Frank, and I called to congratulate him on the season he had, and said “finally one of the two of us got to be on a winning team and have a good run at the Super Bowl”. We laughed and talked about the struggles being quality backs and being overlooked because of the teams we’re on.

I’m pretty envious of guys like Nate [Solder, New England Patriots] on such remarkable teams that are in the playoffs year in, year out, in games like the Super Bowl. This game coming up for me in London in October, pretty much outside my rookie year in the playoffs, is the biggest game I’ve ever been in. H

October 2012 51

The American

NBA Season Preview Are the Heat hotter, and can the Knicks find a post-Linsanity spark? Natimi Black-Heaven previews the NBA season

A

fter the drama of the 2011-2012 season, from the lockout to LeBron James being finally crowned as the king, it’s time again to get ready for NBA basketball. A number of huge deals were completed in the lead up to pre-season. Former all-stars Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis make an alreadystacked Miami team even more impressive. The new additions of 2-time MVP Steve Nash and 3-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard have pushed the Lakers to new heights and the Brooklyn Nets arguably have the best backcourt in the league in Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.

Atlantic Division Boston: The Celtics should start exactly where they left off. Rondo runs the offense, a healthy Garnett anchors the defense and new acquisition Jason Terry is a solid, if not better replacement for the all-time 3-point scorer, Ray Allen. Do the Celtics have one last push for a ring since the original “Big 3” came together?

The answer is no. Why? One word. OLD. Philadelphia: The 76ers are the antithesis of old – young, quick and very athletic. Newly acquired 7’2” giant, Andrew Bynum, should dominate the paint. He is aided by young guns that can shoot and drive the lane. Bynum will consistently require a second defender to help protect him in the post, which will allow the entourage of Holiday, T. Young, N. Young, Turner and Richardson to do their damage.

Brooklyn: This squad is different to last year: they’ll win games. With one of the best back courts in the league, if they can find balance and chemistry this team has serious potential to make a run in the play-offs.

New York: The Knicks are looking to improve on a disappointing post-season. After the rise of ‘Linsanity’, they failed to bring back the rising star. Yet newly signed free agents Felton and Kidd will take on the task of giving offensive structure to this team. Melo and Amaré will still score and Chandler will block

52 October 2012

shots, but will that be enough to win games?

Toronto: They failed to attract Canadianborn Nash. Who they got? Your guess is as good as mine. Toronto can run, jump and dunk.

But in this league, pure athleticism won’t win games. This division is just too strong.

Central Division Chicago: The past two years, the Bulls have been one of the most consistent teams in the NBA in terms of wins, but with Rose out for at least the start (ACL tear) and surrounding teams continuing to improve, this team will be challenged to maintain their winning ways.

Indiana: They made no major moves this off-season, have no stand-out superstars and lost their President of Basketball Operations, the legend, Larry Bird. But what the Pacers do have is what a lot of NBA teams don’t: solid teamwork and experience playing together.

This team will be right there in the hunt for a top 4 play-off seed, a position incredibly hard to achieve in the Eastern Conference.

Milwaukee/Detroit/Cleveland: These teams need to do one thing: improve. All three teams are led by quality, above average point guards in Jennings (Milwaukee), Stuckey (Detroit) and Irving (Cleveland) and all three have proven that they can score in this league.

But that’s it. None of these players averaged over 5 assists per game last season.

Southeast Division Miami: New signings Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen will improve an already formidable 3-point shooting team. This team is just too good. The only thing they lack is size/toughness in the paint, but does that matter when you have LeBron, Wade, Bosh? The only pending question is whether they can stay healthy enough for the play-offs and win it all again.

Atlanta: One team likely to endure a dramatic fall in the win column are the Hawks.

With the departure of Joe Johnson, they no longer have that go-to guy to score their much needed points and they have not yet been able to replace Johnson in that vital category. Josh Smith, Al Horford and Jeff Teague have not shown the ability to regularly post 20+ points.

Orlando: The Magic had the worst off-season possible. They unload Howard for whom? Don’t worry, I’ll wait... No Dwight Howard means no play-off appearance.

Charlotte/Washington: As well as housing the NBA’s best team, the Southeast hosts the two worst. After missing out on Anthony Davis in the Draft, the Bobcats took versatile Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. And John Wall is not ready to take the Wizards to the next level alone.

Northwest Division Oklahoma City: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka all achieved medals in London and all looked in prime condition. OKC is a team to be straight up feared! The Thunder will make the Western Conference Finals again but a certain team in L.A. may stop them from going further.

Denver: The Nuggets acquired Andre Iguodala and made an already scary team even more athletic and up-tempo. Iggy brings leadership, play-making and scoring, something Denver had last season but in the form of 3 different guards. Oh, and don’t even

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dare forget about those two athletic giants JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried. This team will definitely be in the play-off race.

Utah: Barely making the post-season last year was a luxury for the Jazz, but their big dynamic duo of Millsap and Jefferson will continue to lead this team in the right direction.

With their overhaul of youngsters and former all-star Mo Williams this team is looking up.

Minnesota: The T-wolves have quality pieces to surround 2011-2 MVP candidate Kevin Love. If Ricky Rubio can pick up where he left off before injury, and Brandon Roy can be even half the player he was in Portland, then we have a potential dark horse.

Portland: The Blazers are the only team in this division that may fall off the radar.

After the Knick’s Linsane mid-season form, the 2012-13 vintage will be led by Carmelo Anthony, coming off an outstanding Olympic campaign PHOTO: GARY BAKER

Pacific Division L.A. Lakers: L.A. had the best off-season in recent memory. Their starting five is downright illegal, consisting of former all-stars Nash, Bryant, World Peace, Gasol and Howard.

L.A.Clippers: ‘Lob City’ will still be throwing down rim-rocking alley-oops. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin utilize the pick-and-roll to perfection, and the defensive attention they demand provides open shots for the perimeter shooters. They will be aiming for a top 4 finish.

Phoenix: The Suns’ one true hope, Steve Nash, is gone. The Suns’ organization is probably counting down the days until the 2013 Draft Lottery. They are in dire need of a quality scorer. Goran Dragic is a good addition after the irreplaceable Nash, but they still need a prolific scorer if they want to go anywhere.

Golden State/Sacramento: Last season, these teams practically had the same winning percentage, 0.348 and 0.333 respectively. They aren’t terrible but they most certainly aren’t play-off material. Not yet, anyway. Look for these two teams to just play hard every night and let the outcomes speak for themselves.

Southwest Division San Antonio: We keep repeating the same things:“The Spurs are too old”, “This is a young man’s game.” Yet this successful franchise continues to prove us wrong. Last year they

October 2012 53

PHOTO: GARY BAKER

The American

The BBL’ s Back (...and back in London) BBL and FIBA writer Paul Nilsen previews the BBL season

I

tied for the most wins and Tony Parker was a legitimate MVP candidate. If they can survive the regular season without major injuries, they will win this division.

Dallas: After a poor 2011 off-season and a beating by Miami in the season opener, we all knew this team was done.

This off-season has been no better. Losing starters Jason Kidd and Jason Terry are huge setbacks, even though they signed O.J. Mayo and Elton Brand to take the load off the 2011 NBA Finals MVP, Dirk Nowitzki.

Houston: The Rockets rocked the offseason with the signing of Jeremy Lin, but this will not take the team to new heights.

Memphis: The Grizzlies have a great team, but can’t seem to get over that first round play-off hump. They have Zach Randolph, Mark Gasol and Rudy Gay, and now the team has gelled and gained play-off experience we may see better this time.

New Orleans: The Hornets had two top 10 draft picks this year in Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers, two explosive players that will bring much needed swagger and hustle to the Big Easy. With Eric Gordon back, this could be one seriously exciting squad with scoring power and shot blocking prowess. However, even the 8th seed may be a tough task. H

54 October 2012

n a remarkable reversal of fortune for those in and around the capital who love their ball, ‘London-centric’ is perhaps the best way to describe British basketball right now. After several years without a top flight pro team to follow, fans in the South-East could soon be spoiled for choice.

