[Swprograms] Abbey tribute for Alistair Cooke

["Paul David" <pauldavid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: "Mike Terry" <miketerry73@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 9:33 PM
Subject: Abbey tribute for Alistair Cooke


(And very well deserved, I really miss Letter from America - Mike)
>
> Friends and family of the late BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke said a final
> farewell to the Radio 4 presenter at a memorial service at Westminster
> Abbey.
>
> A recording of Cooke, who presented the programme Letter From America for
58
> years before he died aged 95 in March, was broadcast in the London church.
> More than 2,000 attended the service, including BBC chairman Michael Grade
> and Sir David Frost.
>
> The Abbey choir sang one of Cooke's favourite pieces from Handel's
Messiah.
>
> BBC director general Mark Thompson paid tribute to Cooke.
>
> "It is often said that institutions have their own DNA," he said.
>
> "I think if you look deep into the genetic code of the BBC, not just today
> but for as long as the BBC exists, one of the things you would find at its
> heart would be the rich, calm, beguiling, wise voice of Alistair Cooke,"
he
> said.
>
> Susan Cooke Kittredge led the prayers and Cooke's son John gave readings,
> while his granddaughter, violinist Jane Byrne Kittredge, played the second
> movement from Bach's Concerto in A Minor.
>
> Jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth performed Gershwin's Someone To Watch Over
Me.
>
> A recording of Cooke which was made several years ago when he was unable
to
> attend an engagement was played at the memorial service.
>
> "I'm sure you expect me to say, 'I'm sorry I'm not with you'. Well, I'm
not
> sorry," he said.
>
> "I am of the opinion that a radio broadcaster should be heard and not
seen."
>
> US journalist Peter Jennings, senior editor and presenter of ABC News,
read
> a tribute.
>
> "Alistair had a passion and a hunger to know and understand and enjoy his
> adopted country," he said.
>
> "He really captured America and the essence of its being. Alistair helped
us
> to understand ourselves."
>
> Cooke was known in America for his television career, which included the
> series Masterpiece Theatre.
>
> The Stars and Stripes flew above the Abbey in his honour.
>
> Cooke was born in Salford, but moved to the US in 1937 and was granted
> citizenship in 1941.
>
> Letter From America was the world's longest-running speech radio
programme.
>
> Cooke joined the BBC as a film critic in 1934 and started writing his US
> current affairs and historical Letter in 1946.
>
> The show was listened to by people across Europe, Asia, New Zealand,
Africa,
> the Americas and the Middle East via the BBC's World Service. It was heard
> in the UK on BBC Radio 4.
>
> Over almost 60 years, his 15-minute reflections touched on everything from
> the assassinations of the Kennedys to the terrorist attacks of 11
September.
>
> Cooke had presented 2,869 Letter From America programmes, missing just
three
> weekly broadcasts during Letter from America's run.
>
> In 1973, he received an honorary knighthood for his contribution to
> Anglo-American understanding, and a year later addressed the United States
> Congress on its 200th anniversary.
>
> He also received an award from Bafta for his contribution to
Anglo-American
> relations and a Sony radio award for his services to broadcasting.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3745596.stm


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