The American January-February 2017 Issue 755 by Blue Edge Publishing Ltd.

January - February 2017

THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE

Est. 1976

read more at ... www.theamerican.co.uk

EXPAT ADVICE WHAT’S ON TRAVEL HERITAGE EATING OUT POLITICS ARTS & REVIEWS AMERICAN SPORTS

Expat Interview:

Suzi Quatro MLB - The Cubs ‘ drought is over Stratford upon Avon Shakespeare’s stage

PLUS: OUR EXCLUSIVE US/UK SOCIAL GROUPS GUIDE

Have you ever dreamed of your own private island?

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Burgh Island Hotel, Bigbury-on-Sea, South Devon TQ7 4BG. Phone + 44 (0) 1548 810514 www.burghisland.com

The American ®

Issue 755 January-February 2017 Single copy £3.80 inc. P&P Annual subscription £20 (UK) For free digital sub or free print copy pickup visit www.theamerican.co.uk and click on Magazine PUBLISHED BY SP MEDIA FOR

Blue Edge Publishing Ltd. Old Byre House, East Knoyle, Salisbury SP3 6AW, UK Tel: +44 (0)1747 830520

Departments: News, Article ideas, Press releases: editor@theamerican.co.uk Advertising & Promotions: advertising@theamerican.co.uk Subscriptions: theamerican@blueedge.co.uk The Team: Michael Burland, Content Director michael@theamerican.co.uk Sabrina Sully, Content Director & Community Contact sabrina@theamerican.co.uk Daniel Byway, Content Manager dan@theamerican.co.uk Virginia E Schultz, Food & Drink virginia@theamerican.co.uk Michael M Sandwick, Food & Drink mms@theamerican.co.uk Alison Holmes, Politics alison@theamerican.co.uk Jarlath O’Connell, Theater jarlath@theamerican.co.uk

or Americans living in the UK, 2016 was the year of Trump and Brexit. So, deep breath, relaaaax, and look forward to a brand new year, 2017, which looks like being the year of, er, Trump and Brexit. We’ll keep you up to speed on how they will affect your particular situation. Expat life is peculiar, having to keep one eye on the rules and regulations of one’s chosen country of residence and another on our homeland’s. And then make decisions that affect our lives in a way that can be very different to our local friends’. We’ll keep trying to help you with those decisions on subjects as varied as education, immigration law, taxation, investments and healthcare ..in fact they’re all in this issue. And of course, despite the political turmoil, we’ll ‘keep calm and carry on’ packing The American with features, reviews, news and star interviews, all selected for Americans living and visiting Britain. Enjoy your magazine, M ichael Burland, Content Director michael@theamerican.co.uk

Read the magazine online anytime: go to www.theamerican.co.uk and click on Magazine @TheAmericanMag @TheAmericanCommunity Follow us on social media:

Among this issue’s contributors

©2017 Blue Edge Publishing Ltd. Printed by www.ostrich-print.co.uk ISSN 2045-5968 MAIN COVER: SUZI QUATRO ©TINA K; SQUARE INSET: HALL’S CROFT ©JUSTINE HAMILTON WOOD; CIRCULAR INSET: JAVIER BAÉZ, CHICAGO CUBS ©JULIE FENNEL

Jarlath O’Connell Sir Robert Worcester Jay B Webster From high art dance to popular Founder of MORI, doyen of The Dublin-based American musicals and cabaret to serious pollsters, who better than Sir expat sportswriter looks at drama, our chief theater critic Robert to round up the US some big changes in US sport, covers the British stage scene election and answer the critics from the Cubs World Series win for you of the polls? to a new breed of stadiums The entire contents of The American and www.theamerican.co.uk are protected by copyright and no part of it may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information in The American is accurate, the editor and publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or any loss arising from reliance on it. The views and comments of contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers.

The American

COMPETITION: Tickets to two great plays, This House and The Sorrows of Satan NEWS: Urgent info from the US Embassy

EDUCATION: Applying to US colleges

TAX: Filing early - a good idea for you?

FINANCE: A new year checklist to help you take control of your finances

GIVING: A charitable strategy for expats

1 Welcome 6 A-List: Products & Services 9 News 2

in this issue...

49 9

The American

24 26

HEALTH: Going private in the UK

28 30 34

TRAVEL: Extraordinary Ireland

52 66

12 Diary Dates 43 Food & Drink 50 Arts Choice

RELOCATING: A post US election guide for Americans moving to Britain HERITAGE: Shakespeareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home town FEATURE: What the Trump Presidency means for Americans overseas INTERVIEW: Suzi Quatro POLITICS: The election - the aftermath

56 Theater Reviews 77 US Social Groups 84 Coffee Break Fun

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Suppliers of quality products and services - hand-picked for you ACCOUNTANCY & TAX Bambridge Accountants

Bambridge Accountants specialise in the preparation of US expatriate taxes, including the streamlined process, for Americans living abroad. We are based in the heart of Covent Garden and offer fixed fees for US personal and corporate tax returns. 7 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8PS 020 3829 3492 info@bambridgeaccountants.co.uk www.bambridgeaccountants.co.uk

Best4Business

With over 25 years’ experience in ‘Big 4’ firms, our dedicated dual-qualified London-based US/UK tax team is committed to providing a highly responsive, personal, proactive, value-added service. Contact our friendly team on a confidential, no obligation basis. 45 Beaufort Court, Admirals Way, London E14 9XL 020 7523 5322 s.healy@best4business.com W: best4business.com/us-advisory

Burton Sweet

Tax Return Preparation and compliance service for US Expatriates. Specialist in providing advice on UK/US Tax interaction. Affordable Fixed Fees. Spencer House, Morston Court, Aisecome Way, WestonSuper-Mare, North Somerset BS22 8NG 01934 620011 Contact Rachel Finch rachel@burton-sweet.co.uk www.burton-sweet.co.uk Twitter @burtonsweet www.linkedin.com/company/burton-sweet

Butler Snow LLP

From our offices in London, Asia and the US, Butler Snow attorneys deliver tax and estate planning advice for clients residing outside of the US who have US business interests, family members or investments. London: Brad F. Westerfield +44 (0)20 33003802 Brad.Westerfield@butlersnow.com Singapore: Kurt G. Rademacher +65 6808 6291 Kurt.Rademacher@butlersnow.com www.butlersnow.com Twitter: @Butler_Snow Facebook: @ButlerSnowLaw

Professional and affordable clear tax advice provided by Enrolled Agents and UK Chartered Tax Advisers. Free initial consultation throughout the UK. We can manage all your US and UK tax affairs and their interaction. 0800 917 6765 taxhelp@cleartaxation.co.uk www.cleartaxation.com

The American

We provide specialist US taxation advisory and compliance services to cater for our clients’ unique and sometimes complex circumstances. We assist clients in bringing their tax filing obligations up-todate and in compliance with US tax law. We have skills in international, cross-border taxation for taxpayer’s resident in the UK or US or living abroad. Contact us for more information on the Streamline Program, 1040’s, FBAR’s and PFICS. 0203 841 7010 info@fusionconsult.co.uk www.fusionconsult.co.uk

H&R Block Expat Tax Services

One H&R Block Way, Kansas City, MO 64105 USA 1-816-504-1665 expattax@hrblock.com http://hrblock.com/expats Our secure, remote service has a dedicated team which includes CPAs, enrolled agents, and tax attorneys, who focus on expat taxes and can handle all types of U.S. tax returns, including FATCA and FBAR.

Humphrey & Co.

Based in Eastbourne and Brighton & Hove, we have been providing tax and business advice since 1928. Within our general practice, we also specialise in Expatriate Tax and US Taxation, providing comprehensive advice and quality service to US citizens living in the UK. For more information contact our Tax Director, Kevin Hancock: 7-9 The Avenue, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 3YA 01323 730631 khancock@humph.co.uk www.humph.co.uk

SDC Global CPA

Frank Hirth

Bright ! Tax LLC

Bright!Tax is a leading US expat tax services provider for Americans living in the UK. Visit brighttax.com to learn more. +1.212.465.2528 http://brighttax.com inquiries@brighttax.com

Fusion Consulting

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Blick Rothenberg LLP

Winner of the 2015 “Best International and Expatriate Team” at the UK Taxation Awards. Leading tax practice with a highly respected client base and excellent reputation for providing high quality UK/US personal and corporate tax services with an international focus. 16 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, London +44 (0)20 7486 0111 mark.abbs@blickrothenberg.com www.blickrothenberg.com Twitter @BlickRothenberg

Established in 1975, and guided by a passion for building lasting relationships with our clients based on trust, understanding and technical excellence, we use our in-depth knowledge of US and UK tax jurisdictions to advise our clients through their complex tax issues, for both the present and the future. 1st Floor , 236 Gray’s Inn Road , London, WC1X 8HB 020 7833 3500 mail@frankhirth.com www.frankhirth.com

Expats have special and complex tax considerations at home and abroad. Constant changes to the tax laws and regulations mean it’s important to work with a CPA knowledgeable of your unique reporting requirements. The penalties are too significant to risk. We are experienced in working with US citizens abroad, navigating the complex reporting requirements, including Streamlined and OVDP filings. P.O. Box 1278, Columbus, Texas 78934, USA Contact Stacy Collier, MPA, CPA stacy@sdcglobalcpa.com www.sdcglobalcpa.com T: +1 346 231 1195 F: +1 346 231 1194

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FINANCIAL ADVICE Aisa Professional

Tax Advisory Partnership provides a broad range of UK and US tax advice and compliances services to private clients both in the UK and abroad. Our highly experienced team are ready to help you. Please contact us for further information. Tel: +44 207 655 6959 info@tap-london.com www.taxadvisorypartnership.com

Warrener Stewart

Professional experienced psychotherapy in North and Central London.Trained in the U.S., registered in the U.K., and for the last 14 years I’ve worked in the U.S., Argentina, Cambodia and now London. In that time I’ve worked with many different types of issues ranging from: an unsure sense of what is really wrong, to depression/anxiety, to serious life crises, to sudden traumatic events as well as constant more pervasive traumas. 0792-846-3007 info@expattherapylondon.com http://expattherapylondon.com

A specialist Wealth Management and financial advice firm for those with UK and / or US pensions and investments. Regulated in the US and UK, we use UK and US custodians. Unit 4, Fordbrook Business Centre, PEWSEY, Wiltshire SN9 5NU + 44 (0) 1672 569111 info@aisagroup.org www.aisagroup.org

LGT Vestra US

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ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES Stephen T Taylor Your American stamp dealer in Britain since 1995. 5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS 020 8390 9357 info@stephentaylor.co.uk www.stephentaylor.co.uk

COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

A-List offers specialist and highly customised US test preparation and admissions services for students and secondary schools all over the world via its offices in London, New York and Dubai. We can guide private clients through the entire process or just specific parts, including: tutoring for entrance exams (SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, APs), selecting and visiting best-fit colleges, and crafting outstanding applications and college essays. A-List works with a number of leading UK schools providing US admissions support, SAT/ACT courses and teacher training. +44 (0)20 3004 8101 info.uk@alisteducation.com www.alisteducation.co.uk

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Maseco Private Wealth

Expert wealth management advice, exceptional client service and a phenomenal client experience for Americans in the US and abroad, UK residents, as well as financial advisors, trustees and foundations. Burleigh House, 357 Strand, London WC2R 0HS +44 (0) 207 043 0455 enquiries@masecopw.com http://masecoprivatewealth.com

Tanager Wealth Management LLP

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The American

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OFFICIAL VITAL RECORDS

continued ....