There are now two British Basketball League (BBL) clubs in the form of the already existing Guildford Heat, who have rebranded themselves as Surrey Heat, and London Lions who have moved from Milton Keynes. Whilst next year could also see London Leopards and East London Royals both join the party.

Following on from the Olympics, where basketball played a major part in making it a roaring success, there is not only the mouth-watering prospect of more top-level clubs to watch on a regular basis, but the BBL Play-Offs will also return to its spiritual home of Wembley Arena for the climax of the season next May. Additionally, the best club completion in Europe is also scheduled to hold its showpiece event late next Spring with the Euroleague Final Four to take place at the O2 Arena.

In terms of the next few months, it will be the ‘bread and butter’ action from the British Basketball League which will take center stage as teams compete once again with the Newcastle Eagles, who cemented their status as the most successful team in UK basketball history by completing a ‘clean sweep’ of

the BBL League Title, BBL Play-Offs, BBL Trophy and BBL Cup last season.

Newcastle are likely to be the team to beat and have again managed to retain the core of their team, although there will be a few notable additions in the shape of American duo Damon Huffman (Brown University) and Kareem Maddox (Princeton) who impressed player-coach Fab Flournoy at a tournament last Christmas in Holland when they went up against the Eagles.

London Lions have grabbed Heat legend Mike Martin, which is a major coup and the veteran is just the kind of player needed to help establish the Lions in their new location both on and off the court. They have brought in his Heat team-mate Tayo Ogedengbe too. Duane James is another useful player with club owner Vince Macaulay (who goes back to coaching) retaining Portuguese guard Nuno Pedroso from last season and welcoming pro-rookie forward Orlan Jackman (Oklahoma City University).

Surrey Heat can at least rely on some continuity in the frontcourt with Tennessee born Frank Holmes carrying the main threat along with ‘Big Mac’ Martelle McLemore (Western Michigan). Elsewhere in the league, the clubs tipped to challenge Newcastle for silverware are likely to be the same as last year with the Plymouth Raiders, Worcester Wolves and Leicester Riders all making big noises again.

The American

Plymouth were beaten by the Eagles in both the Cup and Trophy Finals last season, but this time they could finally get their hands on some winners’ medals having acquired an absolutely talentpacked team. They look stacked in every spot with a superb backcourt of former BBL MVP Jeremy Bell (Williams Baptist) and Drew Lasker (Point Loma) while they have uplifted in the wing and forward spots by signing Irish star Colin O’Reilly and re-signing the versatile and vastly underrated Michael Ojo. In the paint, they can rely on Englishman Anthony Rowe and have brought Matt Schneck (St Cloud State) from Cheshire.

There are few more colourful or popular characters around than Leicester Riders head coach Rob Paternostro and the American is looking set to continue his great work in transforming the club to perennial challengers having persuaded Great Britain Olympic captain Drew Sullivan to stay at least one more year. He will be joined by some new faces this year including guard combo Jorge Calvo and Zaire Taylor (Missouri) as well as center John Fraley (Austin Peay State).

The Worcester Wolves remain one of the most cosmopolitan teams in the league, looking to Europe as well as across the Atlantic for reenforcements to their home-grown contingent. Spaniard Carlos Fernandez will continue to apply his impressive all-round skills whilst Lithuanian Arnas Kazlauskas returns with his inside-outside threat, though the biggest factor could again be Sherrad PrezzieBlue (Wentworth). The guard had to do the hard yards in the lower leagues of British Basketball when he first arrived,

perhaps having played at a less than prestigious school in the States, but has since developed into a real star.

The Sheffield Sharks are a traditional powerhouse of the British game but have endured rough times of late, a BBL Cup 18 months ago very much a rare bright spot during a steady decline. With some off-court issues last season adding to their woes, they will be hoping to return to the top five or six again and leading the charge will be a trio of BBL rookies in Gage Daye (Bloomfield), Nashid Beard (Lamar) and Micah Williams (East Tennessee State). However, returnee Mike Tuck (Loyola) will again be the danger man.

Glasgow Rocks move into a different facility this season and a fresh start at their brand new Arena brings hope and expectation. They have reached back out to former player Brice Fantazia (Culver-Stockton) and also signed Donald Robinson (West Virginia Tech) and Meneptha Darden (Rogers State) but the real secret to their possible success will be keeping Scots star Gareth Murray, the athletic Andrew Wedemire and veteran guard EJ Harrison.

In addition to the new teams in London, the BBL welcomes back the Manchester Giants; this traditional basketball city has spent far too long without a pro-team. Jeff Jones will coach with both of his sons, James and Callum likely to continue playing in the league. However, it’s not all good news in the North-West with both Cheshire Jets and Mersey Tigers having to tighten their belts. They could both struggle this season as a consequence.

Finally, the nearest challengers to the all-conquering Newcastle Eagles are Durham Wildcats, although strictly in a geographical sense. Yet they were very competitive last year, their first ever in the top division, and despite coming last will have confidence they can improve this time around.

It promises to be another fascinating season and 2013 could be just as momentous as 2012 for British Basketball and especially in London! H

Plymouth’s Jeremy Bell and (holding trophy) Newcastle’s Fab Flournoy PHOTOS: GARY BAKER

October 2012 55

The American

Football in Ireland The Emerald Isle Classic

Jay B Webster catches Dublin’s gridiron extravaganza

T

here was a slice of Americana in the heart of the Emerald Isle last month, as roughly 35,000 US citizens descended on Dublin, Ireland for a weekend of college and high school football action. Marching bands, cheerleaders, pep rallies, the whole shebang transplanted from middle America to the Hibernian capital for the ‘Emerald Isle Classic’, the season opening matchup between the Naval Academy Midshipmen and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

As a warm up to the main event, seven US high school teams, two NCAA Division III teams, two Canadian high school teams and a UK all-star team faced off in six games at three venues on Friday night.

I made my way to Donnybrook Stadium, a local rugby ground on Dublin’s south side, as Jesuit Prep Dallas took on Loyola Academy from Illinois, followed by a Division III college game between John Carroll University (Ohio) and St Norbert College (Wisconsin).

To read Jay’s full Emerald Isle Classic report, visit our website: www.theamerican.co.uk PHOTOS: JAY B WEBSTER

56 September 2012

I wasn’t sure whether there would be much interest in these games, but as I approached the stadium midway into the first game, the roar of the crowd assured me that there would not be a handful of parents and a few bemused locals on hand to watch the game.

In fact, the stands were mostly full, a crowd of 5,000 or so, pretty much evenly mixed between followers of the two schools, along with a handful of bemused locals. The game turned out to be a classic, Jesuit QB Jack Brezette leading his team down the field to set up a Cody Wilker fieldgoal (through narrow rugby uprights) with 49 seconds left.

The players, coaches, families and followers who made the trip clearly got a unique and cherished experience, and everyone seemed to be drinking it all in.

Of course everything was building towards the main event on Saturday afternoon. The entire city of Dublin was awash with American accents and decked out in Notre Dame and Navy blue and gold. 35,000 tickets

were allocated to the two schools, and swiftly gobbled up – 15,000 left for sale to the general public in Ireland were sold out in two hours. In the weeks leading up to the game, I was quite surprised by the number of Irish friends and work acquaintances who had either managed to snag tickets or were desperately trying to get their hands on some.

