title: Western European Union

text: From the late 1970s onwards, efforts were made to add a security dimension to the European Communities' European Political Cooperation (EPC). Opposition to these efforts from Denmark, Greece and Ireland led the remaining EC countries – all WEU members – to reactivate the WEU in 1984 by adopting the Rome Declaration. Prior to this point there had been minimal use of the provisions of the Modified Brussels Treaty.


title: Western European Union

text: In 1992, the WEU adopted the Petersberg Declaration, defining the so-called "Petersberg tasks" designed to cope with the possible destabilising of Eastern Europe. The WEU itself had no standing army but depended on cooperation between its members. Its tasks ranged from the most modest to the most robust, and included humanitarian, rescue and peacekeeping tasks as well as tasks for combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking.


title: Western European Union

text: At the 1996 NATO ministerial meeting in Berlin, it was agreed that the Western European Union would oversee the creation of a European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI) within NATO structures. The ESDI was intended as a European 'pillar' within NATO, partly to allow European countries to act militarily where NATO wished not to, and partly to alleviate the United States' financial burden of maintaining military bases in Europe, which it had done since the Cold War. The Berlin agreement allowed European countries (through the WEU) to use NATO assets if it so wished.


title: Western European Union

text: In 1998 the United Kingdom, which had traditionally opposed the introduction of European autonomous defence capacities, signed the Saint-Malo declaration. This marked a turning point as the declaration endorsed the creation of a European security and defense policy, including a European military force capable of autonomous action. The declaration was a response to the Kosovo War in the late 1990s, in which the EU was perceived to have failed to intervene to stop the conflict.


title: Western European Union

text: Concerns were voiced that an independent European security pillar could undermine NATO; In response to St. Malo, the former US-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright put forth the three famous D's: no duplication of what was done effectively under NATO, no decoupling from the US and NATO, and no discrimination against non-EU members such as Turkey.


title: Western European Union

text: The Treaty of Amsterdam, which entered into force in 1999, transferred the WEU's Petersberg tasks to the EU, and stated that the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), replacing the WEU's ESDI, would be 'progressively framed' on the basis of these tasks.


title: Western European Union

text: In June 1999, the Cologne European Council decided to incorporate the role of the WEU within the EU, effectively abandoning the WEU. The Cologne Council also appointed Javier Solana as the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy to help progress both the CFSP and the CSDP. On 20 November 1999 Solana was also appointed Secretary-General of the WEU. His being head of both organisations permits him to oversee the ongoing transfer of functions from the WEU to the EU.


title: Western European Union

text: In 2002 the Berlin agreement from 1996 was amended with the so-called Berlin Plus agreement, which allowed the EU to also draw on some of NATO's assets in its own peacekeeping operations.


title: Western European Union

text: Originally, under the Amsterdam Treaty, the WEU was given an integral role in giving the EU an independent defence capability, playing a major role in the Petersberg tasks; however that situation is changing. On 13 November 2000, WEU Ministers met in Marseille and agreed to begin transferring the organisation's capabilities and functions to the European Union, under its developing Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).


title: Western European Union

text: For example, on 1 January 2002, the WEU's Security Studies Institute and the Satellite Centre were transferred to the EU and became the European Union Institute for Security Studies and the European Union Satellite Centre. Notably, the role given to the WEU in the Amsterdam Treaty, was removed by the Nice Treaty. The Treaty of Lisbon has provisions for cooperation between the EU and both NATO (including the Berlin Plus agreement) and the WEU. However the defence commitment, of Article 4 of the Brussels Treaty, has not been subsumed. Article 42(7) of the Treaty of the European Union, as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon, could be viewed as incorporating that defence commitment into the EU framework.


title: Western European Union

text: The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC), both established to function under the EU's CFSP pillar, were both replacements to the "Western European Union Institute for Security Studies" and the "Western Union Satellite Centre" which had been established to function in connection to the WEU.


title: Western European Union

text: With the transfer of responsibilities, the WEU's Parliamentary assembly was urged to dissolve itself, as it had a mandate to supervise WEU politics, not the EU's CSDP politics. But the Assembly saw itself as playing an important role, particularly with greater right of scrutiny, membership, experience and expertise in defence policy. Therefore, it renamed itself the "Interim European Security and Defence Assembly" and urged the European Convention to include it as a second chamber within the EU's institutional framework. Hence it argued it could effectively scrutinise the CSDP, help improve EU-NATO relations and be more suited, being composed of national parliamentarians, to the intergovernmental style of the CSDP.


title: Western European Union

text: However, with the European Constitution aiming to streamline and simplify the EU's foreign policy, for example combining the two main foreign policy posts, it was not seen as wise to then create a separate double legislature for the CFSP, instead, the European Parliament was granted greater scrutiny over foreign policy.


title: Western European Union

text: In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon took over the WEU's mutual defence clause. There was much discussion about what to do with the WEU following the introduction of Lisbon, including plans to scrap it. On 30 March 2010 in a Written Ministerial Statement UK's Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant gave notice that the UK intended to withdraw from the Western European Union within a year. On 31 March 2010 the German Foreign Affairs Ministry announced Germany's intention to withdraw from the Modified Brussels Treaty. That same year, the Spanish Presidency of the WEU, on behalf of the 10 Member States of the Modified Brussels Treaty, announced the collective decision to withdraw from the Treaty and to close the WEU organisation by June 2011. On 30 June 2011 the WEU officially ceased to exist.


title: Western European Union

text: The WEU was headquartered in Brussels, with a staff of 65 and an annual budget of €13.4 million. It was composed of the Council of the WEU (the Council) and the Assembly of the WEU (the Assembly).


title: Western European Union

text: The WEU was led by a Council of Ministers, assisted by a Permanent Representatives Council on the ambassadorial level.


title: Western European Union

text: A Parliamentary Assembly (composed of the delegations of the member states to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) supervised the work of the Council, but it did not have any obligations on the Council. The Assembly of WEU was a consultative institution.


title: Western European Union

text: The Independent European Program Group (IEPG) was established as a forum for armaments cooperation in 1976 with the aim of creating a European Armaments Agency. Since 1993 the WEU armaments cooperation forum has been known as Western European Armaments Group (WEAG). Its membership reached 19 in 2000: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The body closed on 23 May 2005.


title: Western European Union

text: The Western European Armaments Organisation (WEAO) was intended as an Armaments Agency but operations were limited to a research cell. It provided support services in defence research and technology. It was created in 1996, and closed in August 2006. These agencies were taken over by the European Defence Agency. Other transferred bodies include the Institute for Security Studies and the Satellite Centre.


title: Western European Union

text: On 15 May 1995, the Council of Ministers of the WEU met in Lisbon. During this meeting a declaration of the creation of the European Operational Rapid Force (EUROFOR) was made by France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Eurofor became operational in June 1998 as a task force of the Western European Union.


title: Western European Union

text: The Western European Union had ten member countries, six associate member countries, five observer countries and seven associate partner countries. On 14 June 2001, WEU Secretary General Solana stated that there was no foreseeable reason to change the status of the non member countries in the organisation.


title: Western European Union

text: All member countries of the WEU were also members of both NATO and the European Union. These are the only nations that had full voting rights.


title: Western European Union

text: Associate membership was created to include the European countries that were members of NATO but not of the European Union. Associate members Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined the EU in 2004.


title: Western European Union

text: Countries that at the time were not part of either NATO or of the EU. All of the following nations joined both NATO and the EU by 2007.


title: Western European Union

text: The WEU initially had cultural and social (non-military) structures and activities, but these were transferred to the Council of Europe in 1960.


title: Enya discography

text: The discography of Enya, an Irish singer-songwriter, consists of eight studio albums, three compilation albums, twenty-one singles and a number of other appearances. Enya achieved a breakthrough in her career in 1988 with the album "Watermark", containing the hit song "Orinoco Flow" which topped the charts in the United Kingdom and reached number 2 in Germany. Three years later, the similarly successful "Shepherd Moons" followed, which featured singles "Caribbean Blue" and "Book of Days". In 1992, a re-mastered version of the 1987 "Enya" album was released as "The Celts". Four years after "Shepherd Moons", she released "The Memory of Trees" (1995), another top five success in both the UK and Germany, as well as her first top 10 album in the United States. Singles released from the album were "Anywhere Is" and "On My Way Home". In 1997, Enya released her greatest hits collection, "Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya", again a top five album in the UK and Germany, which featured two new songs: "Paint the Sky with Stars" and "Only If...". Following a five-year break, Enya released the album "A Day Without Rain" in 2000. The album is Enya's most successful to date, peaking at No. 2 on the US "Billboard" 200 albums chart. The first single, "Only Time", was used in the film "Sweet November" and peaked at No. 10 on the US Hot 100 and number 1 in Germany.