Peter Sommer Travels

Expert-led archaeological tours, cultural tours, gulet cruises and private charters in Turkey, Greece and Italy. One of the world’s ‘Top Ten Learning Holidays’ National Geographic Tel 01600 888 220 info@petersommer.com www.petersommer.com

VitalChek, a LexisNexis® company, is America’s #1 authorized online service for ordering official vital records including birth and death certificates, marriage records and divorce records. Order through our website: www.vitalchek.com www.vitalcheknetwork.com

FINANCIAL ADVICE (Cont’d)

PROPERTY

USA/UK Financial Concierge Ltd.

VISAS & IMMIGRATION

Barton Wyatt

Independent US/UK compliant Financial and Investment Planning uniquely placed to assist US clients in navigating through the maze of investment options available in the UK. Contact Andrea Karpinski on 07905 828052 or email her andrea@usaukfinancialconcierge.co.uk

MEDICAL

OTS Solicitors

Featherstone Leigh

OTS Solicitors is one of the UK’s leading immigration law firms, with over 60 years of combined experience and knowledge in immigration law. Our solicitors are ultimately here to ensure the best representation and outcome for individuals and companies at every stage of the immigration process. 107-111 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2AB t +44 (0)20 7936 9960 f +44 (0)20 7936 9100 info@otssolicitors.co.uk www.otssolicitors.co.uk TWITTER: twitter.com/OTSSolicitors FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/otssolicitors LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/company/ots-solicitors/ GOOGLE: plus.google.com/+OtssolicitorsCoUk

South West London’s Premier Independent Estate Agent Since 1993. • Chiswick • Battersea • Kew • Hammersmith • Clapham • Sheen • West Kensington • Putney • Twickenham • Fulham • Barnes • Teddington • Chelsea • Richmond • Kingston www.featherstoneleigh.co.uk

Sabbatical Homes

US Visa Solutions - Law Office of Janice A. Flynn

Cigna Healthcare

Cigna Global specialise in health insurance policies for expats. Choose from three distinct levels of cover, with five optional additional benefits, including outpatient care, medical evacuation, and vision & dental care. Get a quote now! The Grosvenor Building, 72 Gordon Street, Glasgow, Scotland G13RS www.cignaglobal.com +44(0)1475 779161 From the US: 877.539.6295

Free telephone consultation: Call 07506 849528 Rschremp@gamavisas.com www.gamavisas.com

US Global Mail

Mail & Parcel forwarding service for expats, international shoppers, businesses and travelers. US street address. Virtual Mailbox with mail scanning, bundling and up to 70% savings on international shipping rates. +1 281 596 8965 www.usglobalmail.com support@usglobalmail.com

Global American Migration Services Specializing in all visa categories to the United States 45 years of U.S. Immigration experience. You may be able to avoid Attorney Fees.

Award winning agents offering quality managed properties and house sales in Surrey & Berkshire. Comprehensive stress free service. NAEA, ARLA & NAR qualified staff. 01344 843000 homes@bartonwyatt.co.uk www.bartonwyatt.co.uk

MAIL & PARCELS

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TRAVEL

VitalChek

To find out whether you’re eligible to advertise your products and services here, and for rates, call Dan +44 (0)1747 830520, or email dan@theamerican.co.uk. You’ll reach Americans living in and visiting the UK as well as Britons who like American culture and products.

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The American

London’s leading rental agency for visiting academics and professionals, specialising in fully furnished properties mainly in zones 1 & 2. Members of NAEA, TDS and TPO, visit our website for more details. Please contact Elaine or David: elaine@sabbaticalhomes.co.uk david@sabbaticalhomes.co.uk M: (0) 7785 501 042 Office: +44 (0) 208 906 4747 Skype : david.godfreyoffice www.sabbaticalhomes.co.uk

US-licensed immigration lawyers advising on US citizenship, green cards, visa and US entry issues. Honest, straightforward advice and a high level of bespoke service. Third Floor, 6 & 7 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8AD UK +44 (0)20 7092 6830 US +1 (312) 361-0581 Twitter: FlynnUSVisaLaw Janice@usvisasolutions.co.uk www.usvisasolutions.co.uk

EMBASSY NEWS New Embassy Dates

Curved features on the outside of the new US Embassy PHOTO COURTESY KUBES STEEL

If you need to drop into the US Embassy in London in the next few months, make sure you carry on setting your satnav/brain to Grosvenor Square, Mayfair. Work on the new Embassy building in Nine Elms, Wandsworth (south of the Thames, near Vauxhall tube station) was meant to finish in late 2016 but it is now scheduled for completion in spring 2017, with staff moving in over the summer.

Europe Travel Alert for all Americans The Department of State alerts US citizens to the heightened risk of terrorist attacks throughout Europe, particularly during the holiday season. US citizens should exercise caution at holiday festivals, events, and outdoor markets. While extremists have carried out attacks in Belgium,

France, Germany, and Turkey in the past year, the Department remains concerned about the potential for attacks throughout Europe. If you are traveling between countries in Europe, please check the website of the US Embassy or consulate in your destination city for any recent

security messages. This Travel Alert expires on February 20, 2017. You can read the full alert, and see new alerts as they are announced, at https://travel.state. gov/content/passports/en/ alertswarnings/Europe.html

Photo Requirements for US Government Official Documents Spectacles

If you are applying for a US visa or passport and you wear glasses, you are now required to remove them for the photograph. Why? Eye glasses may cause a glare on the lens. They may also create shadows on the face or block a portion of the applicantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes. Are they exceptions? Yes, in the rare circumstances of medical necessity where they cannot be removed. For example when an applicant has had recent ocular surgery and eyeglasses are necessary to protect his/her eyes during urgent travel. In such circumstances, the applicant must provide a medical statement signed by a medical professional/health practitioner.

Visa Application Form DS-160

Some applicants have reported that they are experiencing problems when uploading a photograph to the DS-160 Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application form. The confirmation photo page indicates that they have not uploaded a photo, even though on the preceding page they have received the message that their photo has successfully been uploaded. If you are experiencing this issue, try the following steps: 1) Record the Application Number, 2) Close the browser window 3) Open a new browser window, 4) Retrieve the application and try again. Good luck.

The American

Eccles British Library Writer’s Award 2017 The novelist Hannah Kohler and Bob Stanley, the writer, film producer and member of the Mercury-nominated pop group Saint Etienne, are the joint winners of the 2017 Eccles British Library Writer’s Award. Awarded £20,000 each, they will start their residency at the Eccles Centre in January 2017. The Eccles Centre, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, holds the British Library’s collections of USA, Canada and the Caribbean works, which the winners will use to research their upcoming publications during their residencies. “Together the British Library’s collections, the Eccles Centre’s support and the Award winners’ vision combine in the production of great works founded firmly on the greatest research collections,” said Professor Philip Davies, Director of the Eccles Centre.

Hannah Kohler and Bob Stanley, joint winners of the 2017 Eccles British Library Writer’s Award

Hannah Kohler is married to an American. Her second novel, Catspaw, follows two women from Chicago to the Sierra foothills during the California Gold Rush of 1849. She said, “I can’t imagine writing my next novel - set in the distant American past - without drawing on the British Library’s incredible North American collections and the expertise of the staff at the Eccles Centre and the British Library. The Award will afford me the space and time to focus on researching and writing my second novel, which is a writer’s dream. I am

thrilled.” Following his Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop, Bob Stanley will be researching his new book, Too Darn Hot: The Story of Popular Music which looks at the 50-year period from the very first recorded music to the rock ‘n’ roll era. He commented, “the award is both a privilege and an extraordinary help. The prize will enable me to spend more time on research at the British Library, and will help to fund trips to the US where I can conduct interviews based on the results of the research.”

CAWC International Raises £15,100 CAWC International’s Christmas bazaar raised £15,100, which will be split between The Epilepsy Society and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity. The bazaar, held at the Crowne Plaza Gerrards Cross, was opened by local dignitaries and a crocodile - Marvin the Marvellous Crocodile from the Roald Dahl charity. More than 70 artisan and gift stallholders and service providers took part.

The American

l to r: Marvin the Marvellous Crocodile, Councillor Zia Ahmed, Mayor of High Wycombe; Robin Smirnov, President of CAWC International; Cllr. Mimi Harker OBE, Chairman of Chiltern District Council; Cllr Patrick Hogan, Mayor of Beaconsfield; The Countess Howe, Deputy Lord Lieutenant; Brooke Bourgeois (CAWC) and Erin Wolfe (CAWC).

The American

Selected for you

Find many more events at www.theamerican.co.uk

American stars Renée Fleming and Rachel Willis-Sørensen in Der Rosenkavalier Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London WC2E 7DD www.roh.org.uk/productions/ der-rosenkavalier-by-robert-carsen December 17, 20, 22 at 6pm; January 8 at 3pm; January 11, 14, 17 and 24 at 6pm. A new co-production of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier by The Royal Opera, London, The Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Teatro Regio, Turin. Lots of American star interest in this charming comic opera, but to see the Americans make sure you get tickets for the right performances: the role of the Marschallin is shared between sopranos Renée Fleming (December 17, 20; January 8, 11, 14) and Rachel WillisSørensen (December 22; January 17, 24) ; mezzo-soprano Helene Schneiderman plays Annina on December 17, 20; January 17, 24; US bass Scott Conner sings Police Commissioner. (Also broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday January 14 at 5.45pm) 12

The American

London New Year’s Day Parade 2017 Various, London www.lnydp.com December 29, 2016 to January 2, 2017 London’s New Year’s Day Parade has evolved into one of the world’s great street spectaculars with up to 10,000 performers from across continents, hundreds of thousands of spectators, and a ‘live’ TV audience of several hundred million. There are a whole host of performers from the States, including cheerleaders and bands, who will be performing on New Year’s Day as well as at select concerts running between December 29th, 2016 and January 2nd, 2017. The London International Mime Festival Various, London mimelondon.com/festival January 9 to February 4 The International Mime Festival returns to London with a full programme of events in 2017 with innovative visual theater from around the world. In recent years, artists have traveled from countries including the USA, Belgium, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and New Zealand. The London Boat Show Excel Centre, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, London E16 1XL londonboatshow.com January 6 to 15 1000s of boats and craft are on display, with plenty of nautical activities and suppliers.

The Burning of the Clavie Brander Street, Burghead IV30 5UD www.hogmanay.net/events/scotland/ burghead/burning-clavie January 11, 6pm Ancient traditions are rekindled at this ancient fire festival in the Scottish Highlands. Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival Whittlesey, Peterborough PE7 1QQ www.strawbear.org.uk January 13 to 15 A custom dating back to the late 19th Century saw a local man dressed up in a bear costume made of straw. Now revived, the town of Whittlesey has made a festival of the occasion, with music, dancers and a host of activities. Chariot Racing Championships & Saturnalia Real Ale Ramble Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales www.green-events.co.uk January 14 Mountain bikes towing specially commissioned Roman-style chariots, it’s not your regular sport, but a spectacle nonetheless! In conjunction with the Saturnalia Real Ale Ramble, a celebration of the annual festival Romans held in December or January of unrestrained merriment when slaves were released and reversed roles with their masters. Burns Night & the Big Burns Supper Dumfries, Scotland www.bigburnssupper.com January 20th to 29th There are Burns Nights (officially January 25) and Burns Suppers everywhere - not just in Scotland but wherever you find Scots people, celebrating Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns with haggis, whisky and verse. The biggest Burns night celebration features 9 days of music, theater, comedy and cultural events in the historic town of Dumfries.

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020 7219 4114

Up Helly Aa Galley Shed, St Sunniva Street, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0HL www.uphellyaa.org January 26 This traditional Viking fire festival features a torch-lit procession and culminates in the burning of a replica galley.