As I walked towards Aviva Stadium, it was the sheer number of US fans who had made the trip that really struck me. The teams brought their fans with them by the tens of thousands. I can only hope that if 35,000 Americans will fly to Dublin for a college football game, the NFL won’t be far behind. With Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who is the American Ambassador to Ireland, attending the game, it’s not exactly a far-fetched proposition. H

The American

American ORGANIZATIONS

American Friends of the British Museum Mollie Norwich. The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. 020 7323 8590 www.britishmuseum.org

An index of useful resources in the UK

ESSENTIAL CONTACTS EMERGENCIES Fire, Police, Ambulance

TRANSPORTATION London Underground 020 7222 1234 www.tfl.gov.uk National Rail Enquiries 08457 4849 50

www.nationalrail.co.uk National Bus Service 0990 808080 www.nationalexpress.com

American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery Stacey Ogg and Charlotte Savery, Individual Giving Managers 020 7312 2444 individualgiving@npg.org.uk www.npg.org.uk/support/individual/ americanfriends.php

American Friends of the Almeida Theatre, Inc. Kenneth David Burrows, 950 Third Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, USA or Lizzie Stallybrass, Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London N1 1TA, UK www.almeida.co.uk/supportus/americansupport.aspx

001 100 155 153 151

American Friends of Chickenshed Theatre U.S. Office: c/o Chapel & York PMB293, 601 Penn Ave NW, Suite 900 S Bldg, Washington, DC 20004 UK Office: Chickenshed, Chase Side, Southgate, London N14 4PE 0208 351 6161 ext 240 AdamG@Chickenshed.org.uk http://www.chickenshed.org.uk/659/individual/ american-friends.html

For more details go to

www.theamerican.co.uk and click on Life In The UK

American Church in London Senior Pastor: Rev. John D’Elia.

Music Director: Anthony Baldwin.

Sunday School 9.45am Sunday Worship 11am, child care provided.

79a Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TD (Goodge St. tube station) Tel: 020 7580 2791/07771 642875 churchsecretary@amchurch.co.uk www.amchurch.co.uk

American Friends of the Lyric Theatre Ireland Crannóg House, 44 Stranmillis Embankment, Belfast, BT9 5FL, Northern Ireland Angela McCloskey info@americanfriendsofthelyric.com www.americanfriendsofthelyric.com/ americanfriends.html

American Red Cross RAF Mildenhall Tel: 01638 542107, After Hours 07031 15 2334 red.crossv3@mildenhall.af.mil

MEDICAL ADVICE LINE NHS Direct delivers 24-hour telephone and e-health information services, direct to the public. www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk 0845 4647

CIVIC & SERVICES

American Friends of the Jewish Museum London Stephen Goldman Tel. 020 7284 7363 stephen.goldman@jewishmuseum.org.uk www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/american-friends

American Citizens Abroad (ACA) The Voice of Americans Overseas, 5 Rue Liotard, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland +41.22.340.02.33 info.aca@gmail.com www.americansabroad.org

999 or 112 (NOT 911)

TELEPHONES Direct Dial Code, US & Canada Operator Assistance, UK Operator Assistance, Int. International Directory Assistance Telephone Repair

American Friends of the Donmar Inc. Stephanie Dittmer, Deputy Director of Development 020 7845 5810 sdittmer@donmarwarehouse.com www.donmarwarehouse.com/p46.html

American Institute of Architects Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF. Tel: 020 7930 9124 chapterexecutive@aiauk.org www.aiauk.org

Here are some crucial telephone numbers to know while you are in the UK.

American Friends of Contemporary Dance & Sadler’s Wells U.S. Office: Celia Rodrigues, Chair 222 Park Avenue South, 10A, New York, NY 10003 +1.917.539.9021 americanfriends@sadlerswells.com UK Office: 020 7863 8134 development@sadlerswells.com.

American Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery Kathleen Bice, Development Officer, Members and Patrons 020 8299 8726 www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/support_us/ american_friends.aspx

American Friends of ENO – English National Opera Denise Kaplan, American Friends Coordinator London Coliseum, St. Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4ES 0207 845 9331 Americanfriends@eno.org www.eno.org/support-us/individual-giving/ american-friends/american-friends.php

American Friends of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Inc. Jennifer Davies, Development Director jennifer.davies@philharmonia.co.uk www.philharmonia.co.uk/support/friends/afpo/ American Friends of the Royal Court Theatre U.S.: Laurie Beckelman, Beckelman and Capalino +1.212.616.5822 laurie@beckcap.com UK: Gaby Styles, Head of Development, Royal Court Theatre 020 7565 5060 gabystyles@royalcourttheatre.com or info@afrct.org

American Friends of the Royal Institution of Great Britain U.S.: c/o Chapel & York Limited, PMB #293, South Building Washington, DC 20004 UK: The Development Office, Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS 020 7670 2991 kdodd@ri.ac.uk www.rigb.org American Friends of the Royal Society http://royalsociety.org/Overseas-Donations

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The American

American Friends of St. Bartholomew the Great U.S.: John Eagleson 2925 Briarpark, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77042 UK: 20 7606 5171 admin@greatstbarts.com

American Friends of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust U.S.: John Chwat, President 625 Slaters Lane, Suite 103, Alexandria, VA 22314 +1. 703.684.7703 info@americanfriendsofsbt.org www.americanfriendsofsbt.org American Friends of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Inc. U.S.: Diana Seaton, Executive Director 61 Londonderry Drive, Greenwich, CT 06830 +1.203.536.4328 diana.seaton@afvam.org www.afvam.org UK: 020 7942 2149 American Friends of Wigmore Hall U.S.: c/o Chapel and York, 1000 N West Street Suite 1200, Wilmington DE 19801 UK: 020 7258 8220 mhosterweil@wigmore-hall.org.uk American Museum in Britain Director: Dr Richard Wendorf Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD. 01225 460503. Fax 01225 469160 info@americanmuseum.org www.americanmuseum.org American Women Lawyers in London www.awll.org.uk info@awll.org.uk American Women’s Health Centre 214 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QN. Obstetric, gynecological & infertility service. 020 7390 8433 www.awhc.co.uk Anglo American Medical Society Hon. Sec.: Dr. Edward Henderson, The Mill House, Whatlington, E. Sussex, TN33 0ND. 01424 775130. ed@themillhouse.eclipse.co.uk Association for Rescue at Sea The UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Association does not have an American Branch but if you wish to make a tax-efficient gift to the RNLI, contact AFRAS. Secretary: Mrs. Anne C. Kifer P.O. Box 565 Fish Creek, WI 54212, U.S.A. 00-1-920-743-5434 fax 00-1-920-743-5434 email: ackafras@aol.com Atlantic Council Director: Alan Lee Williams.

185 Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UF 0207 403 0640 or 0207 403 0740.

Fax: 0207 403 0901 acuk@atlantic-council.org.uk

58 October 2012

Bethesda Baptist Church Kensington Place, London W8.

020 7221 7039 office@bethesdabaptist.org.uk Boy Scouts of America Mayflower District Field Executive: Wayne Wilcox 26 Shortlands Road, Kingston, Surrey KT2 6HD 020 8274 1429, 07788 702328 wpwilcox@gmail.com BritishAmerican Business Inc. 75 Brook Street, London, W1K 4AD. 020 7290 9888 www.babinc.org ukinfo@babinc.org British American-Canadian Associates Contact via The English Speaking Union esu@esu.org CARE International UK 10-13 Rushworth Street, London, SE1 0RB 020 7934 9334 www.careinternational.org info@careinternational.org Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 66-68 Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2PA 020 7584 7553 adcockmp@ldschurch.org https://lds.org.uk http://mormon.org Church of John the Evangelist Vicar: Reverend Stephen Mason.

Assistant Priest: Reverend Mark Pudge.

Assistant Curate: Reverend Deiniol Heywood.

Hyde Park Crescent, London W2.

Tel: 020 7262 1732 parishadmin@stjohns-hydepark.com Commonwealth Church Rev. Rod Anderson, PO Box 15027, London SE5 0YS www.savestmarks.com Democrats Abroad (UK) Regular updates on events, chapters throughout the UK (and specific email addresses), and DAUK newsletters: www.democratsabroad.org.uk Register to vote and request an Absentee Ballot: www.votefromabroad.org Tel: 020 7724 9796 www.democratsabroad.org/group/united-kingdom

Friends of St Jude London Debbie Berger 07738 628126 debbie.berger@stjude.org www.friendsofstjude.org/london Grampian Houston Association Secretary: Bill Neish 5 Cairncry Avenue, Aberdeen, AB16 5DS Tel: 01224-484720 wineish@sky.com International Community Church (Interdenominational) Our Vision: “Everyone Mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28) Pastor: Rev. Dr. Barry K. Gaeddert Worship on Sundays: 10.30 am at Chertsey Hall, Heriot Road, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 9DR Active Youth programme.

