A Son of the Rock

And, today, Václav Havel.

It’s given to few writers to affect their country in a material way, still less to achieve political office. Havel became President of Czechoslovakia and then, after the split (which he opposed) with Slovakia, of the Czech Republic.

His was one of the voices which ensured that Czechoslovakia’s revolution (unlike the 1968 Prague Spring of Alexander Dubček and its aftermath) was a velvet one. The times were with him in that of course, as they weren’t with Dubček.

I remember one year there was a host of well-known people died between Christmas and New Year. In 2011 it seems to be happening earlier in December.

Václav Havel: 5/10/36 – 18/12/2011. So it goes.