The Loony Dook Queensferry Lifeboat Station, South Queensferry, Edinburgh edinburghshogmanay.com/events/ loony-dook January 1, 12:30pm On the first day of each new year several hundred people dress up (or undress) in fancy dress and rush headlong into the icy waters of the Firth of Forth, the estuary of the river that Scotland’s capital sits beside. The times this year (they vary depending on the tides) are: 10.45am Dookers start checking in; 12.45pm Parade along the High Street; 1pm first Dookers plunge into the water. You can spectate at any time. A variety of pubs, cafes and restaurants are all open on New Year’s Day, and all Dookers are eligible to enjoy a steaming bowl of hot fresh porridge, courtesy of Stoats, the event sponsors. We think they’ll need it! Tickets for participants cost £10 but registration is online only at Edinburgh’s official Hogmanay website and tickets are first come, first served. There is no registration on the day of the event. 14

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The London A Cappella Festival Various, London www.londonacappellafestival.co.uk January 26 to 28 The festival brings an international flavor to London, with groups from around the globe, including Home Free from the USA. St Ives Feast and Hurling of the Silver Ball St Ives, Cornwall www.visitstives.org.uk/events/st-ivesfeast-hurling-the-silver-ball-p505483 February 6 In a game rather like football or rugby, the ball, made from apple-wood encased in sterling silver and weighing about 15 ounces, is thrown from St Ives Parish Church wall for the teams to fight over. Annual Expatriate Conference 2017 US/UK Taxation CCT Venues, Bank St, Canary Wharf, London E14 www.best4business.com February 7, 6pm Following last year’s tremendous success Steve Healy and his team are back, by popular demand, to host their annual US tax conference. If you are a US person and feel you could benefit from their expertise and insight, join them on the evening of Tuesday 7 February 2017 in Canary Wharf. The event is free of charge and refreshments are available from 6.00pm. Book early as spaces are limited. Valentine’s Day February 14 Valentine’s Day is an important celebration in the UK. A romantic meal in a restaurant is the norm, but cooking a special meal at home for your loved one works too. Rye Bay Scallop Week Rye, East Sussex www.scallop.org.uk February 18 to 26 With everything from cookery classes to quiz nights, Rye is the perfect place for seafood lovers this February.

Epping Forest UK to USA Exhibition The View, 6 Ranger’s Rd, London E4 7QH www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/ green-spaces/epping-forest/sports-eventsand-activities/Pages/eppingevents.aspx February 21 Presidents’ Day, George Washington’s birthday, will be celebrated this year on February 21. Across this week there’s an opportunity to see museum objects with an American link and learn the transatlantic Epping Forest story. National Winter Ales Festival St Andrews & Blackfriars Hall, St Andrews Hall Plain, Norwich NR3 1AU www.nwaf.org.uk February 21 to 25 Over 300 British and foreign beers, real ales, ciders and perries available to try. Olney Anglo-American Pancake Race Olney, North Buckinghamshire www.pancakeday.net (Liberal, KA) olneypancakerace.org (Olney, England) February 28 The unique Olney Pancake Race stops traffic as local ladies in traditional housewife attire (including apron and scarf), run through the streets. Pancakes are tossed at the start of the race and the winner is required to toss her pancake again at the finish. Runners and townsfolk then go into the Parish Church for the great Shriving Service. The race has been run since around 1445 and since 1950 the contest has been an international event between Olney and the town of Liberal, Kansas in America. The winner is declared after times are compared through a transatlantic telephone call from Liberal to Olney. Shrove Tuesday February 28 Popularly known as Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday takes place on the eve of Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and a day for eating up your rich food before fasting - a perfect day for the serving of pancakes!

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PHOTO © COLLEGEDEGREES360

SAT vs ACT Tests

Which to take and when to take them. Elizabeth von Nardroff explores the options

o you’ve decided to apply to American colleges - great! Hopefully you’ve read the article in The American’s November-December 2016 issue in which we discuss the overall application timeline. This time I’d like to discuss the two admissions tests - the SAT and the ACT - required by most schools and help you decide which might be better option for you or your student.

Year 11 to Lower 6th/Year 12:

The first thing to note is that if the college you’d like to go to requires a test (and most – but not all – do), then it will accept EITHER the ACT or the SAT. Perhaps you’ve already heard about the SAT – traditionally, it was the test most nonUS applicants would take. This is no longer the case! There is absolutely no preference for one over the other, so it is up to you to take the one best suited to your needs. But then which should you take? Let’s have a closer look. Content-wise, the tests are pretty similar – both cover Math, Reading, Grammar and optional essay writing.

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They do differ, however, in a few ways. First off, while the ACT tends to be a more straightforward test (math questions in particular are less wordy than on the SAT), the ACT is a fast test – if you find you can process information quickly – this could be the test for you. If not, the SAT might be better for you. Another thing to consider – the ACT has a Science section. While it does tend to consist mostly of analyzing charts and graphs (quickly), its jargon and seemingly tricky material can be off-putting to some. Another thing to weigh in is how calculator-dependant a student is – the SAT has a non-calculator section which means students need to use some basic maths skill they might not have used in a while, such as adding fractions. In addition, the SAT uses more advanced algebra and wordy math problems, something also to consider. A plus for some for the SAT is that it gives basic formulas (including trig) while the ACT gives none. The Reading Section of the ACT tends to be more straight-forward

than the SAT, so it might be the test for those who dislike denser (or older) texts. For example, the SAT likes to use passages from the 1800’s, the styles and vocabulary of which some students may be less comfortable with. In short, while the ACT is more straightforward, it requires greater speed. While the SAT gives more time to work through problems, it tends to require greater in depth reading capabilities. Of course these are generalizations – the best way to see which is best for you is to try a full, timed practice test of each. Whichever you feel more confident or comfortable with – that’s the test to work with.

Elizabeth von Nardroff is Head of American SAT & ACT Tuition, a London-based company specialising in US College Entrance Exams & application services. She has helped past students gain entrance to Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn, UC Berkeley and more.

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I’m an Expat – Why Should I File Early? By Eric Scali, JD, LLM, H&R Block Expat Tax Services

f you’re a U.S. citizen living in another country and have a dependent child, you may want to reconsider how and when you’re filing your U.S. tax return. Many people living abroad who earn less than the income exclusion of $101,300 (for 2016) simply file using the exclusion to show that they don’t owe any taxes. Since there is no refund potential, these individuals don’t have much urgency to file. But if you file this way and have a dependent, you may be missing out on a refund from Uncle Sam.

How the credit works

How can that be? Well, first, let’s take a look at the way the Child Tax Credit works: You can claim up to $1,000 per child, if your child is younger than 17 and classifies as a dependent on your U.S. tax return. The credit will first reduce any taxes you owe, but if there’s any left over after your tax balance is down to $0, you could get the rest as a refund. However, if you file a U.S. return excluding your income, you can’t get the refundable portion of this credit, even if you owe nothing in taxes.

Changing the way you file may mean a refund

Instead of excluding your income,

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you could file your U.S. return claiming a Foreign Tax Credit, which offsets your foreign taxes dollar for dollar, and the Child Tax Credit. You may then be eligible to claim a refund, as long as your income is less than:  $95,000 Single or head of household $75,000 Married filing separately $130,000 Married filing jointly These income phase outs increase if you have more than one eligible child.

Let’s look at a brief example

Terri is a U.S. citizen who has been living in the United Kingdom for many years. She has two daughters whom she can claim as her dependents. Terri is a teacher and earns a salary equaling $51,000. She doesn’t earn any other income. She files as “married filing separately” and pays $7,350 in total taxes. Terri has two options: She could exclude all of her $51,000 income from U.S. taxes, leaving her with a $0 tax balance. Or, she could claim the Foreign Tax Credit and use the available $7,350 to completely offset her tax liability. She would then be eligible to claim a $2,000 refund resulting from the Child Tax Credit for both of her daughters. In this case, Terri would be better

off claiming the Foreign Tax Credit than excluding her U.K. income, because of the refund potential.

Should I file early?

In short, yes. If you’re eligible for the Child Tax Credit and meet all the income qualifications, the sooner you file, the sooner you can claim a refund on your tax return. However, you should be aware that the IRS is holding all refunds resulting from the refundable Child Tax Credit until at least Feb. 15 this year. While that is still early, don’t expect to get your check right away if you file in midJanuary, although you may be at the head of the line for receiving the refund in mid-February if you do. And you don’t have to wait on receiving that P60. Since income is reported on the calendar year in the U.S., you just need to provide a few payslips throughout the year to report your income and tax information. Another tip: The fastest way to receive your refund is through direct deposit into a U.S. bank account. The alternative to directly depositing your refund requires international mail, which can be slow, and finding a local bank that cashes a U.S. check.

A tax advisor can help

Not every situation is the same. Sometimes, taxpayers are better off

claiming the exclusion. Before making a decision, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good idea to have a discussion with your expat tax advisor to determine which method works best for you.

Important update: FBAR deadline change for 2017

Starting with the 2017 tax-filing season, the Foreign Bank and Financial Assets (FBAR) filing deadline will be the same as the tax return

deadline. In the past, the FBAR filing deadline was separate from the tax return, falling on June 30. This required some filers who had already extended their tax return until October to round up all their foreign bank information in June just to submit their FBAR. This year, the FBAR deadline falls on the same date as your tax return, including extensions. For U.S. taxpayers living abroad, this means

that you have until June 15 to file your tax return and FBAR, or to file an extension for both. If you live in the U.S., your FBAR deadline is April 15 (April 18 in 2017), but you can also file an extension for your return and FBAR until October. Even though the deadlines for the tax return and the FBAR are now the same, you arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t required to submit your tax return and FBAR at the same time.

The American

Top Tips for Your Personal Finances

A new year checklist to help you take control of your finances by Andrea Solana

s an American living in the UK, almost nothing related to your financial affairs is easy. The consequences of seemingly simple decisions – such as how to pay for a new home or purchase a mutual fund - may create unnecessary tax charges and complexities. There are a number of key milestones that occur, from the time you arrive in the UK to the time you potentially approach and eventually reach retirement. Many of these changes will impact the appropriate wealth management strategies for American expats. Understanding how rules will change for you over time will allow you to plan

ahead and make prudent financial decisions. However, there are some principles of personal finance that apply regardless of these complications. In this edition we will explore some top tips for personal finance that you should always keep in mind. Personal finance is not always as much of a priority for ourselves as it should be. It will often remain perpetually at the bottom of our ‘to-do’ list. Having a plan may seem complicated. But, it doesn’t need to be. Below we will share a few tips for gaining control of your personal finances. The single most important thing to do is understand exactly what How much house can you afford? Housing, whether rental or mortgage, is one of the biggest factors you must consider.

PHOTO © 401(K)2012

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comes in and out of your Current Account each month. General areas of expenditure typically include things like: Rent/Mortgage Household utilities Insurance Transportation/commuting costs Discretionary expenses (gifts, restaurants, pubs, sports, etc.) Travel Review your expenditure whilst thinking about what things are most important to you. You may need to review financial transactions regularly for a few months before you have a good sense of spending patterns. If you find yourself spending on things that ultimately don’t impact your personal utility or standard of living, this may be an area for you to save on in the future. The earlier you begin saving the better. The benefits of compound growth are significant and means your money won’t need to work as hard for you. If you aim to make savings part of your monthly budget, you will find that your spending adjusts accordingly without you even realising it. Save automatically through monthly direct debits into separate accounts. This includes allocations for specific savings goals and retirement. If your employer offers matching on retirement contributions, you should seek to try to take advantage of this as it is effectively free money. A few rules of thumb will help you to save and spend at the same time:

Aim for mortgage/rent costs to

be no more than 28% of your gross income. This can be useful to keep in mind as you think about how much house you can afford. Allocate at least 20% of your income towards financial priorities such as building emergency savings, paying off debt and adding money towards retirement. Budget around 30% of income on lifestyle discretionary expenses. When assessing financial priorities, you should aim to set aside three to six months of expenses in a liquid and accessible account. These represent emergency cash reserves. If you have any debt, conventional wisdom is to focus on paying those loans with the highest interest rate first whilst making minimum payments on all other sources of debt.

