RAYMOND GRAM SWING
The radio journalist writes to a friend detailing his 80th birthday celebration.
Autograph Letter signed: "Raymond" on verso, 2 pages (front and verso), 5½x3½. Washington, D.C., [1967] March 27. On his personal letterhead, written to "Dear Trude", in full: "Thank you for remembering my birthday and for the lovely book. It added to my having a fabulously lovely birthday. Did you know WRVR did an hour program Saturday, repeating two of my broadcasts and playing the Sonata? And the BBC did a few excerpts from my wartime American commentating on the Home Service. All (but one) of my children came, and 27 guests were at a gorgeous birthday dinner for me. It was one of the happiest parties you could imagine. One friend flew all the way from California to be there? I have no plans right now to come to NY but I'll show up one of these days, your second 80-year-old boyfriend! Love as always" Accompanied by: the transmittal envelope, postmarked Washington, D.C. March 27, 1967. Raymond Gram Swing (1887-1968), known simply as Raymond Swing before and after his marriage to feminist activist Betty Gram, was bureau chief for the Chicago Daily News when World War I broke out, and he gained fame as a correspondent in that war. In the 1920s, Swing became one of the most prominent radio journalists, probably the most highly paid one during World War II. He was among the first to urge America to abandon isolation and re-arm in the face of the threat of fascism. He resigned from the Voice of America in 1953 to protest the State Department being "spineless". Fine condition.