title: Enya discography

text: In 2001, Enya recorded "May It Be", which featured in the first installment of "The Lord of the Rings" film series, "", and was her second consecutive single to enter the German charts at number 1. In November 2005, a new album, entitled "Amarantine", was released. It reached the Top 10 in both the UK and the US, and peaked at number 3 in Germany. In 2006, Enya released several Christmas-themed CDs with newly recorded material. On 10 October 2006, "", containing six songs, was released only in the United States. In November 2008, "And Winter Came..." was released - the Christmas- and Winter-themed album was another sizable hit, reaching the top 10 in many countries, an unusual accomplishment for a seasonal album. The following year, Enya released her second compilation, "The Very Best of Enya" in November 2009 and took an extended break from writing and recording. In 2012, she returned to the studio to record "Dark Sky Island", and it was released in November 2015. The album received a mostly positive reception from critics and was a commercial success upon release, within the top ten in sixteen countries worldwide. She has sold over 26.5 million albums in the United States alone according to Nielsen Soundscan, making her one of the best-selling artists in the country. She has won four Grammy Awards and placed five consecutive albums at top ten on the US "Billboard" 200.


title: Enya discography

text: Ever since 1994 according to Official Charts Company Enya has sold 3 million units in UK, and according to Nielsen Enya has 25,2 million US sales since 1991.


title: Enya discography

text: Enya has achieved worldwide record sales of more than 80 million, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.


title: Wide Awake (1998 film)

text: Wide Awake is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and produced by Cathy Konrad and Cary Woods. The film stars Denis Leary, Dana Delany, Joseph Cross, and Rosie O'Donnell.


title: Wide Awake (1998 film)

text: During his fifth grade year, ten-year-old Joshua A. Beal begins a personal search to find answers about life and death — a journey triggered by the passing of his beloved grandfather.


title: Wide Awake (1998 film)

text: Josh attends Waldron Mercy Academy, a private Catholic boys' school. The adults in his world have not been able to convince him that his grandfather is in good hands, so he sets out on a personal mission to find God. In their varying ways he is guided on his metaphorical journey by his best friend Dave and a Philadelphia Phillies-loving nun who teaches at Waldron.


title: Wide Awake (1998 film)

text: Josh shows doubts about his religion as he questions if God truly exists, particularly when Dave is diagnosed with epilepsy and the moments as Josh experiences his first crush. As his academic year comes to an end, he finds his answer in an unexpected way.


title: Wide Awake (1998 film)

text: In addition, Julia Stiles appears as Neena Beal, while Michael Craig Bigwood plays the little boy who Joshua learns is an angel.


title: Wide Awake (1998 film)

text: The script was written in 1991. Shyamalan has described "Wide Awake" as a comedy that he hoped would also make people cry. The film was made in 1995, but was not released until 1998.


title: Wide Awake (1998 film)

text: "Wide Awake" was nominated for "Best Family Feature – Drama" and "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor" at the 1999 Young Artist Awards.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime. Material has continued to appear. He gained a name in the 1910s as a great writer in the English-speaking world. Best known today are the 1924 fantasy novel, "The King of Elfland's Daughter", and his first book, "The Gods of Pegāna", which depicts a fictional pantheon. Many critics feel his early work laid the grounds for the fantasy genre.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Born in London as heir to an old Irish peerage, he was raised partly in Kent, but later lived mainly at Ireland's possibly longest-inhabited home, Dunsany Castle near Tara. He worked with W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory supporting the Abbey Theatre and some fellow writers. He was a chess and pistol champion of Ireland, and travelled and hunted. He devised an asymmetrical game called Dunsany's chess. In later life, he gained an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin. He retired to Shoreham, Kent in 1947. In 1957 he took ill when visiting Ireland and died in Dublin of appendicitis.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Edward Plunkett ("Dunsany"), known to his family as "Eddie," was the first son of John William Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany (1853–1899), and his wife, Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Ernle-Erle-Drax, née Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Burton (1855–1916).


title: Lord Dunsany

text: From a historically wealthy and famous family, Lord Dunsany was related to many well-known Irish figures. He was a kinsman of the Catholic Saint Oliver Plunkett, the martyred Archbishop of Armagh whose ring and crozier head are still held by the Dunsany family. He was also related to the prominent Anglo-Irish unionist and later nationalist / Home Rule politician Sir Horace Plunkett and George Count Plunkett, Papal Count and Republican politician, father of Joseph Plunkett, executed for his part in the 1916 Rising.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: His mother was a cousin of Sir Richard Burton, and he inherited from her considerable height, being 6'4". The Countess of Fingall, wife of Dunsany's cousin, the Earl of Fingall, wrote a best-selling account of the life of the aristocracy in Ireland in the late 19th century and early 20th century called "Seventy Years Young".


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Plunkett's only grown sibling, a younger brother, from whom he was estranged from about 1916, for reasons not fully clear but connected to his mother's will, was the noted British naval officer Sir Reginald Drax. Another younger brother died in infancy.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Edward Plunkett grew up at the family properties, notably, Dunstall Priory in Shoreham, Kent, and Dunsany Castle in County Meath, but also in family homes such as in London. His schooling was at Cheam, Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, which he entered in 1896.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: The title passed to him at his father's death in 1899 at a fairly young age. The young Lord Dunsany returned to Dunsany Castle after war duty, in 1901. In that year he was also confirmed as an elector for the Representative Peers for Ireland in the House of Lords.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: In 1903, he met Lady Beatrice Child Villiers (1880–1970), youngest daughter of The 7th Earl of Jersey (head of the Jersey banking family), who was then living at Osterley Park. They married in 1904. Their one child, Randal, was born in 1906. Beatrice was supportive of Dunsany's interests and helped him by typing his manuscripts, selecting work for his collections, including the 1954 retrospective short story collection, and overseeing his literary heritage after his death.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: The Dunsanys were socially active in Dublin and London and travelled between homes in Meath, London and Kent, other than during the First and Second world wars and the Irish War of Independence. Dunsany circulated with many literary figures of the time. To many of these in Ireland he was first introduced by his uncle, the co-operative pioneer Sir Horace Plunkett, who also helped to manage his estate and investments for a time. He was friendly, for example, with George William Russell, Oliver St. John Gogarty, and for a time, W. B. Yeats. He also socialised at times with George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, and was a friend of Rudyard Kipling.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: In 1910 Dunsany commissioned a two-storey extension to Dunsany Castle, with a billiard room, bedrooms and other facilities. The billiard room includes the crests of all the Lords Dunsany up to the 18th.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany served as a second lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards in the Second Boer War. Volunteering in the First World War and appointed Captain in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, he was stationed for a time at Ebrington Barracks in Derry. Hearing while on leave of disturbances in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916, he drove in to offer help and was wounded by a bullet lodged in his skull. After recovery at Jervis Street Hospital and what was then the King George V Hospital (now St. Bricin's Military Hospital), he returned to duty. His military belt was lost in the episode and later used at the burial of Michael Collins. Having been refused forward positioning in 1916 and listed as valuable as a trainer, he served in the later war stages in the trenches and in the final period writing propaganda material for the War Office with MI7b(1). There is a book at Dunsany Castle with wartime photographs, on which lost members of his command are marked.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: During the Irish War of Independence, Dunsany was charged with violating the Restoration of Order in Ireland Regulations, tried by court-martial on 4 February 1921, convicted, and sentenced to pay a fine of 25 pounds or serve three months in prison without labour. The Crown Forces had searched Dunsany Castle and had found two double-barrelled shotguns, two rook rifles, four Very pistols, an automatic pistol and a large quantity of pistol ammunition, along with shotgun and rifle ammunition.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: During the Second World War, Dunsany signed up for the Irish Army Reserve and the British Home Guard, the two countries' local defence forces, and was especially active in Shoreham, Kent, the English village bombed most during the Battle of Britain.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's fame arose chiefly from his prolific writings. He was involved in the Irish Literary Revival. Supporting the Revival, Dunsany was a major donor to the Abbey Theatre and he moved in Irish literary circles. He was well acquainted with W. B. Yeats (who rarely acted as editor but gathered and published a Dunsany selection), Lady Gregory, Percy French, "AE" Russell, Oliver St John Gogarty, Padraic Colum (with whom he jointly wrote a play) and others. He befriended and supported Francis Ledwidge, to whom he gave the use of his library, and Mary Lavin.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany made his first literary tour to the United States in 1919 and further such visits up to the 1950s, in the early years mostly to the eastern seaboard and later, notably, to California.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's own work and contribution to the Irish literary heritage were recognised with an honorary degree from Trinity College Dublin.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: In 1940, Dunsany was appointed Byron Professor of English in Athens University, Greece. Having reached Athens by a circuitous route, he was so successful that he was offered a post as Professor of English in Istanbul. However, he had to be evacuated due to the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, returning home by an even more complex route, his travels forming a basis for a long poem published in book form ("A Journey, in 5 cantos: The Battle of Britain, The Battle of Greece, The Battle of the Mediterranean, Battles Long Ago, The Battle of the Atlantic", special edition January 1944). Olivia Manning's character Lord Pinkrose in her novel sequence the "Fortunes of War" was a mocking portrait of Dunsany in that period.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: In 1947, Dunsany transferred his Meath estate in trust to his son and heir and settled in Kent at his Shoreham house, Dunstall Priory, not far from the home of Rudyard Kipling. He visited Ireland only occasionally thereafter, and engaged actively in life in Shoreham and London. He also began a new series of visits to the United States, notably California, as recounted in Hazel Littlefield-Smith's biographical "Dunsany, King of Dreams".