Church Office: 1st floor, Devonshire House, 60 Station Road, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2AF. 01932 830295. churchoffice@icc-uk.org www.icc-uk.org Junior League of London President: Meredith Niles 9 Fitzmaurice Place, London W1J 5JD. President 020 7499 8159 Fax: 020 7629 1996 jrleague@jll.org.uk www.jll.org.uk Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 19 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PT. Tel: 020 7713 2030. Fax: 020 7713 2031 info@jdrf.org.uk www.jdrf.org.uk Liberal Jewish Synagogue 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA Services 6.45pm Fridays and 11am on Saturdays except for first Friday each month when service is held at 7pm with a Chavurah Supper.

Please bring non-meat food dish to share.

020 7286 5181 ljs@ljs.org Lions Club International Lakenheath & District 105EA, 15 Highfields Drive, Lakenheath, Suffolk IP27 9EH. Tel 01842 860752 www.lionsclubs.org

Farm Street Church 114 Mount Street, Mayfair, London W1K 3AH Tel: 020 7493 7811 www.farmstreet.org.uk

Lutheran Services, St Anne’s Rev. Timothy Dearhamer.

Lutheran Church, Gresham St, London EC2.

Sun 11am-7pm.

Tel. 020 7606 4986 Fax. 020 7600 8984 info@StAnnesLutheranChurch.org www.StAnnesLutheranChurch.org

Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) Department of Defense, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington DC 20301-1155.

Director: Ms. Polli K. Brunelli UK Toll Free Tel: 0800 028 8056 US Toll Free Tel:1-800-438- VOTE (8683). www.fvap.gov vote@fvap.ncr.gov

Methodist Central Hall Westminster, London SW1H 9NH Services every Sunday at 11am and 6.30pm.

Bible study groups & Monday guilds also held.

Tel: 020 7222 8010 www.methodist-central-hall.org.uk church@mchw.org.uk

The American

North American Friends of Chawton House Library U.S. Office: 824 Roosevelt Trail, #130, Windham, ME 04062 +1.207 892 4358 UK Office: Chawton House Library, Chawton, Alton, Hampshire GU34 1SJ 01420 541010 www.chawton.org/support/nafchl5.html Republicans Abroad (UK) Chairman Dr. Thomas Grant chairman@republicansabroad-uk.org www.republicansabroad-uk.org Rotary Club of London 6 York Gate, London NW1 4QG. Tel. 020 7487 5429 Royal National Lifeboat Institution Head Office, West Quay Road, Poole BH15 1HZ 0845 045 6999 www.rnli.org.uk The Royal Oak Foundation Sean Sawyer, 35 West 35th Street #1200, New York NY 10001-2205, USA Tel 212- 480-2889 or (800) 913-6565 Fax (212)785-7234 ssawyer@royal-oak.org www.royal-oak.org St Andrew’s Lutheran Church Serving Americans since 1960. Whitby Road & Queens Walk, Ruislip, West London.

(South Ruislip Tube Station). Services: 11 am 020 8845 4242 pastorvan43@hotmail.com www.standrewslutheran.co.uk Other Lutheran Churches in the UK www.lutheran.co.uk T.R.A.C.E. P.W. (The ‘original’ Transatlantic Children’s’ Enterprise reuniting children with G.I. father’s and their families) Membership Secretary: Norma Jean Clarke-McCloud 29 Connaught Avenue, Enfield EN1 3BE www.tracepw.org normajean78@hotmail.com UK Society of CPAs Suite 32, 2 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3DQ

United Nations Association, Westminster branch Chairman: David Wardrop 61 Sedlescombe Road, London SW6 1RE 0207 385 6738 info@unawestminster.org.uk www.unawestminster.org.uk www.wethepeoples.org.uk USA Girl Scouts Overseas – North Atlantic Stem Kaserne Bldg 1002, Postfach 610212 D-68232, Mannheim, Germany. +49 621 487 7025. girlscouts@cmtymail.26asg.army.mil www.norags.com

SOCIAL American Club of Hertfordshire President: Lauryn Awbrey 63-65 New Road, Welwyn, Herts AL6 0AL 01582 624823 amclubherts@aol.com American Expats of the Northwest of England The Ruskin Rooms, Drury Lane, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6HA. expatsnw@gmail.com American Friends of English Heritage 1307 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington DC 20036.

202-452-0928. c/o English Heritage, Attn: Simon Bergin, Keysign House, 429 Oxford Street, London W1R 2HD. 020 7973 3423 www.english-heritage.org.uk American Professional Women in London Rebecca Lammers 58 Shacklewell Road, London, N16 7TU 075 3393 5064 abwinlondon@gmail.com www.meetup.com/American-Business-Womenin-London www.facebook.com/groups/293890040710041 Twitter: @USAProWomenLDN American Society in London c/o The English Speaking Union 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED info@americansocietyuk.com 020 7539 3400 American Stamp Club of Great Britain Chapter 67 of the American Philatelic Society.

Hon. Publicity Secretary: Stephen T. Taylor 5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS. 020 8390 9357 American Womens Association of Bristol awabristol_membership@fawco.org American Women of Berkshire & Surrey P. O. Box 10, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 4YP. www.awbs.org.uk awbscommonground@yahoo.co.uk American Women of Surrey PO Box 185, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3YJ. www.awsurrey.org American Women’s Association of Yorkshire The Chalet, Scarcroft Grange, Wetherby Road, Scarcroft, Leeds LS14 3HJ. 01224 744 224 Contact: Carol Di Peri The American Women’s Club of Dublin P.O. Box 2545, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 IRELAND www.awcd.net info@awcd.net American Women’s Club of London 68 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LQ. 020 7589 8292 awc@awclondon.org www.awclondon.org

American Women’s Club of Central Scotland P.O. Box 231, 44-46 Morningside Road, Edinburgh, EH10 4BF info@awccs.org www.awccs.org American Women of South Wales 07866 190838 awsouthwales@fawco.org The Anglo-American Charity Limited Jeffrey Hedges, Director.

07968 513 631 info@anglo-americancharity.org Association of American Women in Ireland aawireland@fawco.org Association of American Women of Aberdeen PO Box 11952, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB13 0BW email via website www.awaaberdeen.org British Association of American Square Dance Zoe Bremer, 1 Burnwood Drive, Wollaton, Nottingham NG8 2DJ 0115 928 2896 rpmsquaredancing@aol.com www.uksquaredancing.com Canadians & Americans in Southern England 023 9241 3881 contactcase@casecommunity.com Canadian Womens Club 1 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 4AB Tues – Thurs 10.30-3.30 0207 258 6344 info@canadianwomenlondon.org www.canadianwomenlondon.org Chilterns American Women’s Club PO Box 445, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, SL9 8YU membership@cawc.co.uk www.cawc.co.uk Colonial Dames of America Chapter XI London.

President Anne K Brewster: AnneBrewster@hotmail.com Daughters of the American Revolution – St James’s Chapter Mrs Natalie Ward, 01379 871422 nattyward@aol.com or UKDARStJames@aol.com http://mysite.verizon.net/jean.sutton/main.htm Daughters of the American Revolution – Walter Hines Page Chapter Diana Frances Diggines, Regent dardiana@hotmail.co.uk www.dar.org Daughters of the American Revolution – Washington Old Hall Chapter, North Yorkshire Mrs. Gloria Hassall, 01845 523-830 Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Great Britain President: Mrs Sandra Blacker, 22 Manor Park, Tunbridge Wells www.deltakappagamma.net

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Delta Zeta International Sorority Alumna Club Mrs Sunny Eades, The Old Hall, Mavesyn Ridware, Nr. Rugeley, Staffordshire, WSI5 3QE. 01543 490 312 SunnyEades@aol.com

Petroleum Women’s Club Contact: Nancy Ayres. Tel: 01923 711720 nanayrs@btopenworld.com

English-Speaking Union Director-General Peter Kyle Dartmouth House, 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED. Tel: 020 7529 1550 Fax: 0207 495 6108 esu@esu.org

High Twelve International, Inc. Local Contact – Arnold Page High Twelve Club 298, Secretary, Darrell C. Russell; 1, Wellington Close, West Row, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 8PH Telephone: 01638 715764 email: russelld130@btinternet.com.

