Vera Lynn

A few days ago a news item caught my eye and I intended to comment on it. I was interrupted and the moment passed -- but I didn't forget. The news item demanded a comment, especially because lately on this blog i've lamented the deaths of so many old friends and other contemporaries.
It's a pleasure to comment on one who is still living, indeed is flourishing. Vera Lynn, Dame Vera Lynn forsooth, is 100 years old, her birthday a few days ago.

During the 1939-45 world war, she was the British armed forces sweetheart, justifiably so too because she was really beautiful, with that slightly fragile porcelain look that is unique to a certain kind of English girl. She wasn't fragile though!She was tough and had limitless stamina, traveling on wartime transport and performing her soulful ballads -- White Cliffs of Dover, We'll Meet Again, etc -- for British troops, who I suspect, admired her looks more than her voice. I always found her voice cloying, too sugary sentimental, but she was addictive even when I heard but couldn't see her.

So, Many Happy Returns, Vera Lynn!