title: Lord Dunsany

text: In 1957, Lord Dunsany became ill while dining with the Earl and Countess of Fingall at Dunsany, in what proved to be an attack of appendicitis. He died in hospital in Dublin, at the age of 79. He was buried in the churchyard of the ancient church of St Peter and St Paul, Shoreham, Kent. His funeral was attended by many family members (including Pakenhams, Jerseys and Fingals), representatives of his old regiment and various bodies in which he had taken an interest, and figures from Shoreham. A memorial service was held at Kilmessan in Meath, with a reading of "Crossing the Bar", which coincided with the passing of a flock of geese.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Beatrice survived Dunsany, living mainly at Shoreham and overseeing his literary legacy until her death in 1970. Their son Randal succeeded to the barony and was in turn succeeded by his grandson, the artist Edward Plunkett. Dunsany's literary rights passed from Beatrice to Edward.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Aside from his literary work, Dunsany was a keen chess player, setting chess puzzles for journals such as "The Times" of London, playing José Raúl Capablanca to a draw in a simultaneous exhibition, and inventing Dunsany's Chess, an asymmetrical chess variant notable for not involving any fairy pieces, unlike the many variants that require the player to learn unconventional piece movements. He was president of both the Irish Chess Union and the Kent County Chess Association for some years and of Sevenoaks Chess Club for 54 years.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany was a keen horseman and hunter, for many years hosting the hounds of a local hunt and hunting in parts of Africa. He was at one time the pistol-shooting champion of Ireland. Dunsany also campaigned for animal rights, being known especially for his opposition to the "docking" of dogs' tails, and presided over the West Kent branch of the RSPCA in his later years. He enjoyed cricket, provided the local cricket ground situated near Dunsany Crossroads, and later played for and presided at Shoreham Cricket Club in Kent. He was a supporter of Scouting for many years, serving as President of the Sevenoaks district Boy Scouts Association. He also supported an amateur drama group, the Shoreham Players.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany provided support for the British Legion in both Ireland and Kent, including grounds in Trim and poetry for the Irish branch's annual memorial service on a number of occasions.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany was a prolific writer of short stories, novels, plays, poetry, essays and autobiography. He published over 90 books in his lifetime, not including individual plays. Books have continued to appear, with more than 120 having been issued by 2017. Dunsany's works have been published in many languages.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: The then Edward Plunkett began his literary career in the late 1890s with published verses such as "Rhymes from a Suburb" and "The Spirit of the Bog", but he made a lasting impression in 1905. Writing as Lord Dunsany he produced the well-received collection "The Gods of Pegāna."


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's most notable fantasy short stories appeared in collections from 1905 to 1919, before fantasy had been recognised as a distinct genre. He paid for the publication of the first collection, "The Gods of Pegāna," earning a commission on sales. This he never again had to do.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: The stories in his first two books, and perhaps the beginning of his third, were set in an invented world, Pegāna, with its own gods, history and geography. Starting with this, Dunsany's name is linked to that of Sidney Sime, his chosen artist, who illustrated much of his work, notably up to 1922.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's style varied significantly throughout his writing career. Prominent Dunsany scholar S. T. Joshi has described these shifts as Dunsany moving on after he felt he had exhausted the potential of a style or medium. From the naïve fantasy of his earliest writings, through his early short-story work in 1904–1908, he turned to the self-conscious fantasy of "The Book of Wonder" in 1912, in which he almost seems to be parodying his lofty early style.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Each of his collections varies in mood; "A Dreamer's Tales" varies from the wistfulness of "Blagdaross" to the horrors of "Poor Old Bill" and "Where the Tides Ebb and Flow" to the social satire of "The Day of the Poll." The opening paragraph of "The Hoard of the Gibbelins" from "The Book of Wonder," (1912) gives a good indication of both the tone and tenor of Dunsany's style at the time:


title: Lord Dunsany

text: The Gibbelins eat, as is well known, nothing less good than man. Their evil tower is joined to Terra Cognita, to the lands we know, by a bridge. Their hoard is beyond reason; avarice has no use for it; they have a separate cellar for emeralds and a separate cellar for sapphires; they have filled a hole with gold and dig it up when they need it. And the only use that is known for their ridiculous wealth is to attract to their larder a continual supply of food. In times of famine, they have even been known to scatter rubies abroad, a little trail of them to some city of Man, and sure enough, their larders would soon be full again.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: After "The Book of Wonder," Dunsany began to write plays – many of which were even more successful at the time than his early story collections – while continuing to write short stories. He carried on writing plays for the theatre into the 1930s, including the famous "If", and also some radio productions.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Although many of Dunsany's plays were successfully staged in his lifetime, he also wrote "chamber plays" or closet dramas, intended only to be read privately (as if they were stories) or performed on the radio. Some of these chamber or radio plays involve supernatural events – a character appearing out of thin air or vanishing in full view of the audience, without an explanation of how the effect is to be staged, a matter of no importance, as Dunsany did not intend them to be performed live and visibly.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: After a successful US lecture tour in 1919–1920, his reputation was now related principally to his plays. He temporarily reduced his output of short stories, concentrating on plays, novels and poetry for a time. His poetry, now little seen, was for a time so popular that it is recited by the lead character of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise". His sonnet "A Dirge of Victory" was the only poem included in the Armistice Day edition of the Times of London.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Launching another phase of his work, Dunsany's first novel, "" appeared in 1922. It is set in "a Romantic Spain that never was" and follows the adventures of a young nobleman, Don Rodriguez, and his servant in their search for a castle for Rodriguez. It has been argued that Dunsany's inexperience with the novel form shows in the episodic nature of "Don Rodriguez." In 1924, Dunsany published his second novel, "The King of Elfland's Daughter," a return to his early style of writing. This is seen by many to be Dunsany's finest novel and a classic of fantasy writing. In his next novel, "The Charwoman's Shadow," Dunsany returned to the Spanish milieu and the light style of "Don Rodriguez," to which it is related.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Despite his frequent shifts of style and medium, Dunsany's thematic concerns remained essentially the same. Many of his later novels had an explicitly Irish theme, from the semi-autobiographical "The Curse of the Wise Woman" to "His Fellow Men."


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Among his best-known characters was Joseph Jorkens, an obese middle-aged raconteur who frequented the fictional Billiards Club in London and would tell fantastic stories if anyone bought him a large whiskey and soda. From his tales, it was clear that Jorkens had travelled to all seven continents, was extremely resourceful and well-versed in world cultures, but always came up short on becoming rich and famous. The "Jorkens" books, which sold well, were among the first of a type that would become popular in fantasy and science fiction writing: highly improbable "club tales" told at a gentleman's club or bar.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Some saw Dunsany's writing habits as peculiar. Lady Beatrice said, "He always sat on a crumpled old hat while composing his tales". (The hat was eventually stolen by a visitor to Dunsany Castle.) Dunsany almost never rewrote anything; everything he published was a first draft. Much of his work was written with a quill pen he made himself; Lady Beatrice was usually the first to see the writings and would help to type them. It has been said that Lord Dunsany sometimes conceived stories while hunting and would return to the Castle and draw in his family and servants to re-enact his visions before he set them on paper.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's work was translated from early on into languages that include Spanish, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Czech and Turkish – his uncle, Horace Plunkett, suggested 14 languages by the 1920s.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Lord Dunsany was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a member and at one point President of the Authors' Society, and likewise President of the Shakespeare Reading Society from 1938 until his death in 1957, when he was succeeded by Sir John Gielgud.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an honorary member of the Institut Historique et Heraldique de France. He was initially an Associate Member of the Irish Academy of Letters, founded by Yeats and others, and later a full member. At one of their meetings, after 1922, he asked Seán Ó Faoláin, who was presiding, "Do we not toast the King?" Ó Faoláin replied that there was only one toast: to the Nation; but after it was given and O'Faolain had called for coffee, he saw Dunsany, standing quietly among the bustle, raise his glass discreetly, and whisper "God bless him".


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany received an honorary doctorate, D.Litt., from Trinity College Dublin, in 1940. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Irish PEN, but lost to Bertrand Russell.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: In the late 1990s, a curator, J. W. (Joe) Doyle, was appointed by the estate to work at Dunsany Castle, in part to locate and organise the author's manuscripts, typescripts and other materials. Doyle found several works known to exist but thought to be "lost": the plays "The Ginger Cat" and "The Murderers," some Jorkens stories, and the novel "The Pleasures of a Futuroscope" (later published by Hippocampus Press). He also found hitherto unknown works, including "The Last Book of Jorkens", to whose first edition he wrote an introduction, and an unnamed 1956 short story collection, published as part of "The Ghost in the Corner and other stories" in 2017. Doyle was still working as curator in 2020. Some uncollected works, previously published in magazines, and some unpublished works have been selected in consultation with them and published in chapbooks by a US press.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Fans and scholars S. T. Joshi and Darrell Schweitzer worked on the Dunsany œuvre for over twenty years, gathering stories, essays and reference material, for a joint initial bibliography and separate scholarly studies of Dunsany's work. Their updated bibliography appeared in 2013. Joshi edited "The Collected Jorkens" and "The Ginger Cat and other lost plays" and co-edited "The Ghost in the Corner and other stories" using materials unearthed by the Dunsany curator.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: In the late 2000s a PhD researcher, Tania Scott from the University of Glasgow, worked on Dunsany for some time and spoke at literary and other conventions; her thesis was published in 2011, entitled "Locating Ireland in the fantastic fiction of Lord Dunsany". A Swedish fan, Martin Andersson, was also active in research and publication in the mid-2010s.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: An hour-long documentary, "Shooting for the Butler", was released by Auteur TV and Justified Films in 2014, directed by Digby Rumsey. With footage from Dunsany and Shoreham, it included interviews with the author's great-grandson, the estate's curator, author Liz Williams, scholar S. T. Joshi, a local who knew the writer personally, and the head of the Irish Chess Union, among others.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's literary rights passed to a will trust first managed by Beatrice, Lady Dunsany, and are currently handled by Curtis Brown of London and partner firms worldwide. (Some past US deals, for example, have been listed by Locus Magazine as by SCG.) A few Dunsany works are protected for longer than normal copyright periods in some territories, notably most of the contents of the "Last Book of Jorkens", and some short stories published on the Dunsany website or elsewhere by the family in the early 2000s.