Remember that it is possible to have too much cash; especially in today’s low interest rate environment. If you have enough set aside to meet emergency cash reserves and short-term financial goals, then think about building a diversified investment portfolio. Costs eat into investment returns over time so seek assets that are as low cost as possible but also meet your objectives. Once you have structured a diversified portfolio, it is important to review the portfolio once or twice a year to ensure that your overall asset allocation still meets your goals and objectives. Periodic rebalancing will be needed to ensure you don’t become too concentrated in areas of the market that have performed well over that time period. As you move forward, remember

to keep an eye on your net worth as well as your credit report (through an annual credit check). It can help you monitor your progress (or lack thereof) towards meeting your financial goals. You can ensure nothing looks unusual and give yourself the opportunity to make adjustments when needed.

If you would like a full copy of MASECO’s 39 Steps to Smart Living in the UK please visit http://www.masecoprivatewealth. com/the39steps or contact us at enquiries@ masecopw.com. MASECO Private Wealth is not a qualified tax adviser and you should seek separate advice on your tax position with a suitably qualified tax adviser. MASECO LLP trading as MASECO Private Wealth is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

Donor Advised Funds A

s we start 2017 armed with our New Year resolutions, many of us will take a look at our charitable giving and how we might help those less fortunate. For American expats who make the UK their home, a donor advised fund (DAF)

What is a DAF? Donor-advised funds are like charitable savings accounts. You open a DAF account and give it a name (e.g. The Smith Family Foundation) You then donate assets into your DAF account (cash, appreciated shares, property are common) and receive tax recognition for your donation when the assets are donated to the DAF account You may recommend investments to grow the balance in your DAF account When you are ready, you recommend grants from your DAF account to support any qualified charity. 22

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might be something to consider.

Not as well known here in the UK, DAFs now make up more than 3% of all charitable giving in the United States, outnumbering private foundations almost three times over. According to the 2015 DAF Report published by National Philanthropic Trust, DAFs are now the most popular giving vehicle in the US. We are starting to see the popularity of DAFs here in the UK, and here is why…

1. Convenience You no longer need to track receipts from multiple charities. You get the charitable tax deduction when you make a contribution to your DAF account and can then support various charities from the DAF account where all of your giving can be managed centrally. You also have the confidence that the charities you support have been vetted by the DAF provider. 2. Donating securities and other types of assets Charities are not always able to accept assets other than cash. With a

by John Canady

DAF, you may donate other types of assets. The smartest donations often aren’t cash. For example, if you have appreciated shares in your portfolio, you may donate the shares to your DAF account, eliminate the capital gains tax liability and write off the market value of the shares on your income tax return. 3. Payout flexibility For many, the idea of ring-fencing an amount of capital for future giving is appealing. The pressure of deciding which charities to support can be overwhelming when you receive a large bonus, inheritance, or go through a liquidity event. With a DAF, you may contribute assets to your DAF account when it makes the most sense from a tax planning perspective and then decide later which charities to support in your own time. 4. Discretion and privacy When you recommend grants from your DAF account to a charity, you may choose whether you wish to be identified or remain anonymous.

5. Providing a legacy Many donors use DAFs to engage their children and family to discuss charitable giving as a family. You may list your DAF account as a legacy bequest in your will and you may name the successor advisors on your DAF account for the next generation.

US/UK ‘dual qualified’ DAF

Dual US/UK taxpayers should consider using a US/UK ‘dual qualified’ DAF. A dual qualified DAF is recognised as a charity by both US and UK tax authorities simultaneously. While donations to a 501c3 can be written off of your US taxes (but not your UK taxes) and donations to UK charities can be written off of your

UK taxes (but not your US taxes), a dual qualified DAF allows donors to receive tax credit for their contributions in both the US and UK. There are a variety of charities that sponsor DAFs. When selecting a sponsoring charity to manage your DAF, you should review the sponsoring organisation’s policies regarding grant recommendations, minimum contribution requirements, investment options, donor services and fees. You may also want to consult with your solicitors, estate planners or financial advisors when establishing a DAF. After your DAF is established (which can be done in one day), you can focus on what’s important - giving to charities that mean the most to you.

Published annually by National Philanthropic Trust, the 2016 Donor-Advised Fund Report reveals that in the US, DAF assets available for grantmaking grew to a new high of US$78.64 billion. Donors’ contributions to DAFs also hit an all-time high of US$22.26 billion. Total grants from DAFs to charities reached a record US$14.52 billion in 2016. DAF accounts now outnumber private foundations by three to one and are the fastest growing charitable giving vehicles

John Canady is CEO of National Philanthropic Trust UK which provides donor-advised funds (DAFs) and other charitable giving vehicles that are tax-effective in the UK and US. www.npt-uk.org

A private affair? I

f you are a foreign employee working in the UK, you may already be enjoying the benefits of the NHS – a reliable and affordable public healthcare system, in comparison to many other countries. However, have you ever thought about taking up a private health insurance plan? Private health insurance companies in the UK offer a number of advantages that are worth considering. Here’s a list of some of the benefits: No more long waits As with most public healthcare systems, the waiting lists for NHS treatment can be long. A private health policy usually grants you immediate access to health services and specialists. Comprehensive cover Depending on what you go for, a private policy can cover you for vision and dental care, pharmacy drugs and some specific treatments that may be excluded from the NHS coverage. Freedom of choice As they say; you get what you pay for. With the public healthcare system, you don’t get to choose when

Healthcare in the UK – Should you go private?

or where to get treatment, whereas if you go private you can have the possibility of getting treatment with a health provider of your choice, and in some occasions you can also choose a date for treatment. Second opinion Health matters should not be taken lightly, and there may be times when a second opinion is wanted. If you’ve had a diagnosis or treatment with the NHS and want a second medical opinion, a private health plan can be of great support.

Furthermore, international health policies usually allow you to choose a plan to accommodate particular needs. Cigna Global have created a products suite specifically designed for expats, with the flexibility to choose from three distinct levels of cover, and five optional additional benefits, including outpatient care, medical evacuation, and vision & dental care. Full cancer care is included as standard in Cigna Global plans, and their top two levels of cover include maternity cover.

What about International Health Insurance?

What to consider when purchasing a policy

In addition to the benefits of a private health policy, an international health insurance company can offer an ideal solution for expats, as they can offer comprehensive worldwide coverage. Globally mobile citizens often require an international plan to cover them in the many countries they frequent. On the other hand, many people choose to get treatment abroad, either because it is more affordable, or because a specific treatment is only available abroad.

Researching your options and understanding well what may or may not be covered by the public healthcare system will set the base for you to make an informed decision. Likewise, if you are covered under a company’s health insurance plan, find out exactly what your insurance plan covers and if it is the right policy for your particular situation. When purchasing a private policy, try to choose a plan that suits your needs. Keep in mind these basic factors: Does the policy fit the specific needs of you and your family? How are pre-existing conditions handled? Are there age restrictions? Does it provide international coverage? What are the exclusions? Research, compare, and consider the costs. Be sure to ask your insurer the right questions before making a decision, and you will surely find the right policy for you and your family.

Visit Cignaglobal.com for more information on Individual Private Medical Insurance. 24

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Paul Nixon +44 (0)20 3207 8364 paul.nixon@lgtvestra-us.com www.lgtvestra-us.com

LGT Vestra US Limited is a limited company registered in England & Wales under company number 06455240 and has its registered office at 14 Cornhill, London EC3V 3NR. LGT Vestra US Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of LGT Vestra LLP and is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is a Registered Investment Adviser with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It is important to note that the value of investments can go down as well as up, and the amount returned may be less or more than the amount originally invested. Past performance should not be used as a guide to future performance.

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Time For A Change Of Scene? A Post US Election Guide for Americans Moving to Britain, by Teni Shahiean

merica and Britain have always enjoyed a close business and cultural relationship. Following the election of Donald Trump and the swing to the right in American politics, many US citizens are looking to make the move across the pond, keen to take advantage of the economic, cultural and social opportunities the UK has to offer. In 2015, the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) granted 35,124 American citizen’s entry clearance into the UK. Britain and the US share a common language, most American qualifications and work-experiences are recognised by UK employers and expats find they fit in easily with British society - once they master the vocabulary and understand the English obsessions with tea, pubs and the weather!

Immigration visa options for American Citizens The UK Points-Based System (PBS) Since 2010, the UK has operated a Points-Based System (PBS) and this applies to all citizens from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) who want to move to the country. Points are awarded for the following:  Qualifications (including secondary and higher education)  Future Expected Earnings (the salary that is received by the applicant)  Sponsorship (the type of sponsorship you are applying under)  English language skills  Available maintenance (funds used to support yourself)

The American

Work Visas If you wish to work in the UK, you will need to receive an offer of employment from an employer who holds a UK Sponsor Licence, allowing them to recruit talent from outside the EEA. You will also need to prove that you can support yourself financially, will earn an ‘appropriate salary and are proficient in English. The two most common work visas people from the US enter the UK on are:  Tier 2 General - Skilled Worker  Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer You are able to bring your dependents (your partner, spouse and/or dependent children) to the UK if your application for a Tier 2 visa is approved.

vider and show that you can support yourself during your course of study without claiming welfare. You can apply for your Tier 4 (General) Student Visa up to three months before the start of your course. Entrepreneur Visa London is a financial and IT super-hub, making Britain is a hotspot for entrepreneurs who wish to launch a venture and/or expand their business. Eligibility for a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Visa includes:  Access to funds of £50,000 or £200,000 to invest in your venture (different criteria apply for each amount)

Once you master the English obsession with pubs, you’ll fit right in!

Coming to the UK as a student To study at one of Britain’s world renowned colleges (or universities as they are called in the UK), you will need to apply for a Tier 4 (Student) Visa. The course you choose must be run by an institution listed on the UKVI register of trusted sponsors. To be eligible for a UK Student Visa you will need to prove you have a good knowledge of English, provide a Conformation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from your approved course pro-

 The funds must come from an approved source (such as a venture capital company recognised by the Financial Services Authority)  You need a good knowledge of English  You must work full time on running the business  Presentation of a viable business plan  You need to show evidence of sufficient funds to support yourself without having to access welfare payments Investor Visa To qualify for a Tier 1 (Investor) Visa, you need access to at least £2 million in funds that can be immediately invested in the UK market. You may be able to fast-track your application for permanent settlement depending on the amount of capital you invest. PHOTO © 401(K)2012

Settling in the UK There are many American expats who come to the UK for a year and end up staying a lifetime. Although the Government has recently put further restrictions on the ability for migrants to obtain Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), if you meet the criteria you can settle indefinitely and eventually apply for British Citizenship. From April 2016, anyone on a Tier 2 work visa who wishes to apply for ILR must be earning at least £35,000 per annum. As an entrepreneur, if your business is turning over £5 million or it has created 10 or more jobs, then you may be able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after just three years. Otherwise, you can make an application after residing in the UK for five years. Investors can apply for permanent residence in as little as two years, depending on the amount of money invested. Tax Considerations “Death, taxes and childbirth – there’s never a convenient time for any of them” – Scarlett O’Hara, Gone with the Wind. With London and New York being the financial capitals of the world, and an increasingly global economy which encourages the placement of talented staff in international offices, there is constant movement between the US and UK of high level managers and executives.