International American Duplicate Bridge Club Contact: Mary Marshall, 18 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RP. 020 7221 3708 www.ycbc.co.uk/american.htm Kensington & Chelsea Men’s Club Contact: John Rickus 70 Flood Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5TE. (home): 020 7349 0680 (office): 020 7753 2253 johnrickus@aol.com Kensington & Chelsea Women’s Club President: Mary Narvell. Tel. 0142 693 3348 president@kcwc.org.uk Membership: 0207 863 7562 (ans service). membership@kcwc.org.uk New Neighbors Diana Parker, Rosemary Cottage, Rookshill, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 4HZ. 01923 772185 North American Connection (West Midlands) PO Box 10543, Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands. B93 8ZY T: 0870 720 0663 info@naconnect.com www.naconnect.com Northwood Area Women’s Club P.O. Box 46, Northwood, HA6 1XN 01932-830295 info@northwoodareawomensclub.co.uk www.northwoodareawomensclub.co.uk Stars of Great Britain Chapter #45

60 October 2012

American Legion London Post 1 Adjutant J.H. Spiller, III PO Box 5017, BATH, BA1 OPP Tel: 01225-426245 www.amlegionpost1london.org.uk info@amlegionpost1london.org.uk

Petroleum Women’s Club of Scotland Executive Secretary: Mrs. Sue Dalgleish PO Box 77, Aberdeen AB15 4QU pwcscotland@yahoo.co.uk www.pwcos.com

Friends of Benjamin Franklin House Director: Dr. Márcia Balisciano Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven St, London WC2N 5NF 0207 839 2006 www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org Hampstead Women’s Club President - Betsy Lynch. Tel: 020 7435 2226 email president@hwcinlondon.co.uk www.hwcinlondon.co.uk

Air Force Sergeants Association European Division Timothy W. Litherland CMSgt, USAF (ret).

Chapters at RAFs Alconbury, Croughton, Lakenheath, Menwith Hill and Mildenhall. tim_lith@msn.com www.afsadiv16.org

Washington Jurisdiction Lakenheath, England sogb45@yahoo.com http://starsofgreatbritainchapter45.com

Pilgrims of Great Britain Allington Castle, Maidstone, Kent M16 0NB. Tel. 01622 606404Fax. 01622 606402 sec@pilgrimsociety.org

Propeller Club of the United States – London, England propellerclubhq.com St John’s Wood Women’s Club President: Sue Rushmore Box 185, 176 Finchley Road, London NW3 6BT Membership: Sandy Asher membership@sjwwc.org www.sjwwc.org

Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association London Chapter Secretary: CW04, A.H. Cox, USN, Navcommunit Box 44, 7 North Audley Street, London W1Y 1WJ. 020 7409 4519/4184 www.afcea.org.uk london.sec@afcea.org.uk Bentwaters/Woodbridge Retirees’ Association President: Wylie Moore. 2 Coldfair Close, Knodishall, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 1UN. 01728 830281 British Patton Historical Society Kenn Oultram 01606 891303

Thames Valley American Women’s Club Contact: Miriam Brewster PO Box 1687, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 8XT. 0208 751 8941 www.tvawc.com membership@tvawc.com

Brookwood American Cemetery (WW1) Superintendent: Mr Frank Kaufmann.

Brookwood, Woking, Surrey GU24 0BL 01483 473237 brookwood.ac@abmc-er.org

UK Panhellenic Association Contact Susan Woolf, 10 Coniston Court, High St. Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex HA1 3LP. 020 8864 0294 susanrwoolf@hotmail.com

Cambridge American Cemetery (WWII Cemetary) Superintendent: Mr. Bobby Bell.

Asst. Superintendent: Mr. Tony Barclay.

Coton, Cambridge CB23 7PH. 01954 210350

United Kingdom Shrine OASIS Anglian Shrine Club Secretary: Charles A. Aldrich, 11 Burrow Drive, Lakenheath, Suffolk IP27 9EY 01842 860 650 mailto:caaldrich@btinterner.com

Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces Europe Naval Reserve Detachment 130, Recruiting Officer: LCDR Thomas D. Hardin, USNR-R. 020 7409 4259 (days), 020 8960 7395 (evenings).

W.E.B. DuBois Consistory #116 Northern Jurisdiction Valley of London, England, Orient of Europe Cell: 0776-873-8030 mjack36480@aol.com

Eighth Air Force Historical Society UK Representative: Mr. Gordon Richards and Mrs Connie Richards 14 Pavenham Road, Oakley, Bedford MK43 7SY. 01234 823357.

Women’s Writers Network Contact: Cathy Smith.

23 Prospect Road, London, NW2 2JU. 020 7794 5861 www.womenwriters.org.uk info@womenwriters.org.uk

Friends of the Eighth Newsletter (FOTE News) Chairman: Mr. Ron Mackay.

39b Thorley Hill, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 3NE. 01279 658619.

MILITARY AFJROTC 073 Lakenheath High School. Tel: 01638 525603

Joint RAF Mildenhall/Lakenheath Retiree Affairs Office Director: Col. John J. Valentine, USAF (Ret) Unit 8965, Box 30 RAF Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk, IP28 8NF Tel. (01638) 542039 rao@mildenhall.af.mil

The American

Marine Corps League Detachment 1088, London, England Commandant Mike Allen Creek Cottage, 2 Pednormead End, Old Chesham, Buckinghamshire HP5 2JS detachment1088@mcl-london-uk.org www.mcl-london-uk.org

Phone: 01280 708182 e-mail: 422abg.rao@croughton.af.mil

USNA Alumni Association UK Chapter Pres: LCDR Tim Fox ’97, timfox97@hotmail.com Vice Pres: Miguel Sierra ’90, mrsierra@chevron.com Treas/Membership Coord: Bart O’Brien ’98, bartonobrien2@yahoo.com Secretary: Matt Horan ’87, matthoran@btinternet.com

Mildenhall Retirees Association President: Jack Kramer 6 Nunsgate, Thetford, Norfolk 1P24 3EL

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Commander: Ernest Paolucci 24, rue Gerbert, 75015 Paris, France 00 33 (0)1.42.50.96.34

Navy League of the United States, United Kingdom Council Council President: Steven G. Franck steven.franck@googlemail.com www.navyleague.org

Western UK Retiree Association President: R. Jim Barber, MSgt (USAF), Ret Phone: 01280 708182

Non-Commissioned Officers’ Association (NCOA) – The Heart of England Chapter Chairman: Ronald D.Welper.

Pine Farm, Sharpe’s Corner, Lakenheath, Brandon, Suffolk 1P27 9LB. Thetford 861643.

The Chapter Address: 513 MSSQ/SS, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk.

EDUCATIONAL ACS International Schools ACS Cobham International School, Heywood, Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey KT11 1BL 01932 867251

Society of American Military Engineers (UK) UK address: Box 763, USAFE Construction Directorate.

86 Blenheim Crescent, West Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 7HL London Post. President: W. Allan Clarke.

Secretary: Capt. Gary Chesley.

Membership Chairman, Mr. Jim Bizier.