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's primary home, over 820 years old, can be visited at certain times. Tours usually include the Library, but not the tower room where he often liked to work. His other home, Dunstall Priory, was sold to an admirer, Grey Gowrie, later head of the Arts Council of the UK, and then passed to other owners. The family still owns a farm and downland in the area and a Tudor cottage in Shoreham village. The grave of Dunsany and his wife can be seen in the church graveyard there. (Most previous barons are buried in the grounds of Dunsany Castle.)


title: Lord Dunsany

text: Dunsany's manuscripts are collected in the family archive, including some specially bound volumes of some of his works. Scholarly access is possible through the curator. Seven boxes of Dunsany's papers are held at the Harry Ransom Center.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season was the third in a consecutive series of above-average and damaging Atlantic hurricane seasons, featuring 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes, which caused a total of over $50 billion (2018 USD) in damages and at least 172 deaths. More than 98% of the total damage was caused by two hurricanes (Florence and Michael). The season officially began on June 1, 2018, and ended on November 30, 2018. These dates historically describe the period in each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin and are adopted by convention. However, subtropical or tropical cyclogenesis is possible at any time of the year, as demonstrated by the formation of Tropical Storm Alberto on May 25, making this the fourth consecutive year in which a storm developed before the official start of the season. The season concluded with Oscar transitioning into an extratropical cyclone on October 31, almost a month before the official end.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Although several tropical cyclones impacted land, only a few left extensive damage. In mid-September, Hurricane Florence produced disastrous flooding in North Carolina and South Carolina, with damage totaling about $24 billion. The storm also caused 54 deaths. About a month later, Hurricane Michael, the first tropical cyclone to strike the United States as a Category 5 hurricane since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, left extensive damage in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Michael caused approximately $25 billion in damage and at least 64 deaths. Since Michael reached Category 5 status, 2018 became the third consecutive season to feature at least one Category 5 hurricane. Hurricane Leslie resulted in the first tropical storm warning being issued for the Madeira region of Portugal. Leslie and its remnants left hundreds of thousands of power outages and downed at least 1,000 trees in the Portuguese mainland, while heavy rains generated by the remains of the cyclone caused 15 deaths in France. The storm left approximately $500 million in damage and 16 fatalities.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Most forecasting groups called for a below-average season due to cooler than normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and the anticipated development of an El Niño. However, the anticipated El Niño failed to develop in time to suppress activity, and activity exceeded most predictions.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Ahead of and during the season, several national meteorological services and scientific agencies forecast how many named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes will form during a season or how many tropical cyclones will affect a particular country. These agencies include the Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) Consortium of University College London, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Colorado State University (CSU). The forecasts include weekly and monthly changes in significant factors that help determine the number of tropical storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes within a particular year. Some of these forecasts also take into consideration what happened in previous seasons and an ongoing La Niña event that had recently formed in November 2017. On average, an Atlantic hurricane season between 1981 and 2010 contained twelve tropical storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes, with an Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index of between 66 and 103 units. ACE is, broadly speaking, a measure of the power of a hurricane multiplied by the length of time it existed; therefore, long-lived storms and particularly strong systems result in high levels of ACE. The measure is calculated at full advisories for cyclones at tropical storm strength—storms with winds in excess of 39 mph (63 km/h).


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: The first forecast for the year was released by TSR on December 7, 2017, which predicted a slightly above-average season for 2018, with a total of 15 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. On April 5, 2018, CSU released its forecast, predicting a slightly above-average season with 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. TSR released its second forecast on the same day, predicting a slightly-below average hurricane season, with 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes, the reduction in both the number and size of storms compared to its first forecast being due to recent anomalous cooling in the far northern and tropical Atlantic. Several days later, on April 16, North Carolina State University released its predictions, forecasting an above-average season, with 14–18 named storms, 7–11 hurricanes, and 3–5 major hurricanes. On April 19, The Weather Company (TWC) released its first forecasts, predicting 2018 to be a near-average season, with a total of 13 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: TWC revised their forecast slightly on May 17, instead projecting 12 named storms, 5 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes in their May 17 outlook. On May 24, NOAA released their first forecasts, calling for a near to above average season in 2018. On May 25, the UK Met Office released their prediction, predicting 11 tropical storms, 6 hurricanes, and an Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) value of approximately 105 units. In contrast, on May 30, TSR released their updated prediction, significantly reducing their numbers to 9 named storms, 4 hurricanes and 1 major hurricane, citing a sea surface temperature setup analogous of those observed during the cool phase of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. On May 31, one day before the season officially began, CSU updated their forecast to include Tropical Storm Alberto, also decreasing their numbers due to anomalous cooling in the tropical and far northern Atlantic.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: On July 2, CSU updated their forecast once more, lowering their numbers again to 11 named storms, 4 hurricanes, and 1 major hurricane, citing the continued cooling in the Atlantic and an increasing chance of El Niño forming later in the year. TSR released their fourth forecast on July 5, retaining the same numbers as their previous forecast. On August 2, CSU updated their forecast again, increasing their numbers to 12 named storms, 5 hurricanes, and 1 major hurricane, citing the increasing chance of a weak El Niño forming later in the year. Four days later, TSR issued their final forecast for the season, slightly increasing their numbers to 11 named storms, 5 hurricanes and only one major hurricane, with the reason of having two unexpected hurricanes forming by the beginning of July. On August 9, 2018, NOAA revised its predictions, forecasting a below-average season with 9–13 named storms, 4–7 hurricanes, and 0–2 major hurricanes for all of the 2018 season.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1. The season produced sixteen tropical depressions, all but one of which further intensified into tropical storms. Eight of those strengthened into hurricanes, while two of the six hurricanes further strengthened into major hurricanes. A record seven storms received the designation of subtropical cyclone at some point in their duration. Above normal activity occurred due to anomalously warm sea surface temperatures, a stronger west-African monsoon, and the inability for the El Nino to develop during the season. The Atlantic tropical cyclones of 2018 collectively caused 172 fatalities and just over $50.2 billion in damage. The Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on November 30, 2018.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Tropical cyclogenesis began with the formation of Tropical Storm Alberto on May 25, marking the fourth consecutive year that activity began early. However, no storms developed in the month of June. July saw the formation of Beryl and Chris, both of which intensified into hurricanes. August also featured two named storms, Debby and Ernesto, though neither strengthened further than tropical storm status. On August 31, the depression that would later become Hurricane Florence developed. September featured the most activity, with Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Tropical Depression Eleven, Kirk, and Leslie also forming or existing in the month. Florence, Helene, Isaac, and Joyce existed simultaneously for a few days in September, becoming the first time since 2008 that four named storms were active at the same time. The season also became the second consecutive year with three hurricanes simultaneously active.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Activity continued in October, with Michael forming on October 7 and strengthening into a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, before making landfall in the Florida Panhandle at peak intensity. Michael, which peaked as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of , was the most intense tropical cyclone of the season and one of only four storms to make landfall in the United States mainland as a Category 5, the others being the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Hurricane Camille in 1969, and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. After 15 consecutive days as a tropical cyclone, Leslie transitioned into a powerful extratropical cyclone on October 13 while situated approximately west of the Iberian Peninsula, before making landfall soon afterward. A two-week period of inactivity ensued as the season began to wind down. Oscar, forming as a subtropical storm on October 26, intensified into a hurricane the next day, making it the eighth hurricane of the season. Oscar's extratropical transition ended the season's activity on October 31. No systems formed in the month of November for the first time since 2014. The seasonal activity was reflected with an Accumulated Cyclone Energy index value of 133 units.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A broad area of low pressure formed over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on May 20 due to the diffluence of a trough. Dry air and wind shear initially prevented development as the low moved over the Yucatán Peninsula. However, after the low re-emerged into the Caribbean on May 25, a well-defined circulation developed and the system became a subtropical depression about 80 mi (130 km) east-southeast of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, around 12:00 UTC. After remaining nearly stationary for the next day, the subtropical depression moved northward and continued strengthening, becoming Subtropical Storm Alberto as it crossed into the Gulf of Mexico late on May 26. After convection migrated closer to the circulation and the Alberto's wind field decreased in size, it transitioned into a tropical storm around 00:00 UTC on May 28. Around that time, Alberto peaked with winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) and a minimum pressure of . Around 21:00 UTC, Alberto made landfall near Laguna Beach, Florida, with winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). The cyclone weakened to a tropical depression shortly after landfall. Possibly due to the brown ocean effect, Alberto persisted as a tropical cyclone over land until transitioning into a remnant low over northern Michigan on May 31. A frontal system subsequently absorbed the remnant low over Ontario on June 1.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Alberto and its precursor caused flooding in the Yucatán Peninsula, particularly in Mérida. Flooding also occurred in Cuba, where the cyclone dropped of rainfall in Heriberto Duquezne, Villa Clara. The storm damaged 5,218 homes and of crops throughout the country. Alberto caused 10 deaths in Cuba, all due to drowning. In Florida, sustained winds reached and gusts topped out at , both recorded at the St. George Island Bridge. The winds knocked down dozens of trees, some of which fell onto roads, power lines, and a few homes. Storm surge entered five buildings and a restaurant in the Florida Panhandle. Farther inland, Alberto caused flooding in several states. Particularly hard hit was western North Carolina, where flooding and mudslides led to the closure of more than 40 roads, including parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Approximately 2,000 people fled their homes in McDowell County due to the threat of failure of the dam at Lake Tahoma. Alberto caused eight deaths and about $125 million in damage in the United States.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: On July 1, a tropical wave and accompanying low-pressure area exited the west coast of Africa. While moving west-southwestward over the next few days, the system organized into a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC on July 4 about west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. About 12 hours later, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Beryl. Despite relatively cool sea surface temperatures, Beryl continued to strengthen, becoming a Category 1 hurricane by 06:00 UTC on July 6 as a pinhole eye became evident. Beryl became the second earliest hurricane on record in the Main Development Region (south of 20°N and between 60° and 20°W), behind only a storm in 1933. Simultaneously, the cyclone peaked with 80 mph (130 km/h) and a minimum pressure of . Thereafter, increasing wind shear caused it to weaken back to a tropical storm by 12:00 UTC on July 7. A reconnaissance aircraft flight found that Beryl had degenerated into an open trough about 24 hours later. The remnants were monitored for several days. After conditions became more favorable, Beryl regenerated into a subtropical storm near Bermuda at 12:00 UTC on July 14. The rejuvenated storm soon began to lose convection due to dry air intrusion and degenerated into a remnant low once again by 00:00 UTC on July 16. An extratropical storm over Newfoundland absorbed the low on the following day.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: In Guadeloupe, four observation sites recorded tropical storm-force winds, downing trees and power lines. Rainfall on the island peaked at in Saint-Claude, causing minor localized flooding due to runoff. Gusty winds in Puerto Rico left approximately 47,000 people without power. Flash flooding closed several road closures and downed several trees. In the Dominican Republic, heavy rainfall led to flooding that displaced more than 8,000 people and isolated 19 communities. Overall, the flooding damaged 1,586 homes and destroyed 2 others. Roughly 59,000 electrical customers lost power. Total damage was estimated to be in the millions.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A frontal system moved offshore the coast of the northeastern United States on July 2. The frontal system dissipated a few days later, but the remaining shower and thunderstorm activity developed into a non-tropical low by July 3. After further organization, a tropical depression formed around 12:00 UTC on July 6 about south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The depression's elongated circulation and the presence of dry air initially prevented intensification. Nevertheless, at 06:00 UTC on July 8, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Chris. Pulled slowly southeastward by a passing cold front, Chris intensified little throughout the rest of the day due to upwelling. However, on July 10, a developing trough over the northeastern United States accelerated Chris eastward into warmer waters, allowing for the formation of an inner core. With a well-defined eye and impressive appearance on satellite imagery, Chris strengthened into a hurricane at 12:00 UTC that day. Chris proceeded to rapidly intensify and peaked as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) early on July 11, with the convective ring in its core transforming into a full eyewall. However, movement into cooler waters and the effects of a nearby mid-latitude trough caused Chris to begin to undergo extratropical transition. At 12:00 UTC on July 12, Chris became an extratropical cyclone well southeast of Newfoundland. The low continued northeastward over the Atlantic for the next few days, before weakening and finally dissipating south of Iceland on July 17.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: While offshore, Chris brought large swells to the East Coast of the United States, sparking hundreds of water rescues, especially along the coasts of North Carolina, New Jersey, and Maryland. On July 7, a man drowned in rough seas attributed to the storm at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. A vacation home in Rodanthe was declared uninhabitable after swells generated by Chris eroded away the base of the building. As an extratropical cyclone, the system brought locally heavy rain and gusty winds to Newfoundland and Labrador. Rainfall accumulations peaked at in Gander, while gusts reached in Ferryland. Rainfall accumulations were highest on Sable Island, at .


