"Introduction by David Garnett. His last book, a journal written during his American transcontinental lecture tour." - Amazon. This was just when the play "Camelot" (based rather loosely on his "The Once and Future King") was growing in popularity. He was on this tour when Kennedy was shot, and the play became almost coincidentally entertwined with the legend of the "brief shining moment" of the JFK administration. Almost a month after the tour White would himself be dead, which Garnett - a longtime friend - was sure was the result of overindulgence placing a strain on his ill-health after the austerities of the tour.
It is rather eerie to listen to White as he describes his impressions of the country and hear him time after time expressing the intention to visit America again at a more liesurely pace, knowing that he will not. He remarks on the general optimism, eagerness, and cleanliness of the American students he lectures to, as opposed to the sullen British Beatnik he has seen developing at home. He is overcome when he experiences his first standing ovation. He talks about the sourness of the rich he sees travelling in first class. He expresses his opinion that America is at the time undergoing a Renaissance, and that during such a time the "merchant princes" can do no better than to be patrons of the arts as he sees libraries, museums, and colleges funded by the rich.
He ponders the growing race problem in the US. He deplores the segregation and violence against blacks, especially the horrors of lynching, but wonders if they are capable of as much 'mental development' as people of European descent. He admires their innate grace and physical superiority as opposed to the more awkward, repressed whites. He wonders if Martin Luther King and other activists are really helping by stirring things up. His ideas seem simplistic to modern sensibilities (and they are only hurried thoughts in a diary) but it is clear that he never thinks of African-Americans as anything less than people, worthy of respect, love, and justice.
White is very interested in the wildlife in America (especially birds) but he gets to see very few wild animals unless they have been squashed on the highway. He is awed by the enormous distances one has to travel between cities, and keeps a log of how much he has traversed. He loves to see the country laid out from the heights of an airplane, noting the fields, trees, even the types of soil. He makes notes of the crazy mixtures of architecture that he sees and enjoys. He is - well, impressed is not quite the right world, but he isn't too concerned about them, either - he feels moved to mention time and again the enormous automobile graveyards he passes in his travels.
He is fascinated by any American history he can pick up in his whirlwind tour, especially anything related to the presidents (he loves Jefferson and visits Monticello). He is very interested in the Mormons when he visits Utah, and admires their persistence in developing such a bleak landscape. In fact he is impressed with what was then still known as 'the pioneer spirit' and in passing mentions the famous story of the Donner Party as an example of the perils faced by those setting out. He talks about the prudery of American art, which will not allow nude public statues. He notes that there is anothe T. H. White, who writes history books.
He is accompanied by a secretary, the 18-year-old Carol, who is the sister-in-law of Julie Andrews (White always considered Andrews as 'his' discovery, and was angry when Disney swiped her away from 'Camelot' to play in 'Mary Poppins'). He is enormously appreciative of Carol and her efforts, even claiming he would probably be dead if not for her. He loves all of his hosts and docents at the various colleges, from the two jolly Roman Catholic priests at Notre Dame to the couple who drove him a hundred miles to his next venue (which he noted was a 200 mile round trip for them) to the Unkauf's in New Orleans, where, as he said, he had his first opportunity to stay with "a real American family".
Once the tour is safely over, White takes his first drink in four months - "and it was beastly."
