Images of America

I'm making the index for a soon-to-be published book called Images of the North. But instead I find myself thinking about images of America. Like John Wayne. I grew up in Orange County; the airport there was renamed in "The Duke"´s honor when I was in highschool, but I never understood why he was so iconic for people, especially perhaps non-Americans, in how they think about America. Last week here in Reykjavík they had a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and I was telling my dinner companions tonight that I was sorry I did not get to attend. Never in the United States have I ever had the opportunity to express any grief over that event; it is hardly discussed save in junior high history class. Which is probably just as the Duke would have wanted it.

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