Friend of France

A. J. Liebling '24, whose nimble and witty contributions to the New Yorker magazine are known by many, was lately made a Chevalier in the Legion of Honor by the French Government. The award, presented by Jean de Lagarde, Minister Plenipotentiary in Charge of the French Consulate General in New York, was given in recognition of Liebling's contributions to a better understanding between France and America. In his Paris Letters to the New Yorker, written during the American liberation of France, and from the underground, and in his books, TheRoad Back to Paris and The Republicof Silence, Liebling repeatedly affirmed his belief (unshaken during times when that country's plight was widely misunderstood) that France represents "the historical continuity of intelligence and reasonable living."

Liebling was in Paris in October 1939 and stayed there until Petain and Laval "rigged the Armistice." In 1942 he went to Africa to cover the North African invasion. His Letters from Paris, filled with insight and information, have made him a goodwill exchange program of one between New York and Paris. As he himself expresses his feeling for the country which recently honored him, "I love France, just as I love New York City or the smell of burning leaves on a Long Island lawn. This does not mean that I love all the French or everything French, but the things I do not like. I can often find excuses for. ..."