(One of a series of daily posts about Winston S. Churchill.)
It's one of the most frequently told Churchill stories. For most of my life, I've believed it. Now, I doubt it.
It's the Churchill and George Bernard Shaw story.
During the Edwardian years Churchill was, among many other things, a London theater critic (true enough) who often gave Shaw's play's bad reviews (I don't know about that.).
With the opening of his new play approaching, the story goes that Shaw wrote Churchill: "Enclosed find 2 tickets for my opening night. One is for you; the other for a friend, if you have one."
Churchill is said to have shot back: "Can't make opening night but will be there the second night, if there is one."
I can't find the story in either Martin Gilbert's Churchill: A Life or Roy Jenkins' Churchill: A Biography.
I doubt either biographer would pass on such a great story.
What do you think?
Can you cite an authoritative source for the story?
I'd love to confirm it.
And how are you liking the series?
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
The Churchill Series - Nov. 15, 2005
Posted by JWM at 11:47 PM
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5 comments:
I like the series very much./
I'm a huge Churchill fan. It's nice to start the day with a Churchill story. Thanks for doing these.
I am enjoying the series quite a bit. And, I would certainly believe this story simply because it sounds like something the British Bulldog would say.
Don't forget Churchill: History is going to be good to me because I'm going to write it. He proceeds to write volume of History and won the Nobel Lit Prize (before it was degenerated into a political protest tool and awarded to Pinta< whatever his nme is.)
Well, the bbc quotes this story which makes me think it's false....
-AC
PS - Keep the stories coming!
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