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the IRS has cracked down on anyone holding a Green Card attempting to move their wealth or income abroad by passing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) in 2010 to ensure Americans living overseas paid their taxes back home. There is a US/UK Tax Treaty in place which provides advantages for US citizens who move to the UK and are concerned that they will have to pay income tax in both countries. Employees who are paying income tax in the UK may be able to rely on the foreign tax credit and the foreign earned income exclusion clauses to avoid paying any tax in the US. However, because of the differences in the UK and US taxation systems, you may end up paying two tax bills. Investors, entrepreneurs and employees should seek professional advice on the complex nature of paying both American and UK tax and how to reduce liability.

Perfect time for a change

Investing, working and living in the UK can provide a wealth of opportunities for Americans looking for a change of lifestyle or dynamic new business prospects. The current change in the political wind may provide the push you need to try life across the Atlantic.

Teni Shahiean is the Principal solicitor at OTS Solicitors, specialists in immigration, employment and civil litigation law www.otssolicitors.co.uk The American

d n a l e r I m o r f d r a c t s Po Hall b y H e in r ic h

ecently, I have had the opportunity to revisit Ireland at length to prepare a new tour, “Exploring Ireland: the Heart of the Emerald Isle” for Peter Sommer Travels. In spite of my deep familiarity with the country and its people, I was amazed once again at the immense natural beauty, the incredible historical depth, the extraordinary hospitality, the wonderful experience that Ireland has to offer. Just two moments: in the north of County Mayo, I halted by the road to have a glance at a 5,000-year old megalithic tomb. Surrounded by luxurious hedgerows, the result of millennia of cattle farming, the view took in the Neolithic monument, a ruined 18th century AngloIrish mansion, a 14th century monastery, the tidal beaches of Killala Bay, and a lot of cows, with the mountains of Donegal in the distance. All in one glance, encompassing millennia of history. Second moment: a little 28

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later, I had lunch in a nearby pub, enjoying simple but excellent local fare (great homemade brown bread, divine Irish butter and succulent smoked salmon) and discussing the sights I’d just admired with the locals. Not just the locals: the greatly articulate and vocal locals, offering their views, traditional tales and hands-on knowledge of the area’s antiquities, freely, openly and in many fine words, words that went beyond description and explanation, words that colored the landscape with so many stories. That’s what awaits you in Ireland. Embedded in the utter greenery (a true cliché) there is a range of things to see, from Neolithic tombs via Celtic forts and Early Christian monasteries to medieval towns, castles and cities, and on to the Renaissance and Georgian edifices of AngloIreland. Kept alive by the Irish, who effortlessly mix the long history of their region with the current day-to-day, making the

Top Left: Trim Castle, County Meath Bottom Left: The 18ft High Cross at Monasterboice, County Louth Right: Poulnabrone Dolmen, a portal tomb, in the Burren, County Clare. PHOTOS ©HEINRICH HALL

country a continuum of historical past, mythical past and living present. This mix has made for a uniquely fertile cultural environment: four Nobel Prizes for Literature have gone to Irish writers (so far), considering the size of population a staggering number. A tour of Ireland is a story of Ireland, or many stories of Ireland.

Forget all the clichés: forget the notion of Ireland as a British off-shoot, forget leprechauns, the Blarney Stone, the shamrock and red-haired freckled girls (or boys). Some of these things actually exist, and some of them might be worth exploring eventually. But what is truly worth exploring is Ireland itself.

Heinrich Hall from Frankfurt, Germany, studied archaeology in Ireland, spending over a decade in the country and exploring its length and breadth. Now based in Athens, Greece, he works as a tour expert for Peter Sommer Travels, designing and running tours in Greece. Recently, he has been involved in the development of new tours in Croatia and Ireland.

“Peter Sommer Travels continue to excel. The tour was a fantastic couple of weeks of history, archaeology and mythology combined with beautiful scenery, wonderful food and fantastic wine.”

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Anne Hathaway’s cottage © JOHN JAMES

Stratford upon Avon – Shakespeare’s Stage

Daniel M Byway explains how to follow in the footsteps of Adams and Jefferson and get the PHOTOS COURTESY SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE TRUST best out of a visit to Shakespeare’s home town AND SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND

here are few more iconic names in the history of the English language than William Shakespeare. A cultural ambassador for England, Shakespeare’s words have been read around the world for centuries. For lovers of Shakespeare, the ultimate pilgrimage is to visit his home town of Stratford upon Avon, just north of Oxford, UK. Two former US Presidents who greatly admired the playwright, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, visited Stratford together in April 1786, with Adams later claiming that upon arrival, Jefferson had even “gotten down on his knees and kissed the ground”! Adams was less enthusiastic

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with 1700s Stratford, bemoaning that “there is nothing preserved of this great Genius which is worth knowing”, and that the only feature of Shakespeare’s birthplace was a wooden chair which they duly “cut off a chip according to custom”. If Adams were to return in 2017, he’d be much more impressed with the immersive, educational tribute that Stratford has become to the Bard, although I’m sure he wouldn’t get away with cutting off chips of Shakespeare’s furniture if he tried it again today! Much has changed in Stratford upon Avon since the times of Adams and Jefferson (I imagine they wouldn’t have expected a Starbucks

...), but for the ardent Shakespeare pilgrim, the town remains a must visit. During their stay, Adams and Jefferson visited the house where Shakespeare was born, as well as the Church of his grave. Shakespeare’s Birthplace is now an immersive visitor attraction which illuminates his upbringing and life, whilst Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare’s grave is located, still bears the warning (unfortunately a fruitless one) of a curse on he who “moves my bones”. Shakespeare’s life (and the story of his vanishing bones) almost reads like one of his own plays, and wandering through Stratford upon Avon feels like walking on the biographical stage of a man who has made a huge

PHOTO ©JUSTINE HARRISON WOOD

Top: Hall’s Croft, the home of Shakespeare’s daughter, Suzanna; Middle: Swans on the River Avon; Bottom: Shakespeare’s memorial in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon,where he was baptised and, two days after his death was buried in the chancel

mark on history. The preserved Tudor buildings, the beautiful River Avon (complete with boating excursions and swans aplenty) and the lush green landscapes provide a perfect backdrop to a town which has history bustling through its streets. That history is really easy to find too – as well as his birthplace, other locations to visit include Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (home of Shakespeare’s bride), Mary Arden’s Farm (home of his mother), Dr John Hall’s Croft (home of his daughter) and Shakespeare’s Schoolroom (home of his homework?). All these easy to reach venues ooze history, and give an encyclopedic view of Shakespeare’s life. What’s really lovely about Stratford upon Avon is that after a heavy dose of history, there are countless quaint, high quality restaurants, cafes and pubs in which to relax, sip tea, dine and discuss your favorite Shakespeare plays. I’ve always been fond of the cleverly named “Lambs” of Sheep Street, but there are plenty of other restaurants with great service and good food. One of the dominating features

of Stratford will always be the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre, which regularly hosts the Bard’s plays as well as those of other writers, historic and modern. I will always fondly remember watching Oppenheimer there recently, when upon exiting the theater, it was beginning to snow. Stratford can be magical in all weathers, Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter. During 2017, the RSC will be marking 2000 years since the death of Ovid, with productions of Shakespeare’s four political thrillers set in and around Rome, including Julius Caesar (Mar 3 to Sep 9), Antony & Cleopatra (Mar 11 to Sep 7), Titus Andronicus ( June 23 to Sep 2), and Coriolanus. There’s also a full programme of events throughout 2017. The Stratford upon Avon Literary Festival, celebrating its 10th birthday, takes place April 23rd to 30th, whilst the town’s Poetry Festival runs June 11th to 18th. Stratford upon Avon often strikes me as a town which really breathes its Shakespearean heritage, which makes visiting there all the more special. Stratford is also on the doorstep

Shakespeare’s New Place which opened last summer - the garden of Shakespeare’s last house with sculpture His Mind’s Eye ©JAMES KERR, SHAKESPEARE BIRTHPLACE TRUST

of the county of Warwickshire, and therefore makes a great base for exploring a corner of England which counts huge castles, long country vistas and many museums amongst its long list of things to do for all the

family. If you get the chance, Royal Leamington Spa (a Spa town like Bath) boasts lovely Georgian buildings and lots to see and do. Back in Stratford, if you spot a Stars and Stripes, you’re probably

outside Harvard House, a building owned by a wealthy merchant named Thomas Rogers, whose grandson, John Harvard, went on to become a founding benefactor of Harvard University. The building is only open on heritage days, so do look up www. shakespeare.org.uk/visit/harvardhouse/ and plan a visit if you can. Samuel Johnson once suggested that “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”, but these days, when you tire of London, just pop onto the Chiltern Mainline from Marylebone to Stratford upon Avon and you’ll soon learn to love life again. I haven’t gone as far as ‘doing a Jefferson’ in Stratford upon Avon, but the ground of this lovely town and its surrounding areas is definitely magic. Visit www.shakespeares-england.co.uk for more trip ideas in the area.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

PHOTO ©AMY MURRELL, COURTESY SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE TRUST

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we are such stuff as dreams are made on

Set in the heart of England and surrounded by glorious countryside, Shakespeare’s England is home to a wide variety of world famous visitor attractions including, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare’s five beautifully preserved Tudor homes and gardens. Soak up the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s home town, Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and immerse yourself in history with a vacation like no other. Discover a unique array of attractions, theatres, historic buildings & castles, museums, galleries and stately homes. We boast a fantastic selection of accommodation from family guesthouses to decadent 5 star hotels, tranquil spas and unique experiences such as Warwick Castle’s Tower suites. With direct flights to Birmingham Airport from the USA and rail connections to all major cities throughout the UK, now is the time to book your dream vacation in 2017.

/ShakespearesEngland www.shakespeares-england.co.uk

@shakespeareseng

What the Trump Presidency Will Mean for Expats We asked a selection of expats and experts what effect they think the new administration will have on the lives of you, the readers of The American. You may be surprised by some of the answers.

