Winston S. Churchill: The Triumphant Story of the Greatest Biography on the Planet
“We go back a long way,” Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn recently reminded me. “I knew Dal Newfield.” He realized that would invoke a fond memory. A few are still left who remember the man responsible for where some of us are today.
Dalton Newfield was a Sacramento resident and army veteran who had admired Winston Churchill since he saw him in person during the Second World War. In 1970, I shrank away from Finest Hour after the first eleven issues, clearing the decks for an automotive writing career in New York City. Dal rescued the thin little newsletter of the “Winston S. Churchill Study Unit” and produced twenty-two issues. His first cover was memorable: a replica of The Times front page for 30 November 1874. In the upper left corner, each copy marked with a hand-applied red dot, was the announcement: “Born at Blenheim Palace, of The Lady Randolph Churchill, a son….”
The Age of Newfield
Dal’s increasingly interesting editions extended far beyond the original scope of stamp collecting. We never had more than $300 in the bank, but he found a friendly printer and begged or borrowed what we then called “halftones”—photos to liven it up. We could not afford typesetting, so he typed each issue on a carbon ribbon Selectric. Running out of space, he would continue articles up and down the margins. It was a happy, eclectic little newssheet, brimming with Churchilliana.
“Look,” Newfield said early on: “Stamps are fine, but they don’t do justice Now let’s rename the organization.” I suggested “International Churchill Society.” It seemed like a good idea at the time.