US Army Reserve 2nd Hospital Center 7 Lynton Close, Ely, Cambs, CB6 1DJ. Tel: 01353 2168 Commander: Major Glenda Day. US Air Force Recruiting Office RAF Mildenhall, 100 MSS/MSPRS, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, 1P28 8NF. 01638 542290 Retired Affairs Office, RAF Alconbury Serving Central England POC: Rex Keegan Alt. POC: Mike Depasquale UK Postal Address: 423 SVS/RAO, Unit 5585, Box 100, RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs PE28 4DA Office Hours: Tuesday and Friday, 10:30am–2:30pm 01480 84 3364/3557 Emergency Contact: 07986 887 905 RAO@Alconbury.af.mil 2nd Air Division Memorial Library The Forum, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1AW 01603 774747 www.2ndair.org.uk 2admemorial.lib@norfolk.gov.uk USAF Retiree Activities Office Director: Paul G Gumbert, CMSgt (USAF), Ret 422 ABG/CVR Unit 5855, PSC 50, Box 3 RAF Croughton, Northants NN13 5XP

ACS Egham International School, Woodlee, London Road (A30), Egham, Surrey TW20 0HS. 01784 430800 ACS Hillingdon International School Hillingdon Court, 108 Vine Line, Hillingdon, Middlesex UB10 0BE. 01895 259771 www.acs-england.co.uk

AIU/London (formerly American College in London) 110 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4RY. Tel 020 7467 5640 Fax 020 7935 8144 www.aiulondon.ac.ukadmissions@aiulondon.ac.uk Alconbury Middle/High School RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE17 1PJ, UK. www.alco-hs.eu.dodea.edu AlconburyHS.Principal@eu.dodea.edu American Institute for Foreign Study 37 Queensgate, London SW7 5HR 020 7581 7300 www.aifs.co.uk info@aifs.co.uk American School in London 1 Waverley Place, London NW8 0NP Tel: 020 7449 1200 Fax: 020 7449 1350 www.asl.org admissions@asl.org American School of Aberdeen Craigton Road, Cults, Aberdeen.

01224 861068 / 868927.

Benjamin Franklin House 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF. Tel 020 7839 2006 Fax 020 7930 9124 info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Boston University – London Graduate Programs Office 43 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7244 6255 www.bu.edu/london British American Educational Foundation Mrs. Carlton Colcord, 1 More’s Garden, 90 Cheyne Walk, London SW3.

020 7352 8288 www.baef.org anncolcord@compuserve.com BUNAC Student Exchange Employment Program Director: Callum Kennedy, 16 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0QH. 020 7251 3472 www.bunac.org enquiries@bunac.org.uk Center Academy School Development Centre 92 St. John’s Hill, Battersea, London SW11 1SH. Tel 020 7738 2344 Fax 020 7738 9862 ukadmin@centeracademy.com Central Bureau for Educational Visits The British Council Director: Peter Upton 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN 020 7389 4004 Wales 029 2039 7346, Scotland 0131 447 8024 centralbureau@britishcouncil.org Council on International Educational Exchange Dr. Michael Woolf, 52 Portland Street, London WIV 1JQ Tel 020 7478 2000 Fax 020 7734 7322 www.ciee.org contact@ciee.org Ditchley Foundation Ditchley Park, Enstone, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 4ER. Tel 01608 677346 Fax 1608 677399 www.ditchley.co.uk info@ditchley.co.uk European Council of International Schools Jean K Vahey, Executive Director, 21b Lavant Street, Petersfield GU32 3EL. Tel 01730 268244 Fax 01730 267914 www.ecis.org ecis@ecis.org European-Atlantic Group PO Box 37431, London N3 2XP 020 8632 9253 justinglass@btinternet.com www.eag.org.uk Florida State University London Study Centre Administrative Director: Kathleen Paul 99 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3LH. Tel 020 7813 3233 Fax 020 7813 3270 www.international.fsu.edu/london/ intprog1@admin.fsu.edu Fordham University London Centre Academic Coordinator: Sabina Antal 23 Kensington Square, London W8 5HQ

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The American

Regents American College Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NS. 020 7486 9605. www.regents.ac.uk exrel@regents.ac.uk

020 7937 5023 londoncentre@fordham.edu www.fordham.edu

Harlaxton College UK Campus, University of Evansville Harlaxton Manor, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG32 1AG. Grantham 4541 4761.

Tel 01476 403000 Fax 01476 403030 harlaxton.ac.uk.

Huron University USA in London 46-47 Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 4JP Tel +44 (0) 20 7636 5667 Fax+44 (0) 20 7299 3297 folu@huron.ac.uk www.huron.ac.uk Institute for Study Abroad Butler University, 21 Pembridge Gardens, London W2 4EB 020 7792 8751 http://www.ifsa-butler.org/england-overview.html Institute for the Study of the Americas Director: Professor James Dunkerley.

Tel 020 7862 8879 Fax 020 7862 8886 americas@sas.ac.uk www.americas.sas.ac.uk International School of Aberdeen 296 North Deeside Road, Milltimber, Aberdeen, AB13 0AB 01224 732267 www.isa.aberdeen.sch.uk admin@isa.aberdeen.sch.uk International School of London 139 Gunnersbury Avenue, London W3 8LG. 020 8992 5823. www.islondon.com mail@ISLondon.com International School of London in Surrey Old Woking Road, Woking GU22 8HY Tel +44 (0)1483 750409 Fax +44 (0)1483 730962 www.islsurrey.com mail@islsurrey.com Ithaca College London Centre 35 Harrington Gardens, London SW7.

Tel. 020 7370 1166 www.ithaca.edu/london bsheasgreen@ithacalondon.co.uk Marymount International School, London Headmistress: Ms Sarah Gallagher George Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 7PE Tel: 020 8949 0571 info@marymountlondon.com www.marymountlondon.com Missouri London Study Abroad Program 32 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7373 7953. www.umsl.edu/services/abroad/universities/ molondon.html web_office@umsl.edu

62 October 2012

Richmond, The American International University in London Richmond Hill Campus,Queen’s Road Richmond-upon Thames TW10 6JP Tel: +44 20 8332 9000 Fax: +44 20 8332 1596 enroll@richmond.ac.uk www.richmond.ac.uk Schiller International University Royal Waterloo House, 51-55 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TX. Tel. 020 7928 1372 www.schillerlondon.ac.uk admissions@schillerlondon.ac.uk Sotheby’s Institute of Art Postgraduate Art studies, plus day /evening courses 30 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3EE Tel: 0207 462 3232 www.sothebysinstitute.com info@sothebysinstitute.com

Wickham Court School, Schiller International Layhams Road, West Wickham, Kent BR4 9HW. Tel 0208 777 2942 Fax 0208 777 4276 Wickham@schillerintschool.com www.wickhamcourt.org.uk Wroxton College Fairleigh Dickinson Univ.,Wroxton, Nr. Banbury, Oxfordshire OX15 6PX. Tel. 01295 730551 http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=326 admin@wroxton-college.ac.uk

ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS Alliant International University (formerly United States International University) England Chapter Alumni Association Chapter President: Eric CK Chan c/o Regents College London, Inner Circle, Regents Park, London, UK University: www.alliant.edu chane@regents.ac.uk

Southbank International Schools Kensington and Hampstead campuses for 3-11 year olds; Westminster campuses for 11-18 year olds.

Director of Admissions: MargaretAnne Khoury Tel: 020 7243 3803 Fax: 020 7727 3290 admissions@southbank.org www.southbank.org

Amherst College Bob Reichert RAreichert26b@aol.com

TASIS England, American School Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, Nr. Egham, Surrey TW20 8TE. Tel: 01932 565252 Fax: 01932 564644 http://england.tasis.com ukadmissions@tasisengland.org

Association of MBAs Leo Stemp, Events Administrator Tel 020 7837 3375 (ext. 223) Fax 020-7278-3634 l.stemp@mba.org.uk

University of Notre Dame London Program 1 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG 020 7484 7811 london@nd.edu http://www.nd.edu/~ndlondon/lup/future/ introduction.htm US-UK Fulbright Commission Dir. of Advisory Service: Lauren Welch 020 7498 4010 Dir. of Awards: Michael Scott-Kline, 020 7498 4014 Battersea Power Station, 188 Kirtling Street, London SW8 5BN www.fulbright.co.uk Warnborough University International Office, Friars House, London SE1 8HB. Tel 020 7922 1200 Fax: 020 7922 1201 www.warnborough.edu. admin@warnborough.edu Webster Graduate Studies Center Regent’s College, Regent’s Park, Inner Circle, London NW1 4NS, UK. Tel: 020 7487 7505 Fax: 020 7487 7425 www.webster.ac.uk webster@regents.ac.uk

Andover/Abbot Association of London Jeffrey Hedges ‘71, President 07968 513 631 hedgeslon@hotmail.com

Babson College Frank de Jongh Swemer, Correspondence W 020 7932 7514 babson.alumni@btinternet.com Barnard College Club Hiromi Stone, President.

