Siren Years : A Canadian Diplomat Abroad 1937-1945 (9781551996783)

by Ritchie, Charles

  1 At the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in August 1944, the four Great Powers – Great Britain, China, the U.S.A., and the U.S.S.R. – agreed on a draft text for the creation of the United Nations.

  EPILOGUE1

  The diarist did not “throw in his cards and clear out.” On the contrary he played them for all he was worth. His diplomatic career is written in the sands of Who’s Who. He was to become Canada’s Representative to the United Nations which he had seen founded at San Francisco, to go as Ambassador to Washington where he had served his apprenticeship, and finally as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom to find himself back again in the grand room at Canada House, where standing under the chandelier Vincent Massey had announced to his staff the outbreak of World War II.

  He had one undeserved piece of good fortune in a happy marriage. His wife, Sylvia, during more than twenty-five years has encouraged and supported him with her wit and wisdom in everything he has undertaken, including the publication of this book.

  The diaries continue – compulsion dies hard.

  1 As written for the first edition of The Siren Years in 1974.