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: On August 4, the NHC began monitoring a non-tropical low over the northern Atlantic Ocean for tropical or subtropical development. Initially, convection remained very limited, with the system consisting mostly of a convection-less swirl interacting with an upper-level low. However, as the system moved southwestward into a more favorable environment, it gradually began to acquire subtropical characteristics. A large band of convection with tropical storm-force winds developed far from the center of the strengthening circulation, leading to the formation of Subtropical Storm Debby at 06:00 UTC on August 7. Moving northward along the western side of a mid-level ridge, deep convection increased near the center of the cyclone, and Debby transitioned to a tropical storm at 00:00 UTC on August 8. Throughout the day, despite moving over marginal sea surface temperatures, Debby strengthened while turning north-northeastward to northeastward. The storm reached its peak intensity at 00:00 UTC on August 9 with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 km/h). Although Debby's passage over a warm Gulf Stream eddy allowed it to maintain its intensity for a short time, the entrainment of dry air into its circulation and passage over cooler waters caused its deep convection to dissipate. Debby degenerated into a remnant low at 18:00 UTC on August 9 about east-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. The system then transitioned to an extratropical cyclone early on August 10 before being absorbed by a larger extratropical cyclone later that day.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A complex non-tropical low pressure system formed over the northern Atlantic on August 12. As the low drifted southeastward and slowly weakened, a new low formed to the east of the system on August 14. The new low quickly acquired subtropical characteristics, and by 06:00 UTC on August 15, the low had organized sufficiently to be classified as a subtropical depression while situated about southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Turning northeastward along the southern periphery of the mid-latitude westerlies, the subtropical depression intensified into Subtropical Storm Ernesto about six hours later. After Ernesto became a warm core system, with sufficient convective organization and anticyclonic outflow, the cyclone transitioned into a fully tropical storm late on August 16. By the following day, Ernesto began accelerating northeastward due to the influence of the mid-latitude westerlies. Around 18:00 UTC, the cyclone peaked with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of . By six hours later, Ernesto transitioned into an extratropical low about north-northeast of the Azores. The low merged with a frontal system and continued east-northeastward until dissipating over the British Isles on August 19. Heavy rains fell in portions of the United Kingdom on that day.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A tropical wave and a broad low-pressure area exited the west coast of Africa on August 30. The southern portion of the wave moved westward for a few weeks and developed into Tropical Depression Nineteen-E in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on September 19, while the remaining portions of the wave and the low formed into a tropical depression about southeast of the island of Santiago in the Cabo Verde Islands late on August 31. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Florence early the next day. Florence moved west-northwestward at an average speed of due to a large ridge associated with the Bermuda-Azores High. Marginally favorable conditions allowed for only gradual intensification, with the cyclone becoming a hurricane on September 4. However, Florence then underwent rapid intensification, reaching Category 4 status by late on the next day, farther northeast than any previous Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic during the satellite era. A sharp increase in wind shear then led to rapid weakening, with Florence falling to tropical storm intensity by early on September 7. A building mid-level ridge halted Florence's northward movement, leading to a westward turn.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Wind shear decreased again and the storm crossed into warmer ocean temperatures, allowing Florence to re-strengthen into a hurricane on September 9. On the next day, Florence underwent a second bout of rapid intensification, reaching Category 4 intensity again late on September 10. After additional strengthening, the cyclone reached its peak intensity around 18:00 UTC on September 11, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of . The system steadily weakened thereafter due to upwelling and eyewall replacement cycles, with the storm falling below major hurricane intensity on September 13 as it neared the Carolinas. Florence then slowed significantly due to collapsed steering currents and made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, as a Category 1 with winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) around 11:15 UTC on September 14. Jogging to the west-southwest, the cyclone remained near the coast and weakened to a tropical storm over eastern South Carolina early on September 15. Florence weakened to a tropical depression over the western part of the state late on the next day before turning northward. The system then became extratropical over West Virginia. The extratropical system tracked northeastward due to an approaching frontal system prior to dissipating over Massachusetts on September 18.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Florence brought catastrophic flooding to North Carolina and South Carolina. In the former, the storm dropped a maximum total of of precipitation near Elizabethtown, making Florence the rainiest tropical cyclone on record in North Carolina. Floodwaters entered 74,563 structures and inundated nearly every major highway in eastern North Carolina for several days. Several cities became completely isolated, including Wilmington. A total of 5,214 people required rescue during the flood. Significant losses to crops and livestock also occurred, with the deaths of 5,500 hogs and 3.5 million poultry. Approximately one million people lost electricity at the height of the storm. Damage in North Carolina alone totaled approximately $22 billion. In South Carolina, Florence produced a maximum total of of precipitation in Loris, also becoming the wettest tropical cyclone in the history of that state. Though flooding was not as severe as in North Carolina, the storm still inflicted a multi-billion dollar disaster in South Carolina, with damage totaling about $2 billion. Approximately 11,386 homes throughout the state experienced moderate or major damage. Interstate 95 remained closed for about a week due to inundation. In Virginia, the storm caused generally minor flooding and spawned 11 tornadoes. A tornado in Chesterfield County overturned cars, downed a number of power lines, deroofed several buildings, and destroyed a warehouse, killing a man inside. Overall, Florence killed 54 people and caused just over $24 billion in damages.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A tropical wave departed the west coast of Africa on August 26 and moved quickly across the tropical Atlantic with little convective activity. On August 30, an increase in convection occurred as the wave approached the Caribbean Sea. Gradual organization occurred as the system moved northwestward toward the Bahamas. At 06:00 UTC on September 3, a tropical depression formed about southeast of Key Largo, Florida, and strengthened into Tropical Storm Gordon just three hours later. Moving west-northwestward to northwestward around a strong subtropical ridge, Gordon continued to strengthen and reached winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) as it made landfall near Tavernier, Florida, at 11:15 UTC. After making a second landfall near Flamingo at 13:15 UTC, Gordon emerged into the Gulf of Mexico. An eye-like feature briefly appeared late on September 3 as the small tropical cyclone continued to strengthen. At 18:00 UTC on September 4, Gordon peaked with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h), making landfall at that intensity at 03:15 UTC the following day near the Alabama-Mississippi border. The tropical storm quickly weakened to a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC, degenerating into a remnant low at 18:00 UTC on September 6 over Arkansas. The remnant low degenerated into a trough early on September 8 before merging with a developing extratropical low later that day.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Several locations in South Florida observed tropical-storm-force wind gusts. Over 8,000 people lost power in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. One death occurred in Miami on Interstate 95 when a truck driver lost control of his vehicle, crashed into a wall, and was ejected from the truck. Rainfall reaching in Homestead caused some street flooding in the Miami area. Along the Gulf Coast, especially the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, and Mississippi, winds and storm surge caused damage to some piers, homes, and buildings. About 27,000 people lost electricity, with most in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. A young girl died in Pensacola after a tree fell on her mobile home. Tornadoes and flash floods from the remnants of Gordon caused some damage farther inland, especially in Kentucky and Missouri. The storm caused two deaths in the former and one in the latter. Gordon resulted in approximately $200 million in damage throughout the United States.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: In early September, a vigorous tropical wave moving across west Africa produced a large mass of convection. While still inland, a surface low pressure area formed in association with the wave on September 6. Heavy rainfall from the precursor tropical wave in Guinea triggered flooding, which claimed three lives in Doko. The system moved offshore early on September 7 and developed into a tropical depression around 12:00 UTC near Banjul, The Gambia. Steered westward due to a subtropical ridge to the north, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Helene early on September 8. In the Cabo Verde Islands, winds downed trees and a telecommunications antenna in the city of São Filipe. The storm also caused minor damage to buildings, vehicles, and roads. Improvement of banding features and the development of an inner core indicated further strengthening; Helene became a hurricane around 18:00 UTC the following day. Helene was the second easternmost hurricane to form in the main development region (MDR) during the satellite era, behind only Fred in 2015. Helene then curved west-northwestward around the edge of the subtropical ridge and intensified further, becoming a Category 2 hurricane around 12:00 UTC on September 10. Approximately 24 hours later, the cyclone peaked with winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) and a minimum pressure of .