Tel. 0207 935 3981 barnardclubgb@yahoo.co.uk Berkeley Club of London Geoff Kertesz Email: berkeleyclublondon@gmail.com http://international.berkeley.edu/LondonClub Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ groups/223876564344656/ Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/ Berkeley-Club-London-4186104 Boston College Alumni Club UK Craig Zematis, President +44 7717 878968 BCalumniclub@gmail.com www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/BTN/cpages/ chapters/home.jsp?chapter=41&org=BTN Boston University Alumni Association of the UK Will Straughn, Snr International Development Officer,

The American

University Development and Alumni Relations, 43 Harrington Gardens, Kensington, London SW7 4JU 020 7244 2908 020 7373 7411 bstraugh@bu.edu

Brandeis Alumni Club of Great Britain Joan Bovarnick, President http://alumni.brandeis.edu office@alumni.brandeis.edu Brown University Club of the United Kingdom President: Tugba Erem Vice President: Caroline Cook Secretary: Pinar Emirdag Treasurer: Mikus Kins Events: Ramya Moothathu Communication: Patrick Attie Alumni Club & Liaison: Vanessa Van Hoof Former President: Ed Giberti edgibertiwgcuk@aol.com.

Brown Club UK, Box 57100, London, EC1P 1RB contact@brownuk.org www.brownuk.org Bryn Mawr Club President: Lady Quinton. c/o Wendy Tiffin, 52 Lansdowne Gardens, London SW8 2EF. Wendy Tiffin, Secretary/Treasurer wendytif@ukgateway.net Claremont Colleges Alumni in London Hadley Beeman hadley_beeman@alumni.cmc.edu Colgate Club of London Stephen W Solomon ‘76, President 0207 349 0738 swsolomon@hotmail.com

NYU STERN UK Alumni Club Matthieu Gervis, President sternukalumniclub@hotmail.com

020 8423 8231 bertela@yahoo.com www.dspnet.org

Duke University Club of England Ms Robin Buck buckrobin@yahoo.com Tim Warmath timwarmath@yahoo.com Kate Bennett jkbennett@btinternet.com www.dukealumni.com/england

Ohio University UK & Ireland Frank Madden, 1 Riverway, Barry Avenue, Windsor, Berks. SL4 5JA. Tel 01753 855 360 Fax 01753 868 855 frank@madant.demon.co.uk

Emory University Alumni Chapter of the UK Matthew Williams, Chapter Leader 079 8451 4119 matthew.eric.williams@gmail.com www.alumni.emory.edu/chapters-and-groups/ chapters/international.html

Penn Alumni Club of the UK David Lapter Tel. 07957 146 470 david.lapter@alumni.upenn.edu Penn State Alumni Association Penn State Alumni Association Ron Nowicki 0207 226 7681 pennstatelondon@yahoo.co.uk www.alumni.psu.edu

Georgetown Alumni Club Alexa Fernandez, President GeorgetownLondon@Yahoo.com Gettysburg College Britt-Karin Oliver brittkarin@aol.com

Princeton Association (UK) Carol Rahn, President Jon Reades, Young Alumni carol.rahn@orange-ftgroup.com jon@reades.com www.alumni.princeton.edu

Harvard Business School Club of London www.hbsa.org.uk Harvard Club of Great Britain Brandon Bradkin, President president@hcuk.org www.hcuk.org

Rice Alumni of London Kathy Wang Tel. 07912 560 177 kathyw@alumni.rice.edu

Indiana University Alumni club of England Anastasia Tonello, President 020 7253 4855 iuinlondon@yahoo.com www.alumni.indiana.edu/clubs/england

Skidmore College Alumni Club, London Peggy Holden Briggs ‘84, co-ordinator peggyhbriggs@gmail.com 07817 203611

KKG London Alumnae Association emilymerrell@gmail.com

Columbia University Club of London Stephen Jansen, President london@alumniclubs.columbia.edu www.alumniclubs.columbia.edu/london

LMU Alumni Club London (Loyola Marymount University) Kent Jancarik 07795 358 681 kent@jancarik.com

Cornell Club of London Natalie Teich, President nmt4@cornell.edu www.alumni.cornell.edu/orgs/int/London

Marymount University Alumni UK Chapter President: Mrs Suzanne Tapley, 35 Park Mansions, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7QT. Tel 020 7581 3742

Dartmouth College Club of London Sanjay Gupta, Officer Andrew Rotenberg, Officer sanjay.gupta.96@ alum.dartmouth.org andrew.l.rotenberg.92@alum.dartmouth.org www.dartmouth.org

MIT Club of Great Britain Yiting Shen Flat 8a, 36 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6PB Tel: 0789 179 3823 yshen@alum.mit.edu http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/uk/

Delta Kappa Gamma Society International For information about the Society in Great Britain go to our website www.deltakappagamma.org/GB. There are links to all the USA and other international members’ sites.

Mount Holyoke Club of Britain Rachel L. Elwes, President rlelwes@yahoo.com Karen K. Bullivant Vice-President kkbullivant@alumnae.mtholyoke.edu www.mtholyoke.co.uk

Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity London Alumni Chapter. Ashok Arora, P O Box 1110, London W3 7ZB.

Notre Dame Club of London Hannah Gornik , Secretary ND_Club_London@yahoo.co.uk

Smith College Club of London Kathleen Merrill, President smithclubgb@googlemail.com http://alumnae.smith.edu

Stanford Business School Alumni Association (UK Chapter) Robby Arnold, President Lesley Anne Hunt, Events robby@blueyonder.co.uk lesley.hunt@blueyonder.co.uk www.stanfordalumni.org.uk Texas Tech Alumni Association – London Chapter David Mirmelli, Ferhat Guven, Bobby Brents president@texastechalumni.org.uk www.TexasTechAlumni.org.uk Texas Exes UK (UKTE) President: Carra Kane 7 Edith Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8TW 0778 660 7534 carrakane@alumni.utexas.net www.fornogoodreason.com/UKTEMain.htm Texas A&M Club London Ashley Lilly, Co-President

October 2012 63

The American

Devin Howard, Co-President london@aggienetwork.com http://clubs.aggienetwork.com/londonamc/

The John Adams Society Contact: Muddassar Ahmed c/o Unitas Communications, Palmerston House, 80-86 Old Street, London EC1V 9AZ 0203 308 2358 johnadamssociety@unitascommunications.com www.johnadamssociety.co.uk Tufts - London Tufts Alliance Vikki Garth Londontuftsalliance@yahoo.com UK Dawgs of the University of Georgia Rangana Abdulla ukdawgs@hotmail.com UMass Alumni Club UK Julie Encarnacao, President (0)20 7007 3869 julesje32@gmail.com University of California Matthew Daines (Program Director) 17 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA 020 7079 0567 matthewdaines@californiahouse.org.uk University of Chicago UK Alumni Association President c/o Alumni Affairs and Development – Europe University of Chicago Booth School of Business Woolgate Exchange, 25 Basinghall Street, London EC2V 5HA Tel +44(0)20 7070 2245 Fax +44(0)20 7070 2250 www.ChicagoBooth.edu University of Illinois Alumni Club of the UK Amy Barklam, President 07796 193 466 amybarklam@msn.com University of North Carolina Alumni Club Brad Matthews, Club Leader 2 The Orchards, Hill View Road, Woking GU22 7LS brad.matthews@alumni.unc.edu http://alumni.unc.edu University of Michigan Alumni Association Regional Contact: Jessica Cobb, BA ’97 +44 (0) 788-784-0941 jesscobb@yahoo.com http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/umich_uk_alumni/

