Category: Fleming

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The Annals of Trebizond, I by Thomas Fleming

The Annals of Trebizond  By Thomas Fleming “Trebizond,” I exclaimed,  “Why the very word spells romance.” “That’s funny,” she replied.  “I always thought romance began with an ‘r’.” Preface Once upon a time, long long ago and far away on the coast of the Black Sea, flourished the might Empire of Trebizond.   This statement is true enough for the WikiBritannica entry, but it needs a few minor adjustments.  To be accurate, the 15th century, when Trebizond fell to the Turks, was not so long ago, at least when viewed in the context of the three thousand years our civilization has...

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Revisions: Four Faces West

Revisions:   Four Faces West,  based on Pasó Por Aquí by Eugene Manlove Rhodes Ray Olson and Thomas Fleming I had intended to begin the discussion almost a week ago, but the film arrived late and I wanted to show it to our friend Mark Kennedy, who does not even possess the primitive television set I have for watching films.  Ray Olson A variant of the brilliant western short novel, Paso por aqui, by Eugene Manlove Rhodes, Four Faces West retains the characters’ names and approximate roles but sets up a new set of relationships. Ross McEwan (Joel McCrae) and Jay (in the...

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The Measure of All Things

Remember when a “Conservative” was someone opposed to change? “Any change, at any time, for any reason is to be deplored,” as The Duke of Cambridge (Victoria’s uncle) once declared. Back in the 1950’s, the word got restricted to the meaning “anti-communist/capitalists who believed in a strong defense and a free economy, and it was embodied in the unlikely person of Barry Goldwater. By the election of 1980, Conservatives had taken the initiative and were now the bold innovators in economic and foreign policy. Most conservatives were delighted with the change of image—from Tory squire to progressive, from curmudgeon to...