My earliest recollections include the family gathered round listening to "Letter from America" on the radio - 'the wireless' we called it then. I must have been very young when I first listened to him, but those mellifluous tones and the fascinating yet, to a youngster, somewhat mysterious topics were my first introduction to the United States. Alastair Cooke, along with the comics that came as padding in 'food parcels', made America seem a strange, delightful place full of delightful people. He gave me a liking for America and an interest in things American that has stayed with me and, I am pleased to say, mostly been reinforced by subsequent extensive experience. What an ambassador he was!