Denis Hall: I can tell already - this is going to morph into something different.

I just read an essay - in a “Life Magazine” book of essays - - or call it an article if you like - by a very famous American lady Journalist and celebrity from the war years and after. Her name was Clare Booth Luce - and for some reason she was a favorite of my father - Sid Hall - and his mentioning of that name back in the forties somehow resonated in my child’s brain.

Yes - the forties - like last century - some of us really are still alive - but sadly - not for much longer.

But to cut to the chase - Clare Booth Luce, American Journalist extraordinaire - whom I have never heard called anything other than “Clare Booth Luce” - was around of course in 1940 - writing from Paris during that famous “Phony War” - when all the idiot politicians were waiting about - wetting their pants - in a state of total indecision - for Hitler’s next move.