University of Rochester/Simon School UK Alumni Association Ms. Julie Bonne, Co-President 0118-956-5052 julie_bonne@yahoo.com University of Southern California, Alumni Club of London Jennifer Ladwig, President Chuck Cramer, Treasurer usclondon@gmail.com www.usclondonalumni.org

64 October 2012

University of Virginia Alumni Club of London Kirsten Jellard, 020 7368 8473 londonuvaclub@yahoo.com http://members.aol.com/UKUVACLUB/UVA-london.htm USNA Alumni Association, UK Chapter President: LCDR Greta Densham ‘00 (gretaj@mac.com) Vice President/Treasurer: Tim Fox ‘97 (timfox97@ hotmail.com) Secretary: Mike Smith ‘84 (Mike.Smith@polycom.com) Facebook Group - USNA Alumni Association, UK Chapter Vassar College Club Sara Hebblethwaite, President 18 Redgrave Road, London, SW15 1PX +44 020 8788 6910 sara.hebblethwaite@virgin.net Warnborough Worldwide Alumni Association c/o International Office, Friars House, London SE1 8HB. Tel. 020 7922 1200 Fax. 020 7922 1201 http://www.wwaa.info/ admin@warnborough.edu Wellesley College Club Ana Ericksen, President. ana@ericksenuk.com Wharton Business School Club of the UK Yoav Kurtzbard, President Claire Watkins, Administrator 020-7447-8800 ykurtzbard@youngassoc.com cwatkins@youngassoc.com Williams Club of Great Britain Ethan Kline: ethankline@gmail.com Yale Club of London Joe Vittoria, President president@yale.org.uk Scott Fletcher, Events events@yale.org.uk Nick Baskey, Secretary secretary@yale.org.uk www.yale.org.uk Zeta Tau Alpha Alumnae Kristin Morgan. Tel: 07812 580949 kristinamorgan@gmail.com www.zetataualpha.org

ARTS North American Actors Association Chief Executive: Ms. Laurence Bouvard Americanactors@aol.com 07873 371 891

CIVIL WAR SOCIETIES American Civil War Round Table (UK) Sandra Bishop 5 Southdale, Chigwell, Essex IG7 5NN sandra-bishop@hotmail.com www.americancivilwar.org.uk Southern Skirmish Association (SoSkan) Membership Secretary, Bob Isaac, 3 Hilliards Road,

Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3TA email membership@soskan.co.uk

SPORTS Eagles Golf Society Sharon Croley c/o Eventful Services, 49 Hastings Road, Croydon, Surrey CRO 6PH sharoncroley@blueyonder.co.uk English Lacrosse The Belle Vue Centre, Pink Bank Lane, Longsight, Manchester M12 5GL 0161.227.3626 www.englishlacrosse.co.uk info@englishlacrosse.co.uk British Baseball Federation/ BaseballSoftballUK 5th Floor, Ariel House, 74a Charlotte Street, London W1T 4QJ. 020 7453 7055 British Morgan Horse Society 01942 886141 www.morganhorse.org.uk admin@morganhorse.org.uk Ice Hockey UK 19 Heather Avenue, Rise Park, Romford RM1 4SL Tel. 07917 194 264 Fax. 1708 725241 www.icehockeyuk.co.uk ihukoffice@yahoo.co.uk Herts Baseball Club Adult & Little League Baseball www.hertsbaseball.com LondonSports Instruction and competitive play in baseball, basketball and football (soccer), for boys and girls aged 4-15, newcomers or experienced players.

Learn about and play sports in a safe, fun environment.

We welcome children of all nationalities. www.londonsports.com vll@me.com London Warriors American Football Club Contact: Kevin LoPrimo info@londonwarriorsafc.co.uk www.londonwarriorsafc.co.uk Mildenhall EELS Swim Team International and local competitions for ages 6-19.

Contact Coach Robin flv4@hotmail.com

Every effort is made to ensure that listings in the information guide are correct and current. If your entry requires amendments please notify us immediately.

We rely on you to keep us informed. Telephone 01747 830520, Fax 01747 830691 or email us at theamerican@blueedge.co.uk. We would be pleased to receive news or short articles about your organisation for possible publication in The American.

The American RESTAURANTS

Suppliers of quality products and services hand-picked for you ACCOUNTANCY & TAX BDO LLP The UK member firm of the world’s fifth largest accountancy organisation.

55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU 020 7486 5888 info@bdo.co.uk www.bdo.uk.com Jaffe & Co., incorp. American Tax International Comprehensive tax preparation and compliance service for US expatriates in the UK and Europe.

America House, 54 Hendon Lane, London N3 1TT 0800 085 1537 or 020 8346 5237 www.americantaxonline.com Xerxes Associates LLP Fixed Fee US & UK Individual Tax Compliance, Consulting & Planning.

Tel: +44(0)207 411 9026 Fax: +44(0)207 411 9051 www.xerxesllp.com

GROCERY Panzer’s Family-run deli in St. John’s Wood, established over 50 years.

13-19 Circus Road, St John’s Wood, London NW8 6PB 020 7722 8596 www.panzers.co.uk Lidgate Butchers Organic meats from a 150 year old business now run by the the fifth generation of the same family.

110 Holland Park Avenue, London W11 4UA Tel. 0207 727 8243 www.lidgates.com

LEGAL

CLEANING SERVICES Shine Cleaning Inc. Ltd Successful for over 20 years in the US – now over here in Britain. All kinds of cleaning: Residential, Commercial, Medical, One-off or Contract.

0800 206 2212 or 078 2753 7215 www.shinecleaninginc.co.uk

EDUCATION Florida State University in UK Over 50 years of experience in international education.

99 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LA 020 7813 3223 www.international.fsu.edu

VIDEO / TELEVISION Jim Garnett - Cameraman 27 years’ experience in television, magazines and newspapers – Full professional gear in both NTSC [USA/Canada] and PAL formats. Used by ‘Entertainment Tonight’, CBC, CTV National, CTV Toronto, CTV Sports, Global TV and Channel Zero.

Tel. 07930-100909 http://jimgarnettphotography.blogspot.co.uk

COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY Transitions Therapy

Kingsley Napley LLP Family lawyers with particular experience in dealing with cases involving Americans living here and abroad.

020 7814 1200 www.kingsleynapley.co.uk

ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES Stephen T Taylor Your American stamp dealer in Britain since 1995.

5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS 020 8390 9357 info@stephentaylor.co.uk www.stephentaylor.co.uk

La Capanna The Finest Italian Food served in the loveliest of Surrey’s settings.

48 High Street, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3EF 01932 862 121 www.lacapanna.co.uk

MEDICAL & DENTAL The American Women’s Health Centre (AWHC) OB GYN Based in the West End of London, at the heart of medical excellence in Britain.

Third Floor, 214 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QN 020 7390 8433 info@AWHC.co.uk www.awhc.co.uk

Psychotherapy & Counselling for Expatriate Individuals, Couples, Families & Adolescents in the West End. London, England, United Kingdom 07557 261432 in the UK or 0044 7557 261432 from another country.

Skype sessions available around the world. transitions_therapy@hotmail.com www.transitionstherapy.co.uk

To find out whether you’re eligible to advertise your products and services here, and for rates, call Sabrina Sully on +44 (0)1747 830520.

You’ll reach Americans living in and visiting the UK as well as Britons who like American culture and products.

Coffee Break Answers

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1. Mars; 2. One Lincoln 1909 penny, to calibrate its camera; 3. 16 hours; 4. Queen’s Square, Bristol; 5. 5, John Adams, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, James Buchanan; 6. Great Cumberland Place; 7. MC Hammer; 8. Alan Alda; 9. Richard Melville Hall; 10. Tori Amos; 11. Bonanza; 12. Columbo; 13. Diff ’rent Strokes; 14. Happy Days ; 15. Hill Street Blues; 16. Inspector Morse; 17. The Practice.

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