Whittaker Chambers on the Long Island of his youth

"Inland, too, the sea was always around us. Sometimes it came as fog, rolling in suddenly, heavy with the smell of tidal water, softly blotting out the houses and the streets. Sometimes it came as sound— the terrible sound of the surf pouring without pause on the beaches seven miles away. As a boy, I used to hear it while I tried to fall asleep. I would sit up in my bed to listen to it, on winter nights when the cold air brought it in clearly. I was frightened, for it seemed about to pound away the land. It was the sound of inhuman force— the first I knew."

--Whittaker Chambers, "Witness," page 94

Whittaker Chambers: A Man of the Right after 50 Years

Today (July 9, 2011) marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Whittaker Chambers. His autobiographical "Witness" is one of the greatest of modern times ("The Education of Henry Adams" is often cited here, "Witness" has the edge in actually being an autobiography).

I noted the upcoming date a while ago and meant to prepare a post on one of my favorite subjects but am happily beaten to the punch by David Chambers,
his grandson, writing at WhittakerChambers.org.

David Mamet has claimed Whittaker Chambers as an influence in his "conversion" to the conservative side (though Chambers refused that designation claiming to be a "man of the right.") His own memoir, "The Secret Knowledge," does poorly in the comparison to Witness, though I suspect he didn't mean to offer a challenge and it's an unfair comparison.

(I have previously posted on WC's sense of humor here)