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Trust To 'relic by Wynford Vaughan-Thor an (Hutchinson £6.95).
Good talk and laughter. often said t9 be in short sup ply, are vital ingredients in two attractive books about masters of both.
Wynford Vauithan-Thomas, famous broadcaster, covering great events in war and peace over 40 years. Quits his autobiography a look back (with pleasure) on a lucky life.
His strenuous years gave enormous interest and tun to millions. He gives the same blend in his own story.
The Edwardian childhood in Swansea abounds with vivid anecdote. The thrill of a ship being torpedoed in the Bristol Channel and arrival of the Americans in World War 1: the greatest family disaster the crashing of a dresser kind smashing of the best china . „ ("I cannot read of the prices at Sot heby's and Christie's without feeling ill") — such memories are re-lived w ith beautiful and amusing description.
In the chapter War Report the professional correspondent at times sounds like a jubilant schoolboy ... It is June 5, 1944 when the Fifth Anny entered Rome.
We raced to St Peter's Square. The Holy Father came out.... to bless a million people who had crowded the vast neutral piazza ...
The pages are sprinkled with his enchanting sketches and verses, while
glossy photographs show him at his Swansea school. Oxford, Hamburg and at Buckingham Palace for his O,B.E. Whatever the citation, it recognised generous services to splendid Talk.
Stephen Potter by Alan Jenkins (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £8.50).
A GRAPHIC picture of another memorable talker comes from Alan Jenkins with Stephen Potter, the first biography of a wit who established himself as a top comic through Lifernanship and Gamesmanship bringing fruitfully funny new words into use.
The opening page of Chapter One "A man so various is an appetiser for the rich mixture to come. Friends as varied as Alistair Cooke and Joyce Grenfell — Potter's radio "partner" — testified to the entertainment value of his company. Describing a meeting. Alistair Cooke says: "Stephen was sitting . . talking with that desperate seriousness which was the vehicle of his best humour." Biographer Alan Jenkins mentions his serious literature. three works on Coleridge and the first-ever study of D If Lawrence.
Many readers have enjoyed themselves with Potter and his gift of laughter and many will enjoy this hook to his memory.
Constance Holt