A Prayer in the Purse of the Wife of a President at War
01/15/2009
Belgrade, photo by dr. fil
Quoted from a book I’m reading, this prayer was allegedly carried in the purse of a certain wife of a President of a country at war. I will share details later. Can anyone guess who she and the author were (before googling it)? The prayer was written by an experienced, decorated soldier who lead secret service operations during said war.
Dear Lord
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me to remember
Somewhere out there
A man died for me today
– As long as there be war
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?
Adriaan said,
January 15, 2009 @ 11:46 am
Jackie Kennedy or the wife of the Syrian president?
No idea on the author (without the aid of google)
dr.filomena said,
January 15, 2009 @ 11:53 am
Adriaan.. hint: The author’s combat experience was as a footsoldier and pilot in WWI. For example, he took out (not killed though) the Red Baron’s brother.
alcessa said,
January 15, 2009 @ 12:04 pm
It could have been written by de Saint Exupery?
dr.filomena said,
January 15, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
According to wikipedia, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry never served as a footsoldier. He started out in light cavalry and later became a pilot. I don’t think he was active in secret service. But yes, he could have written that text and most probably would have agreed with its point.
alcessa said,
January 15, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
A, OK, THX.
On the second thought, they could have been Americans, from the sound of it. In that case I cannot go on guessing any more (though I devour American spy novels, I cannot name a single secret service hero, imagine that)
dr.filomena said,
January 15, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
Well he is not well-known (he was very secret hahaha) so no way you could come up with the Author’s name. He was Canadian, by the way. Can you now guess who carried the beautiful prayer around in her purse? A special lady…
dr.filomena said,
January 15, 2009 @ 2:08 pm
Yikes the title was misleading though the text was correct. Changed it accordingly from “A Prayer In The Pocket of a President At War” to “A Prayer in the Purse of the Wife of a President at War”.
alcessa said,
January 15, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
Eleonore Roosevelt? 😳
dr.filomena said,
January 15, 2009 @ 3:43 pm
BINGO! 😀
Full details: The man who wrote the prayer was William Stephenson, codename (selected for him by Churchill) Intrepid (see wikipedia entry). An incredibly interesting person IF what is written in the book “A Man Called Intrepid” hold true. Although some of it may well not (see e.g. this reader’s comment at Amazon), he must have been rather extraordinary.
alcessa said,
January 15, 2009 @ 3:52 pm
I must have heard of “Intrepid” before, the name is ringing a small belt somewhere, maybe in connection with his colleague – Kim Philby.
Mr. Stephenson seems to have been very, very involved in events in his daytime. Are you reading a book about him or a book about his time?
dr.filomena said,
January 15, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
I’m reading the book “A Man Called Intrepid” and it is astonishing. If half of what’s in there is true, it’s enough 🙂
Truth is stranger than fiction!
alcessa said,
January 15, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
“the name is ringing a small belt” 😆 😆 Can you imagine that?!? 😳
Yeah, life does write strange stories. Unfortunately, it would seem tragic times are most appropriate for some of the best of them.
alcessa said,
January 15, 2009 @ 4:06 pm
Before I forget: if you ever feel like trying Robert Littell, I can lend you some of my darlings (even via mail) – I have just re-read most of them.
Dr. Suhre said,
August 31, 2010 @ 4:40 pm
If you think Intrepid (William Stephenson) is interesting, dig into “Big Bill” (WilliamDonovan, especiially the biography by Corey Ford. – Well worth whatever you may have to pay for it. – Then discover the life of Roald Dahl (Yes, he’s the onw who is known for his “children’s books, like Charley and the Chocolate Factory) and Ian Fleming (yes, besides james Bond, Fleming wrote Chitty, Chitty, Bang Bang – which was turned into a screenplay by Roald Dahl. Both Dahl and Fleming actually did operate under cover for Stephenson and Donovan as spies. A reallyfascinating way to study the history of WW II.