Yes, Alistair Cooke was one the greats of broadcasting. Each week when I got home from work I would listen on the radio to his Letter from America.
Not about the big events, nothing that was in the news just the simple everyday things of little import, but which he, as an educated observer and great raconteur, could weave into a spellbinding half hour of delight.
Americans would have learnt so much about their country, that familiarity had dulled, but the mind of this man restored in vivid colors with his prose, a picnic, a barbecue, a parade in a small town, a high school band, eating in a Diner, traveling the country and distilling the essence of America and Americans for the English speaking world.
This cultured and charming Englishman gentleman was the best ambassador you ever had. I wish we had someone who could have done the same for England.
It was his 95 year old cancer body they stole bones from!