Voice from America

ALISTAIR Cooke, the doyen of foreign correspondents, has retired. His Letter from America, spanning 50 years with the BBC, made him the greatest of all broadcasters.

With a modest north of England background he swept through Cambridge and carved out for himself a special position as a commentator on American life and politics.

Those who have been enthralled by that calm, well-modulated voice can only say, Gaudeamus Igitur (Let us therefore rejoice).