The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-23
Man About
Manhattan
Bv George tucker

NEW YORK-Aug. ID
Llewellyn, listening to the nostai-
eic tales his colleagues a We
brought back, wants to visit the
wears best seller, How Green Was
Welshman and the author of this
wears best seller, How Green Was
NV Valley?" In a note to his
publishers the other day he said,
.'For years I've promised myself
the privilege of leaning against a
lamp post on Fifth avenue to
watch traffic 60 by, with a ham.
burger in one hand, and n OF
your bulky Sunday newspapers in
the other"
That's a nice sentiment. He has
probably been listening to Noel
Coward or to the playwright
Priestley. There's nothing wrong
to the hamburger idea, or tn
Sunday newspapers either, for
they are really heavy. But he may
run into trouble when he comes
to the lamp posts. The cops on
Fifth avenue don't like for people
to lean against them. Nothing in
the law to say you can't do it,
but the cops object personally.
They say it impedes the flow Of
traffic. Maybe it does, but we r
all for extending special privileges
Ito Mr.. Llewellyn if he comes over.
Any man who'd cross the ocean
lust to, MUNICH a hamburger and
stare at traffic ought to have the
privilege of leaning against a lamp
post, even on Fifth avenue.
If we were looking for a bright
young man to fill a vancancy we'd
hunt down the hero of that story
that is currently circulating
through Rockefeller Center. Here
is a lad with a nice sense Of humor
and no doubt by this time he al
ready has a boost in pay. The
story, briefly, is this. w he
cashed his check the other day he
neatly scribed this comment be-
low his signature: ANY resem-
blance between this and a living
wage is purely coincidental."
Larry Nixon is a man who likes
to change his mind occasionally.
In his new travel book, See Can
ada Next" he sums up the ease
with which one may get to the
Dominion by saying. "It's all so
simple; no long water Journey"
However, in his previous book,
"Vagabond Voyaging," Larry was
all for the tramp steamer idea,
ever for Canada. One of his most
pleasant chapters points out the
advantages of water travel over
rail.
Day by week and month by year
the last Of the Red Hot Mamas
goes on and or. The last of the
Red Hot Mamas is, as you know,
Miss Sophie Tucker. In Broadway
parlance she is Away a good
draw"
Sometimes I ask myself why
Sophie is such a good bargain in
the entertainment world. All she
does, with her leather-lunged en-
thusiasm and her "blue'' notes, is
sing risque songs. She is big and
loud. Where others merely glow,
Sophie flames. The colors of her
gowns do not merely speak for
themselves. They scream out loud.
Sophie comes on and gives a
rambling chalk talk and bursts
into o which, invariably, is
about the explosive thrill of love.
Yet, she can't sing. Her voice isn't
even good. 1t is terrible. Neverthe-
less people love her and trail af-
ter her. l imagine that if you took
the naughty words out of her song
she wouldn't be the Sophie every
body knows today. This isn't a
criticism of Sophie. On the con-
trary, I think she's swell. Any
body who a build and perpetu-
ate a successful career on abso-
lutely nothing must have some.
thing. Tam just puzzled. Long live
Sophie. al