Jarlath O’Conne As the old Chinese cu ll, The American’s Theater Ed rse Since Nov 8 the world has it – “May you live in interesting tim itor: culture wars will no dohas certainly got more interesting and th es”. es though it’s too early ubt filter through to the creative arts. Fo e to tell, but if the twitt r now demonstrates anything er storm over Hamilto sylvania Avenue mus , it is that the new occupant of 1600 Pennn t been theater’s functio develop a thicker skin. It is not nor has it ever n to be respectful.

former New Yorker, who Olivia M. McLaren, a native North Carolinian and urgh and learned the has established a US immigration law firm in Edinb art of polite driving: think immigration reform could become The President will face many challenges in the days ahead, but I need of corporate America to access a windfall for him. I have little doubt that he sympathizes with the rants at work and at home, so he isn’t operating from immig of global talent pools across industries. He has enjoyed the talents s that expand the availability of work-related visas, which is a place of fear on that front. I would expect him to support reform happy news for many of my clients. workforce and household, he must contract net On the other hand, despite his personal dedication to a multicultural a Great Again” camp. I would expect to see tightening immigration to ensure he satisfies his supporters in the “Make Americ tions, and perhaps even a blow to family reunificatransac at the borders, implementation of higher fees on any cross-border rates of deportation are likely to continue, but the high n’s istratio admin Obama tion schemes and refugee programs. The probably won’t survive. If he manages the one-two punch, protections afforded to vulnerable groups through executive action least notionally, national security and increases corporate at es, improv that presiding over comprehensive immigration reform to his reputation. America’s access to global talent, it would be a legacy-building boon 34

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Donald Trump at CPAC, 2011

PHOTO © GAGE SKIDMORE

Cymon Snow, General Manager at Sulgrave Manor, speaking person ally: Overall I don’t think that the Trump Presidency will have a detrimental effect on tourism to the UK. At Sulgrave we have a great deal of interaction with as our American visitors, who see their journey here chat! We e”. imag something of a “pilgr For the traveling American I perceive that the problem will be that the President Elect may cause “ill nt will” in some foreign lands, more so than at prese and that this may restrict the places that they feel comfortable visiting. The UK is a safe place for them ing and so, if anything, it may result in a mini incom . US tourist boom

Carol Gould, b He would be my he roadcaster and author: ro and if he eliminates for life if he eases the stifling effects of th they have lived abro e need for overseas Americans to file FATCA a 1040 if ad for more than 20 the aspects of Trum p’s campaign that im years or are retired. One of ity of spirit towards pressed me was his Be ge pointing out that Be rnie Sanders. He never traduced him, nerosof rn all said, ‘Bernie woul ie had been stitched up by the DNC bu ten d t best of I hope Trump will be have left a legacy - she won’t. ‘ a fo rce fo r go od ot herwise anti-America as depicted in my bo will make life hell fo ok, Don’t Tread on Me: Anti-Americanism nism, r Abroad, After the ‘08 meltdo us expatriates. wn Before the program I was a panellist on BBC Any Questio m ns us to offer a one-lin e goes on air Jonathan Dimbleby asks ? er to warm up the au each of billionaire business dience. Mine was ‘ W pe e need Oprah Winfrey, War ople to run countries now: ren Buffett, Richard Br Bill Gates.’ I didn’t m ention Trump but... anson, Let’s give him a chance.

Stacy Collier, MPA, CPA, and Shareholder at SDC, LLC: I am cautiously optimistic about what a Republican controlled government can accomplish with respect to tax reform and FATCA. If there is a chance of FATCA being repealed, or at least modified for same country exemption, it would be now.

Sir Christopher Meyer, KCMG, form er British Ambassador to USA: Like the rest of the world, Americans abroad must await with bated breath the unfolding of the Trump presidenc y. first time in living memory we are all confronted For the with a new US president who is uncharted territory.

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Charles Bruce, Legal Counsel, American Citizens Abroad, speaking for himself alone: Whatever you think of him, like him or not, he can effect the biggest change of all – residency-based taxation for Americans abroad. This does away with the mountain of paper work dropped on them, it makes FATCA largely irrelevant so far as they are concerned, and it means the ones that feel driven to the end of their rope need not contemplate renouncing their US citizenship. Trump would become the patron saint of Americans abroad.

Richard Wendorf, Visiting Professor at Bath Spa University: The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s transition process have been quirky and unpredictable, as one might expect. The issue, as I see it, is the President-Elect’s habit of playing people against each other as part of a protracted negotiating process. This may have worked for him in the business world and during the primaries, but it may be highly problematic in the White House. As someone who spent 13 years living and voting in Chicago, I am used to the experience of political theater, although much of the electorate and most of our allies may well not relish it.

Robyn Limmer, Managing Director , Frank Hirth: With a Trump presidency we will see a change in attitude to tax and a lowering of tax rates. For our overseas American’s living in a highe r tax be that this is a ‘nothing’ in terms of their worldwide jurisdiction like the UK, it may well rate is already higher than the US rate. During the tax position, where the overseas tax campaign, there was some talk that the 3.8% Medicare tax might be repealed. This woul d have been a welcome relief for overseas taxpayers, for whom this is a straight addit overseas tax rate, but it seems that Mr Trump quite ional tax cost on top of their likes years have seen a strong focus on reporting for foreig this after all. The last few full swing and various IRS amnesty programs in placen accounts. With FATCA in , the emphasis has been on regularizing your historical reporting position. A Trump presidency is likely to be less enthusiastic about this focus on foreign repor ting, so maybe we will see a scaling back of IRS resources in this area.

Alex Kolton, American writer & voice over actress living in the UK : without Marmalade Detox: For months, I have not been able to walk into a shop or sit down in a restaurant the how know to wanting face yearning a with me at looking then accent American the someone hearing And s. candidate two these produced has presidential race has come to this and why such a massive country I until fabulous wasn’t USA the that know even didn’t I opinion. line straight or I was without virtue, insight the still not it is measure who’s by saw DT’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.” When did it go downhill and d. I believe greatest country in the whole wide world I ask you? The century turned and technology accelerate changed grandly had little 1900’s early the Until centuries. the of turn the at up speeds time y that historicall g and everythin of t movemen the instigating for the Victorians in decades, and then came the steam engine China’s sheets, Antarctic the of melting the internet, the brought 2000 Great Britain was Great again. new, greedy power consumption and al-Qaeda terrorists attack, the UK out of the EU. We are living in a haven’t we really, people, and things… new try and adapt unknown world and we must embrace and a choice. Is it ironic that Donald Trump’s initials are DT as in detox? Is that what the American people are looking for, a lymphatic draining of decades of candy coated politicians not being wholly truthful, the promising better living and economic improvement but never delivering? I am not sure what we or the Americans were doing voting for DT, but regardless if the Russians hacked into the voting system was down go towers twin the Watching are. we here and Illuminati have a master plan, the people voted American my is with left am I what and second close a is election This point. low us tremendo a shockingly optimism and hope that if a Californian actor and a small time peanut farmer can do the job of president, then so can a marmalade business man! 36

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Walter Mythen, Estate Agent, Joh ns& The trend of Americans looking to swap the US for Co: the factors of the US election and the weak sterling make UK is already evident as the combined London an attractive city for prospective buyers. I believe that once again London will be seen as the safe investment option, even despite the fact that prices may not show a huge amount of capital growth over the next couple of years. Also with the cooling off of Prime Central London prices and in some cases a decline, London is beginning to look like good America anticipating further uncertainty and chop value again and with Europe and py waters, this should copper fasten London as the best and safest location to invest, certainly for the buyer with their eye on a medium or long term plan.”

law firm r of OTS Solicitors, an immigration Oshin Shahiean, Managing Partne ion of Donald based in London’s West End: ally Needed Talent? For many Americans, the elect Trump Presidency – UK’s Opportunity To Gain Critic her they wish to remain in the United States. The relationwhet Trump as President has caused them to reflect on both countries relying on each other in good times and bad. with one, long a is in Brita and ica n Indefinite ship between Amer dy living in the UK, enquiring how they can obtai We have been contacted by US citizens who are alrea not have to return home. Our immigration team has also do Leave to Remain and/or British Citizenship so they who want to understand how they can make the move across US the in living le peop from calls of s received dozen res to meet urs who have the expertise and drive the UK requi the pond. Many are skilled workers or entreprene Britain now has a golden opportunity to welcome those that its task of extracting itself from the EU. I believe drive the UK their skills, talents and investment funds to help use and here come to want who ns Citize ican in both Amer ties rtuni oppo of th weal a up s open nges, but it also economy forward. Brexit may present some challe wanting to move to or remain in the UK, expert immigration ns e and the the domestic and EU markets. For American citize given the often complex nature of the US tax regim ially espec , must advice is a long reach of the IRS. in the near future. I personally do not I think both countries have challenges to overcome d that Donald Trump, as President, aroun ied subscribe to the theory currently being band understand why many Americans are will end civilisation as we know it. However, I can will be and instead are looking to he unwilling to ‘wait and see’ what sort of President relocate their family’s to more stable shores.

Alison Holmes, academic, former BritishAmerican Business supremo Ambassadorial speechwriter, and The American’s political columnist: and With Donald Trump in the White House we should not be surprised if our diplomats, our businesspeople and even individual citizens are no longer greeted as representatives of opportunity and a can-do attitude, but more readily assumed to be that “Ugly American”: loud, boorish, ignorant of the world, and proud to remain so. Anti-Americanism has ebbed and flowed over the years, often as a response to our foreign policy (mis) adventures, but our global friends have generally been able to separate the policy from the people. That may become harder to do under this Administration. As #notmypresident has flowed off social media and found its way to waving placards, daubed on walls and chalked on sidewalks, it’s important to remember that is only one part of the story. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, we have had a divided result, but not being ‘my’ president does not mean this is not our country. For those living and working abroad it may be hard to accept the fact that we are often first and foremost just that: American. As a result, as the United States enters what is likely to be a phase of alternating posturing and introspection, many will have to bear the brunt of a new and potentially very personal kind of Anti-American sentiment. Perhaps the only response we have, for now, is to work both abroad and at home to ensure we express our best selves and our highest ideals. Donald Trump at Fountain Hills, AZ, 2016

PHOTO © GAGE SKIDMORE

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ent: orts correspond Jay Webster, spoverriding sensation heading e My feeling is that th y, more so than with any new nc ide es pr p ading into into a Trum ory, is the sense of he ake things em m y m in nt preside sh to ise om d on the pr the unknown. Electe bull in a china shop, and it feels a e lik ls fee p knock over. up, Trum at the bull is going to r and no wh ow kn to lt cu diffi ste between a lot of blu It feels like anything e world as we know it being th palpable change, to possible. As an American sports is turned upside down sense of the unpredictable is th , ad ro ab fan living world under g about the sporting seeps into my feelin thing much may change, or No a Trump presidency. , but much like a sporting ge an ch ay m ing canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yth ever event, at this stage weat watch th e or really do a lot m s. and see what happen

Helge Kostka, Chief Investment Officer, Maseco: As interesting and important as the recent US election might seem, whether or not Mr. Trump will turn out to be good for the US or the Global economy will not only be down to him and his actions. Predicting when and what political decisions will be made, on top of predicting economic development on top of predicting financial markets, is a third layer of predicting the future. Some might claim to do all 3 successfully but I doubt they can back it up with evidence.

