Two of my Uncles were extraordinary men. Here are a few sparks from the fire of their lives.
When he was 86 or so Uncle Arthur learned I was in England on vacation from my job in Guyana and sent a message inviting me to crew with him in a yachting race in which he was competing. I replied that I was too old and unfit to accept. He got someone else and nearly won the race.
My father’s older brother – in his pomp Air Marshal Sir Arthur McDonald of the Air Council of the Royal Air Force. He was a life-force, one of the most charismatic men I have met. Charismatic but not intimidating. When I first went to England at the age of 18, to go up to Cambridge, he was a VIP but didn’t show it at all. His kind eyes and his chuckling laugh and his smile were like my father’s and that helped. He put me at my ease – conversation that drew me out and gave me confidence. Thereafter he helped me whenever he could while I was at University.