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Colder water temperatures and drier air caused Helene to weaken to a tropical storm on September 13. The flow between a trough over the central Atlantic and the subtropical ridge then drew Helene in a northward motion. On September 13 and September 14, the cyclone underwent a Fujiwhara interaction with the smaller Tropical Storm Joyce to the west. Afterward, Helene accelerated northeastward and passed over the Azores late on September 15. The storm likely produced tropical storm-force winds over the western Azores. The next day, Helene transitioned into an extratropical cyclone while speeding toward the British Isles, becoming the first named storm of the European windstorm season. On September 18, the extratropical low associated with Helene merged with another extratropical system. The remnants continued onwards to impact Ireland and the United Kingdom, prompting warnings for wind gusts up 65 mph (105 km/h) for southern and western areas of the United Kingdom. However, Helene weakened considerably while approaching the British Isles, resulting in the cancellation of all weather warnings on September 18. The extratropical storm produced rainfall across the British Isles and wind gusts reaching in Wales.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: On September 2, a tropical wave exited the west coast of Africa. The system gradually organized over the next several days. After a burst of deep convection on September 6 and then the development of a well-defined center shortly after, a tropical depression formed about west of the Cabo Verde Islands around 12:00 UTC on September 7. Weak steering currents caused the depression to initially move slowly, while moderate wind shear temporarily prevented the system from strengthening. At 12:00 UTC on September 8, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Isaac. Thereafter, the cyclone began moving westward between after a subtropical ridge situated north of the storm strengthened. With warm ocean temperatures, abundant moisture, and low wind shear, Isaac intensified into a hurricane at 00:00 UTC on September 10. Simultaneously, the cyclone peaked with sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a minimum pressure of .