Deirdre Wells, CEO, UKinbound: UKinbound represents the interests of over 370 members from across the UK travel trade that includes tour operators, attractions, hotels and restaurants. For our members, the US is and will remain one of our top markets with over 1 million visitors coming to the UK every year. We have a very strong, historic and special relationship with the US and there is no reason why that cannot continue in 2017 and beyond. 38

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Hugo Lesser, Bright! Tax: While Mr Trump’s victory came as a surprise to many, we believe it will ultimately make negligible difference to the majority of Americans living overseas, in financial terms at any rate. Mr Trump has promised to lower income taxes, however the majority of expats claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, which allows them to exclude the first around $100,000 of their foreign earned income from US tax liability. There’s no suggestion that Mr Trump will repeal the FEIE, and we believe he won’t, not least because many large American firms rely on it as part of their relocation package when offering placements overseas. As such, only Americans who earn in excess of $100,000 will benefit from Mr Trump’s tax cuts. For Americans paying income tax in another country and claiming the Foreign Tax Credit, which allows them to claim a US tax credit of a dollar for every dollar of tax they’ve paid in another country, lower US tax rates will mean that they can carry forward more tax credits each year, to their future benefit. Regarding FATCA and FBAR, Mr Trump hasn’t spoken about repealing or amending them. While the Republican party has discussed repealing or amending FATCA, again we believe that it’s unlikely, as it would reduce federal revenue in a time of high national deficit and debt and encourage international tax evasion. In conclusion, Americans who claim the Foreign Tax Credit or earn over $100,000 will benefit from Mr Trump’s proposed tax cuts, while any expats paying US corporation tax will benefit from reduced rates too. In terms of the US-UK relationship, I think Mr Trump’s election will be positive. Mr Trump’s mother is a Brit (in this respect he’s the inverse of Churchill, if you’ll excuse the comparison!), and he is known to love Britain, so I think he will favor a close relationship and possibly a quick free trade deal following Brexit. Barb Caswell, Surrey, UK, previously from a The similarity to the UK Brexit vote was remarkable: famili lot of US addresses: es were split apart by powerful emotions, and both count ries awoke to unexpected results. We went to bed anticipating brioches for breakfast and found sausages on our plates instead. My US friends shared hometowns but not opinions. One friend proudly boasted that she’d voted for fellow New Yorker Trump, while another New Yorker here in London was so upset she could hardly speak: ‘I am in despair’, she said, blogging about tion Agency transition. ‘It’s just nuts.’ The anti-Ebell fight contina petition to keep a true non-scientist from heading up the Environmental Protecues, with even London papers reporting on his past profits The West Coast was just as conflicted: from oil interests. 70ish Lady: ‘The age of regression dawns.’ 60ish Friend: ‘Shocked and dismayed. Obviously there is a lot of discontentment out there reflected in this.’ 70ish Friend: ‘Shocked, grieved, embarrassed for my count ry, worried for us all.’ 60ish Friend: ‘Very sad day for the USA. God help us!’ 30ish Friend: ‘They’re racist idiots.’ Young teenager: ‘It all seems like too much of a headache to me.’ Grandmother of the same Young Teenager: ‘I just want to have a brighter future for my wonderful, smart grandchildre that too much to ask? It didn’t used to be, in America.’ n. Is 70ish Male: (unidentified to keep him from being lynched) ‘Trump will make friends and get things done. It’s what he does. I’m very optimistic.’ Is there anything positive about all this squabbling? Yes! I had cynically assumed that an election shifting this much power would certainly be rigged. But Trump claimed the election was rigged when he was losing, and then suddenly reversed his claim when he was winning, so now I have renewed hope that votes are still actually counted. So, I told our daughter I will vote regardless of our location, but instructions, as she will have to live with the consequences only according to her and not me. The American 40

James Wyatt, Estate Agent, Barton Wyatt: Will it be a case of “shock and awe”? We’ve had the shock of a Trump win, but awe? Unlikely. Our considerable number of American tenants are generally naturally drawn to the Republicans. So it has been interesting to have witness a very quiet Presidential campaign in the UK. Property looms large when it comes to The Donald. It is of course his ‘game’. But will his Presidency affect UK property? Well, the US economy is so large that any dramatic shift in macro-economic terms could affect the UK. My bet is that despite the anti-Trump crowd, we will see a President who will shout loudly in the US, but external effects will be minimal. However, if you are a golfer – keep an eye on the Presidential golf courses in Scotland – changes are likely.

Donald and Melania Trump PHOTO © MARK NOXELL

Darren Kilfara, novelist and our golfing correspondent: Let’s just say I’m not expecting lower green fees at Trump Turnberry or Trump International Golf Links or Trump Doonbeg anytime soon… unless the world economy craters and/or a nuclear war is triggered, in which case we’ll all have bigger fish to fry and bunkers to dig.

Virginia E Schultz, writer and former Republicans Abroad organizer: I’ve been a Republican since I was eighteen. Here in the UK, I started the first Republican Newsletter and Republican dinner. My friend Mary Langford was always at my side when we worked together for the election of Ronald Reagan. Mary, one of the brightest people I know, participated in most of the debates with college students and usually won them over with her intelligent replies to our young audience. A Democrat friend called her the ‘Republican’s Secret’ and she really was. Watching the Republicans this time bothered me. Donald Trump’s remarks about migrants was ugly, but even nastier was when he made fun of a handicapped journalist. It went against everything I was taught and everything I taught my children. I also found when discussing the election with a few Republican friends, it was often the women more than the men who were against Hilary. That puzzled me then and still does now. Was it resentment at her success as a woman or because many people believed she only got where she was because she was married to ‘Bill’? I asked myself. Yet, at the same time, few people questioned Trump’s success as a businessman because he inherited a small fortune from his father or that he was divorced twice. Trump won the electoral votes and I shall give him the same respect I’d give any man or woman who won. His remarks since he was elected show a softer, kinder Trump. Perhaps he’s remembering, it’s the historians who’ll have the last word on whether, as the President of the United States of America, he made America great again.

Rachel Finch BA(Hons) CTA ATT AAT, Partner, Tax Advisory Service, Burton Sweet: Any new President will bring a large degree of economic and financial uncertainty both to the USA and the wider world. This is especially the case when the new President is from the other side of the aisle. It is safe to assume that over the next 4 years there will be major tax and financial changes within the US which will impact on Americans both living in the USA and those residing outside.

And a last word from Mike Orton-Toliver, American comedy writer (of Channel 5’s Borderline), improviser and expat: I’m not a fan of Trump. But I’m even less of a fan of the question “What about that whole Trump thing?” And so, I’ll be avoiding social situations for the next four years.

The American

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Exterior / Interior

M V I C TO R IA I

f you think the construction site at Victoria station is pure hell, don’t worry. Heaven is just 2 minutes away! The entrance to M is a wine shop. Upstairs, the “wine-o-mat” offers pay-as-you-go tastings at the touch of a button. Now on my bucket list! Wining and dining is downstairs. It is SWANK! The amazing design uses a gorgeous array of textures, patterns and colors with shiny copper throughout. The bar and lounge is total party time. Behind, a secret door leads to a members only lounge. Join and you get a personal locker. For booze! Sure beats smelly trainers. Next to the lounge is the casual raw bar. The formal dining room is secluded from the rest. It is glorious. A splitlevel oval with copper ceiling, it is plush without ostentation. On the periphery, “snugs” give a birds-eye view of the room while allowing for intimacy. Brilliant. The service couldn’t be better. Director, André Mannini is charm personified and assistant manager

Greg Gergely is meticulous and incredibly well informed while keeping it light and happy. Top marks! The highlight of the menu here is beef which Executive Chef Michael Reid “curates” from 6 countries! A disciple of Michel Roux and Gordon Ramsay, he sure knows his stuff! Cobia with chili pickle salsa, black sesame and chives (£12) was beautiful. So meaty, it hardly seems raw. Sashimi to sink your teeth into, compared to yellow fin tuna (£12) which melted in my mouth. Jalapeño and pickled ginger, added just the right bite. The wine list is exceptional. We sampled too many to mention (or remember) but enjoyed every drop. A standout came with the Smoked Wagyu tartare (£15.50), pictured above. Served under glass with a perfect hen’s egg which spread like butter, apples, dry ice for drama and foie gras grated on top, tableside. WOW! In Paradise, fat content doesn’t count! A Flor de Campo Pinot Noir, 2012 (£14.50) was a great

Reviewed by Michael M Sandwick match. Deep, dark, lots of fruit, round oak and a touch of pepper. Galician Sirloin, on the bone, £44 for 400g was from a 14 year old cow! Very mature, meaty taste with a huge ribbon of fat, this beef is not for sissies! It called for a big wine, which we got with a Freemark Abbey Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 (£23.50). Yes, for a glass! Worth skipping a few meals! Blackmore Wagyu grade 9++ inside skirt steak, £35 for 250 g was another animal altogether. Rarely served in the UK, this cut is tender and bursting with flavor. Superb. Chef Reid shows off his technique with inventive desserts. Dulce mousse with buckwheat, bacon and sweet corn ice cream (£6.50) is a sweet and savory delight and Chocolate aero, black sesame seed ice cream and yuzu (£8) a childhood/ yuppie fusion! Prices at M are high, but they offer tasting glasses of wine and beef cut to order for a more affordable heaven.

The American

Far Left: Wild Madagascan Prawn Left: King Scallops

DARBA AR G

oogle Maps never functions well in dense urban areas. Such was the case when I walked through Broadgate on my way to Darbaar. I got totally lost. It was wonderful. In December, Broadgate becomes east London’s answer to Winter Wonderland. Ice skating rink, outdoor lounges with sheepskins and mulled wine and twinkly lights everywhere. In spite of my Ebenezer-like demeanour, I found myself infused with holiday cheer. Humbug! We arrived a mere 5 minutes late and received a warm welcome. The bar and private dining rooms are stunning, with the understated promise of a memorable evening. The main dining room is altogether different. The vast space is dominated by a huge open kitchen. It lacks the elegance of the other spaces, but the lotus flower chandeliers are divine. The menu, created by Chef Abdul Yaseen is inspired by the banquets of the Indian Royal Court. Indeed, the set menu at £65 sounds like dinner with the Raj! 6 courses including

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king scallops, royal Madagascan prawns, bream in banana leaf, slow roasted lamb…my tongue was throbbing! So when our waiter informed us that the kitchen would like to order for us, I thought, yeah, bring it on! What they brought however, was clearly for the lesser branch of the royal family. Our choices of a Lychee chili cocktail (£10.50) and a passion fruit mocktail (£6.50) were both excellent. The cocktail had a fabulous kick. Unfortunately, the drinks arrived about 10 minutes after our appetizer. Our waiter was affable and competent, however the coordination between kitchen, bar and floor was very uneven. Abdul’s platter of assorted grills and kebabs for 2 (£28) was a hefty starter. Paneer, Tandoori salmon, chicken and lamb kofta were all well spiced and served with a spicy raita for dipping. The salmon was overcooked and just fell apart. The paneer was roasted in a turmeric based curry and the finely minced kofta packed with chili. The chicken

www.darbaarrestaurants.com

Interior

1 Snowden Street, London EC2A 2DQ

Reviewed by Michael M Sandwick won out with a beautiful burst of cardamom. Our main was butter chicken (£18). With Guinea fowl, rabbit, venison and giant prawns on the menu, this is not what I would have chosen. Especially not at that price. That being said, it was one of the better butter chickens I have had. Chef Yaseen cut his chops at The Cinnamon Club and Kitchen. He knows what he is doing. Served with rice and 2 kinds of excellent naan from the wood fired oven, but not a veg in sight. With so much protein, my digestive system went into overdrive. Did this stop me from ordering 2 desserts? It’s my job!!! Lemon and ginger brûlée with rhubarb compote and a Valrhona dark chocolate and chili brick were both delicious, even without the promised ginger and chili. With these we ordered 2 teas. One arrived before dessert, the other long after. I believe there is a royal banquet to be had at Darbaar. It might be worth getting lost in Broadgate to find out.

