Farewell Vaclav Havel
The death of Vaclav Havel was not unexpected given his health problems. It is very sad and he will be missed by many. He would be on any sensible person’s list of the greatest of the twentieth century.
If I look at countries that have thrown off dictatorships successfully in the last few decades, they seem to have needed a figure to whom they could rally. The charismatic Havel was a supreme example as he took Czechoslovakia from under the heel of the Russians to a free and proud country.
He was no mean playwright either!
When we lived in that flat in St. John’s Wood, we had no television, but we did have a radio and often listened to it, after the children had gone to bed. Some nights we listened to the play on Radio 4.
One night, I can remembering listening to a play called The Memorandum by a Czech author. It may have starred Donald Pleasance, but I can’t find any reference to the production.
It is a superb play and one of the best I’ve heard on radio.
The author, who was unknown to both C and myself, was Vaclav Havel.
How many politicians, even the good ones, will be missed for what they did outside politics? Not many!
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The Anonymous Widower 
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