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Later on September 10, dry air entered the storm's small circulation, suppressing convection and preventing any further intensification. Increasing wind shear generated by an upper-level trough to the north caused Isaac to weaken, with the cyclone falling to tropical storm intensity early on September 11. Between September 12 and September 13, the system's surface circulation became exposed from the convection. Around 12:00 UTC on September 13, Isaac passed between Martinique and Dominica, with the high terrain on Martinique nearly causing the storm to dissipate. On Dominica, the cyclone caused minor flooding and mudslides. Wind gusts peaked at on Guadeloupe, causing hundreds of power outages. Locally heavy rainfall on Saint Lucia caused flooding in Anse La Raye and Castries, while winds downed trees in Barre de L'isle. Although convection briefly re-developed, persistent wind shear caused Isaac to weaken to a tropical depression early on September 15 and then degenerate into a tropical wave about halfway between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela shortly thereafter.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A cold front moved offshore New England and Atlantic Canada around September 7. A non-tropical low pressure area developed along the front three days later and reached gale-force intensity by early on September 12. After a curved band of convection formed later that day, the low became Subtropical Storm Joyce by 12:00 UTC while centered roughly west-southwest of Flores Island in the Azores. From September 13-September 14, Joyce interacted with the larger Hurricane Helene, due to the Fujiwhara effect, with Joyce being steered counter-clockwise around Helene. At 00:00 UTC on September 14, Joyce transitioned into a tropical storm. Later that day, Joyce began turning eastward and reached its peak intensity with sustained winds of 50 mph (85 km/h). Afterward, Joyce began to weaken due to the increasing wind shear. At 12:00 UTC on September 16, Joyce weakened into a tropical depression. At 00:00 UTC on September 19, Joyce degenerated into a remnant low, which continued an eastward motion for another couple of days, before dissipating late on September 21.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa on September 14, with signs of rotation. As the wave traversed the tropical Atlantic, rotation slightly weakened. After a few days moving westward, convection and organization gradually improved. On September 18, a large area of disturbed weather in association with a tropical wave developed far to the east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles. The system initially lacked a surface circulation, and though a weak low formed on September 20, strong upper-level winds and dry air were expected to limit further development. Deep convection, despite being displaced east of the center, became persistent throughout the day, leading to the formation of a tropical depression by 18:00 UTC on September 21. However, the depression failed to strengthen further within an increasingly hostile environment, eventually degenerating into an elongated trough on the following day approximately east of the Lesser Antilles.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A tropical wave emerged into the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa on September 22. The wave moved swiftly westward and organized into a tropical depression about south-southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands early on September 22. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Kirk about six hours later, becoming a named storm at 8.1°N, the lowest latitude for a system of tropical storm strength or higher in the north Atlantic since an a hurricane in 1902. Little change in strength occurred as Kirk accelerated across the tropical Atlantic, possibly owing to its high forward speed, and the cyclone degenerated into an open tropical wave at 12:00 UTC on September 23. The remnant trough continued westward and reorganized, becoming a tropical storm once again early on September 26. Kirk peaked with sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) later that day. Strong wind shear weakened the storm slightly over the next day as it approached the Lesser Antilles, and around 00:30 UTC on September 28, the storm made landfall on St. Lucia. Kirk continued to weaken while moving westward through the Caribbean, and the surface circulation became exposed to the west of the main convection. Early on September 29, Kirk degenerated into an open tropical wave over the eastern Caribbean. Kirk's remnants drifted westward for the next couple of days, before being absorbed by a developing area of low pressure over the southwest Caribbean, which would later become Hurricane Michael.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Tropical storm watches and warnings were issued for the Windward Islands at 09:00 UTC on September 26. The storm caused the loss of roughly 80% of banana and plantain crops and also damaged school buildings, while two buildings suffered complete destruction. Approximately 2,000 chickens died at a poultry farm after their pens collapsed during the storm. Damage in St. Lucia totaled approximately $444,000. Rainfall amounts exceeding on Barbados caused extensive street flooding and power outages. Two deaths occurred in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines after two fishermen ignored storm warnings and presumably drowned.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: A non-tropical area of low pressure formed over the central Atlantic on September 22, quickly transitioning into Subtropical Storm Leslie by 12:00 UTC on the next day about southwest of Flores Islands in the Azores. After little change in strength over the two days, Leslie weakened to a subtropical depression early on September 25, before becoming post-tropical later that day. After merging with a frontal system, Leslie began a cyclonic loop to the west, intensifying during this time, and becoming a powerful extratropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds early on September 27. The remnants of Leslie then gradually weakened, as the storm began to lose its frontal structure. However, Leslie became a subtropical storm once again around 12:00 UTC on September 28. A day after regenerating, Leslie became fully tropical.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Over the next several days, Leslie drifted south-southwestward between a high pressure area to the west and another to the northeast while gradually intensifying. At 06:00 UTC on October 3, Leslie strengthened into a hurricane and turned northward, but weakened back to a tropical storm later on the next day. Leslie then drifted northeastward on October 5 and October 6 without much change in intensity, before turning east-southeastward along the western periphery of a broad mid-tropospheric trough on October 7. After a period of weakening, Leslie began restrengthening late on October 8, reaching hurricane intensity for the second time on October 10 while executing a sharp turn to the east-northeast. The cyclone then accelerated due to the influence of the mid-latitude westerlies. Late on October 13, Leslie became extratropical roughly west-northwest of Lisbon, Portugal, before making landfall soon afterward. The extratropical low became ill-defined after emerging into the Bay of Biscay on the next day.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: On October 12, a tropical storm warning was issued for Madeira for the first time in the island's history, and Leslie became the first tropical cyclone to pass within of the archipelago since reliable record-keeping began in 1851. Prior to Leslie, Hurricane Vince in 2005 passed closer to the islands than any other tropical cyclone. Madeira officials closed beaches and parks. The threat of the storm caused eight airlines to cancel flights into Madeira. Leslie resulted in the cancellation of over 180 sports matches, more than half of them affecting the Madeira Football Association. On the mainland of Portugal, the remnants of Leslie produced wind gusts of , leaving 324,000 homes without power and downing at least 1,000 trees in coastal areas. One death occurred due to a falling tree. Moisture from the remnants of Leslie and a semi-stationary cold front caused heavy rainfall and flash flooding over southern France. The flooding left 15 deaths, all in the Aude department. Overall, Leslie and its remnants inflicted more than $500 million in damage.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: On October 1, a broad area of low pressure formed over the southwestern Caribbean Sea, absorbing the remnants of Tropical Storm Kirk by the next day. The low gradually organized, becoming a tropical depression early on October 7 about south of Cozumel. The depression intensified into Tropical Storm Michael shortly thereafter. Michael quickly became a hurricane around midday on October 8 as a result of rapid intensification. The storm reached the Gulf of Mexico several hours later and continued to quickly strengthen over the next two days, becoming a major hurricane late on October 9. At 17:30 UTC on October 10, Michael made landfall near Panama City, Florida, at its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of . Michael became the most intense storm of the season and also the third-strongest landfalling hurricane in the U.S. on record in terms of central pressure. The cyclone initially weakened quickly over land, falling to tropical storm intensity over Georgia early on October 11. By 00:00 UTC on October 12, Michael became extratropical over Virginia. After crossing through the Southeastern United States, Michael started restrengthening early on October 12 as a result of baroclinic forcing while transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. The extratropical low moved northeastward across the Atlantic, before curving southeastward and then southward while nearing the European mainland. The low dissipated just offshore Portugal on October 15.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: The combined effects of the precursor low to Michael and a disturbance over the Pacific Ocean caused significant flooding across Central America. Nearly 2,000 homes in Nicaragua suffered damage and 1,115 people evacuated. A total of 253 and 180 homes were damaged in El Salvador and Honduras, respectively. More than 22,700 people were directly affected throughout the three countries. The precursor of Michael caused roughly $10 million in damages in Central America and killed at least 15 people across the region: 8 in Honduras, 4 in Nicaragua, and 3 in El Salvador. In Cuba, high winds from Michael resulted in more than 200,000 power outages and caused sporadic structural damage in Pinar del Río Province. Heavy rains overflowed creeks and rivers, while floodwaters entered homes in La Coloma. Catastrophic damage occurred in portions of the Florida Panhandle, particularly in and around Mexico Beach, Panama City, and Panama City Beach. Michael damaged more than 45,000 structures and destroyed over 1,500 others in Bay County alone. Major wind damage continued well inland, including about 1,000 structures experiencing substantial damage or destruction in Jackson County. In Georgia, 99% of homes in Seminole County suffered some degree of damage, while thousands of other homes as far north as Dougherty County reported damage. Extensive wind damage also occurred in southeastern Alabama. The remnants of Michael caused flooding in western North Carolina and Virginia, with a maximum precipitation total of near Black Mountain, North Carolina. In the United States, at least 59 people were killed across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, with most in the state of Florida. Michael caused at least $25 billion in property damage in the United States.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: Early on October 6, a tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa. The wave soon fractured as it moved into the tropical Atlantic, with the northern portion moving over cool waters and the southern portion continuing westward over warm waters. Convection associated with the southern portion increased and became more organized, and a well-defined circulation developed on October 7. The disturbance continued to organize over the next day as a well-defined surface low developed. At 06:00 UTC on October 9, while located southwest of Cape Verde, the disturbance organized into a tropical depression, and six hours later strengthened into Tropical Storm Nadine. Upon its designation as a tropical storm at the longitude of 30°W, Nadine became the easternmost named storm to develop in the tropical Atlantic so late in the calendar year. Located within a very favorable environment with low wind shear, warm sea surface temperatures, and abundant atmospheric moisture, the small tropical cyclone quickly intensified, reaching its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) around 06:00 UTC on October 10. At that time, a well-defined eye feature was evident in microwave imagery. However, an abrupt increase in westerly wind shear brought an end to the strengthening trend, and Nadine began to weaken later that day. Turning sharply west-northwestward, Nadine encountered hostile environmental conditions which resulted in the cyclone weakening to a tropical depression at 18:00 UTC on October 12. The weakening cyclone degenerated into an open wave six hours later. The wave continued to move westward for the next several days, finally dissipating just east of the Lesser Antilles early on October 16.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: The interaction of a tropical wave and a mid- to upper-level trough resulted in the formation of a surface trough and a broad low-pressure area well northeast of the Leeward Islands on October 24. Gradual organization ensued as the low drifted northward, with the shower and thunderstorm activity becoming better defined. By 18:00 UTC on October 26, the circulation of the broad low had become sufficiently defined for it to be classified as Subtropical Storm Oscar while situated roughly east-northeast of the Leeward Islands. Oscar continued to strengthen as it accelerated westward around the northern side of a mid to upper-level low, transitioning into a tropical storm at 18:00 UTC on October 27. A small eye became evident on satellite imagery by late on October 28, and Oscar strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane at 18:00 UTC that day. Continued intensification followed, with Oscar peaking as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) early on October 30. Soon afterward, the cyclone accelerated northeastward over increasingly colder waters, while a cold front approached the system from the northwest. On October 31, Oscar underwent an extratropical transition, a process it completed by 18:00 UTC that day about south-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. The remnant extratropical storm continued north-northeastward and then northeastward before being absorbed by another extratropical low and frontal system near the Faroe Islands late on November 4.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: The following list of names was used for named storms that formed in the North Atlantic in 2018. This was the same list used in the 2012 season, with the exception of the name "Sara", which replaced "Sandy".


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: On March 20, 2019, at the 41st session of the RA IV hurricane committee, the World Meteorological Organization retired the names "Florence" and "Michael" from its rotating naming lists due to the number of deaths and amount of damage they caused, and they will not be used again for an Atlantic hurricane. They will be replaced with "Francine" and "Milton", respectively, for the 2024 season.


title: 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

text: This is a table of the tropical cyclones that formed in the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. It includes their duration, names, intensities, areas affected, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a tropical wave, or a low, and all the damage figures are in USD. Potential tropical cyclones are not included in this table.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: The Barefoot Contessa is a 1954 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz about the life and loves of fictional Spanish sex symbol Maria Vargas. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'Brien. The film's slow-paced plot focuses on social positioning and high-powered politics within the world of film and high society.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: For his performance, O'Brien won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe. Mankiewicz was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: The majority of the film is explained by Harry Dawes (Bogart), narrating the events, with small sections narrated by Oscar Muldoon (O'Brien).


