Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The Churchill Series - Jun. 4, , 2008

(One of a series of weekday posts about the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

Today something brief and light.

It's an anecdote that comes from The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill, a collection of mostly amusing items compiled by Dominique Enright who doesn't cite sources. So keep some salt at hand.

As Enright tells it:

In 1955 Churchill, then in his early eighties and no longer Prime Minister, was sitting by himself in a large armchair in the House of Commons Members' Bar enjoying a late afternoon drink.

Three young Tory MP's entered. They failed to notice Churchill and began chattering a bit loudly about him.

"You know," one remarked, "it's very sad about old Winston. He's getting awfully forgetful."

"Shame, isn't it?" said another. "He's really very doddery now, I gather."

"Not only that," added the third, "but I've heard that he's going a bit - you know - ga-ga."

"Yes," rumbled a deep voice from the nearby armchair, "but they say his hearing's not gone yet." (p. 131)

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