Arthur Koestler's Darkness At Noon, from a long-ago Conservative book club.

CH, "I think his narrative style started bugging me” I have to agree with this, the little I’ve read. He did win a Pulitzer for one of the trilogy, so I’ll stick with it awhile. JMH, Yes so much less written about these campaigns in the war. We were in Italy couple of years ago and made a detour to Anzio out of curiosity. Lovely seaside town where we came across a small memorial to the fallen, near the water’s edge… touching.

For Iggy and those whose Dads fought in Tunisia, Algeria, Sicily, Italy, I’ve just begun reading The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943–1944 by Rick Atkinson. Amazon says, "He excels at describing the furor of battle, and the Italian campaign provides him with abundant raw material.” It’s part of a trilogy that includes North Africa; maybe he would know about patches . . .

I was too kind, Lyle, and because the ponce was looking down at his script, his eyes did not pop (as much).

As for Schiff looking dignified and calm, you put a loser in an expensive navy blue suit and a bit of makeup, stand him in front of a classic marble backdrop in a chamber with not another soul in view, no messy reaction shots, he’s gonna look dignified reading the phone book. Every time I passed the TV there he was and I had the same reaction.

Henry, Thank you for the fascinating info on your grandfather’s impressive accomplishments in the war; we are indebted to great men like him and Gen. Eisenhower et al. I’m currently reading Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, as my son-in-law is a WWII buff. Book mentions Hitler listening to Wagner over Christmas of 1940-’41. (Weird, except that I too like Wagner. 😊)

Jim, On Facebook that same disgusting picture was posted by a lovely friend, whose politics are completely off; I clicked hide this post, but that meme will persist this whole season I fear.

saw --Ig, thank goodness you are not a people.-- Reminds of an old Gracie Allen line: George Burns: Gracie, you’ve a big family, how many people are there in your family? Gracie thinks for a minute: “Oh, they’re all people!

Kev** So heartening to see you back, especially as a fellow Bay Area observer; your comments on the East Bay scene always elicit a "Yesss!" from this reader, and often LOLz. Take good care...

Narciso esta en fuego esta noche!

Thanks for the caring thoughts and prayers, RIP Frau. Did she have a dog CH?

TK and friends of Frau - I’ve received a gracious note from Mr. Frau, who's doing fine, but is still in shock that it is he and not she who has survived, as they’d planned for the reverse outcome. But his memory for those long ago times is awesome. He cited a few incidents even I did not recall, remembered the house where we lived, and much more. A quote from him: “[Frau] cherished her time on JOM and the friends she made there … I agreed with her that there was an unusually brilliant group of people that found each other on the internet … small world, isn't it?"

Gasp, Jim, don't do that, some of us aren't spring chickens!

Narciso Yes you did talk to Mr. Frau, thanks. I was reiterating condolences and let him know I was aware of your call to him, as well as reminiscing about the days we and spouses had known one another as students.

Thanks, henry!

Meant Cal Poly SLO

About Frau: It's touching to read the tributes to Frau, especially yours, TK. I recently sent a long note to Mr. Frau, mentioning that many at JOM are missing her. If I hear back from him I’ll let you know. Unlike in the case of Daddy, there seemed no way to formally memorialize Frau's passing, hence less opportunity for closure. Btw, my granddaughter is one of those fine young Americans (h/t KK) in her second year of serious civil engineering study at Cal Poly SLB. She's dedicated and already has a summer internship lined up.

About Frau: It's touching to read the tributes to Frau, especially yours, TK. I recently sent a long note to Mr. Frau, mentioning that many at JOM are missing her. If I hear back from him I’ll let you know. Unlike in the case of Daddy, there seemed no way to formally memorialize Frau's passing, hence less opportunity for closure. Btw, my granddaughter is one of those fine young Americans (h/t KK) in her second year of serious civil engineering study at Cal Poly SLB. She's dedicated and already has a summer internship lined up.

My husband had been at Claremont Men's College with Hans Ridder while Dawn was at Scripps. They married and remained in Claremont all these years and we lost touch. I was amazed to realize one day that Frau on JOM was Dawn, and I posted some remarks as Past is Prologue. We four had some good times together back in the day discussing, yes, politics--feistily! Or Hans would let me try my weak conversational German with him. Their 2 little boys were the same age approximately as our son. I'm very sad and will send condolences to Hans and the family. Thanks to all JOM people for their caring and loving remarks.

I just posted an entry in the guestbook; they accepted it and said give them up to 24 hours to review. "No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century." - Mark Twain's Notebook He loved Mark Twain and also loved his amazing family. May God bless and keep them always.

This dedicated lurker is stunned. Like so many here, I felt I knew Daddy, he gave so much of himself in his writings. I told my daughter, who recently worked for a local FedEx outlet, that I “knew" someone online who flew for Fred all over the world to exotic spots like Singapore and Sydney. She was impressed. My heart goes out to his family and all who were close to him on JOM. God speed.

Captain Hate and Gus Please convey to KK my hope that he eventually returns.