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: Down on his luck, a washed-up movie director and writer Harry Dawes is reduced to working for abusive, emotionally stunted business tycoon Kirk Edwards, who has decided that he wants to produce a film to boost his monumental ego. Looking for a glamorous leading lady, they go to a Madrid night club to see a dancer named Maria Vargas, about whom Kirk had already been told.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: Maria is a blithe but proud spirit who likes to go barefoot and has a troubled home life. Maria immediately likes Harry, whose work she knows, but takes an instant dislike to Kirk. Although she flees during their meeting, Harry tracks her down to her family home and convinces her to fly away with them to the United States to make her first film. Thanks to his expertise and the help of sweaty, insincere publicist Oscar Muldoon, her film debut is a sensation. With two subsequent films by this team, Maria becomes a respected actress, Harry's career is resurrected, and they become friends.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: During a party at Maria's house, Kirk and wealthy Latin American playboy Alberto Bravano become involved in an argument over Maria. Alberto had conspicuously admired Maria during the evening. When Alberto invites her to join him on his yacht in the Riviera, Kirk orders her to stay away from him. Offended by Kirk's attempted domineering, she accepts Alberto's invitation. Also seeing an opportunity, Oscar, tired of being Kirk's lackey, switches his allegiance to Alberto.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: Maria is now a great star, but she is not satisfied. She envies the happiness her friend Harry has found with his wife Jerry. Alberto is too frivolous and shallow for her. One evening at a casino, while Alberto is gambling, Maria takes some of his chips and cashes them, throwing the money to her gypsy lover from a window. When Alberto goes on a losing streak, he berates Maria in public for ruining his luck. Subsequently, he receives a slap in the face from Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini, who escorts Maria from the casino.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: Maria stays with Vincenzo and his widowed sister, Eleanora, at the count's palazzo. She has found the great love of her life, and they wed in a lavish ceremony, in which Harry gives away the bride. But there is a problem. The count and his sister are the last of the Torlato-Favrinis; without offspring, the noble line will die out. The count has a secret. Due to a war injury, he is impotent. He does not tell Maria about this until their wedding night.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: On a rainy night, months later, with Harry in Italy, an unhappy Maria arrives at his hotel room, telling him about her husband's impotence, but confessing that she is pregnant. She believes Vincenzo will want this child in order to perpetuate the family lineage. Harry warns her Vincenzo is too proud to accept this, but Maria feels otherwise and plans to tell him about her pregnancy that night.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: After Maria leaves his hotel room, Harry notices Vincenzo's car trailing hers, and follows them. Back at the palazzo in the servants' quarters, Vincenzo shoots to death both Maria and her lover before she can tell him about the child. Harry arrives just as the shots are fired. He does not tell Vincenzo about the pregnancy. The story ends, as it began, with flashbacks at her funeral. Afterward, Vincenzo is taken away by the police.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: According to Turner Classic Movies, Mankiewicz based the film's central character of Maria Vargas on American movie star and dancer Rita Hayworth, who had been married to Prince Aly Khan. According to the audio commentary on the 1931 film "Tabu", she was based on Anne Chevalier, an actress in that film.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: "The Barefoot Contessa" is considered one of Mankiewicz's most glamorous "Hollywood" films, and one of the most glamorous of Golden Hollywood, but it was produced out of Cinecittà Studios in Rome. Exterior scenes were shot at Tivoli (the olive grove), Sanremo, and Portofino. Bogart was not on location at Sanremo. The film's Italian production was part of the "Hollywood on the Tiber" phenomenon.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: The studio was about to release the film's poster without an image of Bogart, a contractual violation. Bogart had the matter rectified with the addition of a line drawing of his face.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: The film was praised by many critics for its extravagance, which earned the director many new admirers. "Saturday Review" stated Ava Gardner was "one of the most breathtaking creatures on earth". Some critics disapproved of the film; the book "Feature Cinema in the 20th Century: Volume One: 1913–1950: a Comprehensive Guide" called the film "dreadful", remarking that Mankiewicz's "intelligence and ambitious aims too often collide with an astonishing lack of subtlety and aesthetic judgment". Bosley Crowther in "The New York Times" described it as a "grotesque barren film" about the "glittering and graceless behavior of the Hollywood-international set."


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: However, François Truffaut wrote: "what is beyond doubt is its total sincerity, novelty, daring, and fascination … I myself accept and value it for its freshness, intelligence, and beauty … A subtle and intelligent film, beautifully directed and acted."


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: In 1998, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the "Chicago Reader" included the film in his unranked list of the best American films not included on the AFI Top 100.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: The Food Network cooking show "Barefoot Contessa" is named after Ina Garten's best-selling cookbook, "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook", which in turn was named after her specialty food store which she bought in 1978. The store, which is no longer in operation, opened in 1975 and was named after the film.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: The VHS from MGM was first released in 1990 and again in 1999 as part of the Vintage Classics lineup. MGM also released the DVD version in 2001.


title: The Barefoot Contessa

text: On December 13, 2016, Twilight Time Movies released "The Barefoot Contessa" on high-definition Blu-ray. This release is a limited-edition release of 3000 copies.`


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially the General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of white Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas (with exception to CH Mason), separating from the historically black Church of God in Christ. The Assemblies of God is a Finished Work Pentecostal denomination and is the U.S. branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal body. With a constituency of over 3 million, the Assemblies of God was the ninth largest Christian denomination and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States in 2011.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: The Assemblies of God holds to a conservative, evangelical and Arminian theology as expressed in the Statement of Fundamental Truths and position papers, which emphasize such core Pentecostal doctrines as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It defines for itself a fourfold mission to evangelize others, worship God, disciple believers, and show compassion.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: The fellowship's polity is a hybrid of presbyterian and congregational models. This tension between local independence and national authority is seen in the AG's historical reluctance to refer to itself as a denomination, preferring the terms "fellowship" and "movement". The national headquarters are in Springfield, Missouri, where the administrative and executive offices and Gospel Publishing House are located.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: It maintains relationships with other Pentecostal groups at both regional and national levels through the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America and the Pentecostal World Fellowship. It is also a member of the Wesleyan Holiness Consortium and the National Association of Evangelicals.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: The Assemblies of God has roots in the Pentecostal revival in the early 20th century. The Pentecostal aspects of the revival were not generally welcomed by the established churches, and participants in the movement soon found themselves outside existing religious bodies. They were forced to seek their own places of worship, and soon there were hundreds of distinctly Pentecostal congregations.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: After Charles Parham—an unordained former Methodist Episcopal supply pastor—began promoting the idea that speaking in tongues was the initial evidence of the baptism in the Spirit around 1901, he began to attract a considerable following, which he loosely organized as the Apostolic Faith Movement in 1906; prior, he established a Bible school in Kansas and invited "all ministers and Christians who were willing to forsake all, sell what they had, give it away, and enter the school for study and prayer" leading to the Bible and Parham as sole instructor (or the Holy Spirit's mouthpiece). However, with the rise of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, and an accusation of sodomy against him in 1907, he lost and never recovered his influence. After renouncing Parham, the severely weakened Apostolic Faith Movement regrouped around Howard A. Goss, L. C. Hall, D. C. O. Opperman, and A. G. Canada. They were later joined by Eudorus N. Bell, previously a Southern Baptist minister. The Apostolic Faith Movement had its strength in the rural areas of Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: In Pentecostalism's early years, organizational affiliation was fluid, and many ministers of the Apostolic Faith Movement, which was a white organization, were also licensed by Charles Harrison Mason's predominantly African-American Church of God in Christ. In 1907, Goss had received a license to preach from Mason's group, and he claimed that Mason had given him permission to issue ministerial credentials under the Churches of God in Christ name for the "white work". By 1910, the name "Churches of God in Christ" was seen as a more biblical name and began to be preferred over "Apostolic Faith".


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: The Apostolic Faith Movement played a leading role in organizing and institutionalizing Pentecostalism in the Midwest and Southwest and from 1909 to 1912 absorbed smaller Pentecostal groups. It also established relationships with Pentecostal missions in the Midwest. The Midwestern Pentecostal movement centered around the Stone Church, pastored by William Piper, and the North Avenue Mission, pastored by William Howard Durham, both in Chicago, Illinois. Durham was the lead promoter of the Finished Work doctrine which, in time, the Apostolic Faith Movement would adopt and in doing so discard the Wesleyan view of sanctification as a second work of grace.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: Between 1906 and 1908, the Pentecostal message had spread among Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) churches and conferences. At first, it was greeted positively by the CMA leadership, but the doctrine of initial evidence divided the organization. Former CMA Pentecostal congregations in the Midwest and Northeast were left without oversight and began associating with the Apostolic Faith Movement and the Chicago Pentecostal missions.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: By 1914, many white ministers nominally affiliated with the Church of God in Christ had become dissatisfied with the arrangement. Apostolic Faith Movement leaders Bell, Goss, Opperman, M. M. Pinson, and A. P. Collins issued the call for a general council to "Churches of God in Christ, and to all Pentecostal or Apostolic Faith Assemblies". What resulted was a merger of the Apostolic Faith Movement, Chicago Pentecostals, and CMA Pentecostals in 1914 at Hot Springs, Arkansas. The 1st General Council was attended by predominantly white representatives from 20 states and missions in Egypt and South Africa. The fellowship that emerged was incorporated as the "General Council of the Assemblies of God". Bell was elected the first general superintendent. Five major reasons were given for calling the meeting:


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: Other actions taken at the 1st General Council addressed women in ministry. The Pentecostals who founded the Assemblies of God had no objections to women being engaged in ministry. The Pentecostal belief in personal experience, Spirit baptism as empowerment for service, and the need for evangelists and missionaries encouraged women to be active in all types of ministry. What concerned some Pentecostal leaders, such as Bell, were women exercising independent authority over men. The council therefore approved of the granting of credentials to female evangelists and missionaries while restricting the office of pastor to men, and it was not until 1920 that female evangelists could vote at denominational meetings. By the fall of 1914, out of 512 credential holders, 142 were female missionaries and evangelists.


title: Assemblies of God USA

text: After 1914, the Church of God in Christ became predominantly Black or African American and the Assemblies of God would remain predominantly white. However, there were African Americans involved in the early years of the Assemblies of God. The African-American pastor Garfield Thomas Haywood, for example, pastored one of the largest churches and was an influential voice within the fellowship until he withdrew from the denomination after 1916.