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Show ' Jilt B I ILI ! 'Vi n i iiii; i Notes of a Newspaper Man: "Dear Walter Winchell," affectionately affec-tionately writes Vivian Gardner of Dayton, Ohio, "I noted on the cover flap of Bob Casey's book that you made claim to his famous saying about newspaper men being such interesting in-teresting people. I've written Bob's publishers inclosing an item from your column in the Wisconsin News (Milwaukee) back in 1935 or '36. I've carried it all that time. To quote your column, you distinctly para-, para-, graphed: 'We always liked Bob Ca-; Ca-; sey's parody on the cliche: "It must j be swell being a newspaperman I you meet so many interesting peo- pie." Casey, a big-time Chicago I scribe, says: "It's nice being in the I newspaper business where you meet so many interesting people because they're in it!" ' To this you added Jimmy Cannon's snapper. So I've asked the publisher just when you claimed it as original. I'm a former staffer on the Wisconsin News and am here writing for an Air Force technical mag. This is another time you've caught a heckler looking sappy." A recent issue of Life has an engrossing en-grossing essay by their correspondent, correspond-ent, Carl Mydans, who just returned from Japan. One observation in it deserves repetition: "Despite the Jap propagandists' new respect for America's power, they temper their warnings about it with encouraging news of America's internal problems. prob-lems. We who have been away for two years can tell you all about the zoot suit riots, the coal strikes, the train wrecks and industrial sabotage, sabo-tage, the race riots, the black markets, mar-kets, the successes of isolationist congressmen, the shabby politics, the grumbling under rationing" . . . In short when Americans on the home front refuse to aid their country coun-try they just aid their country's enemies. en-emies. Yet some tell us we can separate sep-arate domestic policies from foreign policies! The Orchid Garden: Speaker Sam Rayburn's greatest speech, urging the Congress to fight for our nation, instead of for pressure groups, etc. We are pasting it on our heart . . . The film, "Voice in the Wind" . . . Esquire's 1944 Varga calendar plus the epics of Philip Stack . . . The new Latin Quarter show (via Our Girl Friday's endorsement) . . . Peter Donald's Mutual program nostalgic nonsense. New York Novelette: The current song hit, "Paper Doll," was written in 1922 by Johnny Black. He first played it for a publisher as his pet canary chirped along, perched on Johnny's shoulder . . . E. B. Marks was so impressed he bought the ditty. "Any tune so simple," he said, "that a bird can whistle should be a sensation" . . . But for some reason or other Mr. Marks never really plugged it and it perished . . . Johnny Black died soon after . . . The Mills Bros, heard a small-time cafe singer offer it this year . . . But the Marks firm had run out of copies, and none could be found . . . Until Tommy Lyman located an old copy in his trunk . . . The Mills freres then made a Decca recording of it, and "Paper Doll" was re-born . . . Over a njillion platters have been peddled to date plus 700,000 or more song copies . . . Mr. Marks then had to search for the author's survivors to pay the royalties . . . He finally located Johnny's father living on an old "Tobacco Road" farm . . . The 82-year-old father of Johnny Black, who died young and penniless, will realize $50,000 in royalties roy-alties from "Paper Doll," which his boy wrote 21 years ago. Many editorialists are pouting about the press relations fiasco at Cairo and Teheran. They have good reason to be irked by the bungling. But why allow such petty annoyances annoy-ances to smother the great significance signifi-cance of the momentous confabs? Why not devote more space to pointing point-ing out that the conferences marked the greatest political victory in history? his-tory? They marked the birth of civilization's civi-lization's greatest dream the hope for permanent peace. Isn't mat worth more newsprint than the fact that an error was made in the release re-lease of the news? Sounds in the Night: At Paris Qui Chante: "She didn't add any weight, she multiplied it!" ... At Jimmy Dvvyer's: "He has a face only a love could mother!" ... At the Yacht Club: "I never feel my first dive frinks" ... In Dully"s Tavern: "Aren't you too old to believe in 'Sinatra 'Si-natra Claus?" ... At Jimmy Kelly's: Kel-ly's: "Weak? He wears suspenders to hold his shoulders on!" ... In the Hurricane: "Falling in love is like falling downstairs." This is why noncensorship drives newsboys nutz: British gazettes were not allowed to publish stories about the Cairo confab, taken from Reuters, the British news agency, or from the official version but only ! from German broadcasts . . . The i German broadcasts were based on the Reuters stories! Note to those who pooh-pooh the value of propaganda: The Japs still haven't told their people about the Cairo accord for fear it might weak-en weak-en their will to fight. |