Two Raymond Chandler titbits: both taken from Tom Hiney's biography. 1. Many of you may know that Raymond Chandler frequently 'cannibalized' (his word) his short stories for later use in some of his novels, saying that the short stories and novels were created in a different form, and therefore the public wasn't being cheated. Chandler received only one letter of complaint, from a U.S. diplomat in Mexico City. The diplomat's name? Howard Hunt, later to become notorious for the Watergate affair. The second is a little more serious, and is accompanied by a 'mea culpa'. I have always felt it important to see, hear and read as many other points of view as possible in order to get a more 'complete' picture than the one usually presented in the mass media. My 'search for truth' is important to me in separating the wheat from the chaff but I now realise that this is not the time for it. Now is the time for grieving, mourning, supporting, and picking up the pieces. Please read the following with this in mind. 2. Chandler, talking of the British people's reaction to the WWII bombing of London, described them as 'the least hysterical people in the world', saying "They can take a terrible pounding and still keep on planting lobelias". I believe the US population to be equally blessed with enough character to withstand and overcome the events of these terrible days. Whatever the future brings, peace or war, please, keep planting those lobelias. Un abrazo, Mike in Barcelona.