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Far Left: the restaurant Near Left: Seafood, Fumo-style

www.sancarlofumo.co.uk/fumo-london

Far Left: Lamb Special Near Left: interior

37 St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4ER

Reviewed by Michael M Sandwick

f you haven’t heard the term cicchetti by now, you really have to get out more! These Italian ‘tapas’ have been trending in London for ages. Traditionally, they were bar snacks, eaten in the humble wine bars of Venice. At Fumo, they are nothing of the sort. Top quality food, served with Italian panache, in a lovely, light and airy dining room, in the middle of Covent Garden. You might just wonder if you’ve died and gone to heaven! The San Carlo Restaurant Group has been serving up high class Italian food in London for over 28 years! That experience is gold. Executive Chefs Filippo Pagani and Franco Bellomusto and Chef Consigliere, Aldo Zilli have created a glorious menu with ingredients delivered direct from Milan. The only problem is, the selection is so extensive that deciding what to have is torture. Multiple visits seems to be the only solution! The service is even better than the food. Knowledge, hospitality and competence all come together with flawless Italian flare. When I become

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a millionaire… A classic Bellini (£9), fat, juicy olives and tapenade (£3.50) and homemade bread (£3.45) set the scene perfectly. The room too, feels like a glass of bubbles. Light and elegant, with a dash of effervescence. The menu had me in a tizz. We were advised to choose 5 or 6 plates to share. I narrowed my top picks down to 30! Thankfully, the Maître d’ came to our rescue. His recommendations were spot on. Tartare of fresh tuna (£11.20) was prepared at the table with absolute style. A dollop of mustard, squeeze of lemon, glug of olive oil and ecco, ecstasy on a plate. The art of simplicity. Burrata with Parma ham and black truffle (£9.95) was another dish of uncomplicated elegance. The mozzarella was excellent and the salty ham a nice change from the usual tomato. The truffle elevated the dish from simple, to simply divine. Truffle and Pecorino Ravioli (£10.95) is a signature dish with

good reason. My guest and I just looked at each other and said, “Mmmmmmmmm!” Don’t even think about sharing. Risotto with lobster and black truffle (£15.95) was not a recommendation from the Maitre d’ and my only disappointment. It was tasty, to be sure, but while the rice was cooked in lobster broth, there was no lobster meat at all. I felt a bit cheated on this one. Prawn and monkfish spiedino (£9.95) and Ribeye with chili, garlic and sweet potatoes were both excellent dishes, though not on a par with the tuna, ravioli and burrata. It’s like the difference between stars and super stars. A bottle of Barolo Tenuta Para (£56.85) was a lovely blend of spice, prune, oak and tannin which got better as the meal progressed. A gorgeous plate of dessert cicchetti put me over the edge. Cannelloni, panna cotta, chocolate terrine, chocolate cigarettes ...was all a bit too much. Of course I ate every bite. IT’S MY JOB!

63 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7EN

www.counterkitchen.com

COUNTERKITCHEN I

f a counter culture is one that opposes the norms of mainstream society, I guess a counter kitchen is the culinary contradiction of conventional gob stuffing! Out with the butter, cream, trans fatty acid, sugar, hormones and preservatives, and in with good, wholesome food. What a relief. I thought this job was going to kill me! Now I know my loyal readers love me for the gin-swilling, fatingesting, gluttonous oinker that gives them vicarious pleasure on these very pages. Off duty however, I am a health freak. Sorry to disappoint you, but petrified arteries don’t appeal to me. Kale and chia seed smoothies do! The concept of Counter Kitchen is to serve nutritious food with no empty calories and nothing artificial. It isn’t vegetarian. The menu features both soup and stew with beef. Most dishes however are V, VG and/ or GF. No, that is not V for Victory of the British VirGin Islands, GirlFriend! Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free! There is however, the option of add-

ing chicken, salmon, egg, tofu or halloumi to any dish for added protein. The relaxed atmosphere is reminiscent of a patio, which continues outside to the terrace. The glass doors between the two keep it bright and seamless. A number of people were working on their laptops, while we enjoyed a two and a half hour lunch with nary a hint that we had overstayed our welcome. Kimchi culture (£9), a stew of beef, house aged kimchi, tofu, pak choi, chives and ginger in a hearty beef broth, served with black rice was tasty and plentiful. With everything to get you through the day, perhaps even the week, it is great value for money. Savory, umami, and the sour, spicy kick of kimchi are very well balanced. Fermented vegetables are top trends for health conscious foodies, and kimchi beats sauerkraut any day! Adding it to stew and soup is a great idea. Black rice is a delightful change from white. There are of course, many varieties. This one was flavorful and

Reviewed by Michael M Sandwick

not at all glutinous. New on the menu is Tarka Dal (£7.50). Red split lentil and Chana dal (yellow lentils) with onion seeds, curry leaves, kachumber (cucumber kimchi) salad, strained yoghurt, black rice and lime. Now that’s a mouthful! This was a beautifully spiced dish and again, very well balanced. Lots of flavor, good kick and a dollop of yoghurt to cut the spice. We added a piece of miso salmon (£4.50) thinking we needed extra protein. We didn’t, but enjoyed it nonetheless. A banana, oat and carrot muffin (£2.50), energy balls and puffed rice bites (£1) were happy accompaniments to my chai latte, but not earth-moving. The dessert menu could easily be expanded. A knockout pudding without refined sugar, butter or cream is a tough test which many have failed. I believe Chef Matt Edwards is up to the challenge. I left feeling satiated, virtuous and primed for another onslaught of gin and steak!!

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The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT

www.smithandwollensky.co.uk

SMITH & WOLLENSKY

Reviewed by Michael M Sandwick

t may be difficult for a lot of people to remember at the moment, but there are a lot of great things about America. One of them is Smith & Wollensky, the steakhouse chain specializing in USDA prime beef, known for its tenderness and marbling. It doesn’t have as much fat content as Kobe, ergo you can eat more of it! This is one of my top picks for steak but it’s not just about the meat. S&W is grand from top (copper ceilings) to bottom (lavish lower ground floor with 3 private dining rooms). The art deco décor by Martin Brudnizki is a triumph, the seafood as good as the meat, the selection of California wines is the best in London and service is exceptional. The only downside is I can’t afford to eat there twice a week! Or month for that matter. But it’s worth saving up for a special occasion. This occasion was the new brunch menu. It’s just about everything you ever wanted for breakfast,

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lunch and dinner on one menu. All sorts of eggs and omelettes, including 5 kinds of eggs Benedict, bagels, burgers, sandwiches, waffles, pancakes, seafood, steak and 9 choices of Bloody Mary! Thank God it’s not an all you can eat buffet! Our bloody concoction was “It’s always sunny” (£13) made with Tanqueray 10 gin, spiced with chargrilled peppers and green olives and perfumed with a splash of Tio Pepe Fino sherry. I was dubious about the sherry but it worked well, adding a bit of sweet to round out the spice. Slurped it right up! Even for me, a 1 kilo Tomahawk or even a 700g ribeye is a bit much at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. I was tempted, but chose instead the 283g sirloin with 2 fried eggs (£42). Sadly, I didn’t have a scale with me to see if it was exactly 283g, but I trust them! It was superb. Perfectly pink, tender, the gorgeous taste of fat without a gram of it to be seen anywhere and plenty for 2. Accom-

panied by a glass of Stag’s Leap Artemis 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa (£18.25) and brunch doesn’t get more sumptuous. This is a big wine with deep, dark berry, plum, licorice and oak. Lobster Mango Salad (£24), a complex blend of minced lobster, spinach, rocket, avocado aioli, mango chutney, chipotle mayo, onion, bacon and red pepper, topped with chunks of lobster. Layers of flavor that blended beautifully and then a sudden hit of bacon that was surprisingly enjoyable. A glass of Smith & Wollensky private reserve Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma (£9) was smooth and drinkable, but somehow without character. A coconut and passion fruit mousse and a boozy cherry sponge with cherries soaked in port polished us off for the day. And it was only 3!!! I was tempted just to curl up on the banquette and wait for dinner!

COMPETITIONS

Win Tickets to see a hell of a comedy about a devil of a musical!

Win tickets to see ‘fiercely funny’* five-star political drama This House at the Garrick Theatre

This sizzling new comedy is filled with the classic combination of music, mirth and murder. Inspired by Marie Corelli’s scorching bestseller, The Sorrows of Satan, reimagines Faust as a drawing-room comedy. The Sorrows of Satan is a hot new musical play written by Luke Bateman (Mr Popper’s Penguins, The Little Beasts) & Michael Conley (The Little Beasts, The Superhero). Directed by Adam Lenson (Songs For A New World, See What I Wanna See). The run takes place from Tuesday February 14th to Saturday March 25th, 2017, at the Tristan Bates Theatre, London.

Described as ‘the most intelligent, entertaining and informative political drama of this decade’ (Daily Telegraph), James Graham’s ‘enthralling play’ (The Guardian) This House dives deep into the secret world of the Whips who roll up their sleeves and go to often farcical lengths to influence an unruly chorus of MPs within the Mother of all Parliaments. Set in 1974, in the engine rooms of the House of Commons, This House is ‘a treat and a triumph … a superlative night out in the West End.’ (Evening Standard). In an era of chaos, both hilarious and shocking, fist fights break out in the parliamentary bars, high-stake tricks and games are played, while sick or dying MPs are carried through the lobby to register their crucial votes as the government hangs by a thread. The cast includes Phil Daniels (Kevin Wicks in EastEnders), Kevin Doyle (DS John Wadsworth in Happy Valley and Joseph Molesley in Downton Abbey), and Nathaniel Parker (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries). Premiered to universal acclaim at the National Theatre in 2012, This House written by James Graham (The Vote, Privacy) and directed by Headlong Artistic Director Jeremy Herrin (People, Places and Things, Wolf Hall), gives us a timely, moving and often amusing insight into the workings of British politics. ‘Order, order your tickets now’ (Time Out). This House is playing at the Garrick Theatre until 25 February. To book your tickets (from £10) call 0330 3334811 or visit ThisHousePlay.com.

To win a pair of tickets to see Sorrows of Satan, just email your answer to this question to theamerican@blueedge.co.uk with SORROWS in the subject line. Closing Date: Friday February 10, 2017 Which of these is another phrase used to describe Satan? a) Bubba b) Beelzebub c) Beetlejuice

For your chance to win, email your answer to this simple question to theamerican@blueedge.co.uk with THIS HOUSE in the subject line. Closing Date: Friday January 20, 2017. Which architect designed the current Houses of Parliament? a) Sir Charles Barry b) Barry White c) John Barry

Terms & Conditions: One reader will win a pair of tickets to see The Sorrows of Satan. Prize tickets are for all performances excluding Saturday evening, subject to availability, travel not included. No cash alternative. The editor’s decision is final. If an event is cancelled The American accepts no liability.

Terms & Conditions: One reader will win a pair of premium tickets to see This House at the Garrick Theatre, valid for Monday to Thursday performances until February 21, 2017, subject to availability. No cash alternative, travel not included. The editor’s decision is final. If an event is cancelled The American accepts no liability.

The American

Artist Rooms: Andy Warhol

Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6ER to April 16

Edward Hopper, Gas, 1940 66.7 x 102.2 cm Oil on canvas Collection of Museum of Modern Art , New York. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund, 1943

America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s Royal Academy of Art, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0BD February 25 to June 4

The devastating impact of the Great Depression, brought about by the Wall Street Crash and followed by the Dust Bowl, caused America to enter the 1930s in flux. Over the next decade, the consequences of economic insecurity and social hardship, fueled by mass urbanization, industrialization and immigration, reverberated throughout the country, as it struggled to rebuild. Artists endeavoured to capture these rapid changes, seeking to redefine American identity in their work, inadvertently creating a debate over what would become the national art form. This new exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art brings into focus the variety of art which

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sought to capture this turbulent decade. Among the works featured are Georgia O’Keeffe’s Cow’s Skull with Calico Roses (1931), Charles Sheeler’s American Landscape (1930), Philip Guston’s Bombardment (1937), Edward Hopper’s Gas, (1940) and, for the very first time in the UK, Grant Wood’s iconic American Gothic (1930) will be on display.

Andy Warhol, Skulls, 1976 ©ARTIST ROOMS, NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND AND TATE. ACQUIRED JOINTLY THROUGH THE D’OFFAY DONATION WITH ASSISTANCE FROM THE NATIONAL HERITAGE MEMORIAL FUND AND THE ART FUND 2008

Death, politics and identity are all subjects touched upon by this exhibition of Andy Warhol’s work. From his own brush with death in 1968 (Warhol was actually pronounced dead after being shot, before being revived by an open heart massage), to his art’s growing interest in American politics and the US military through the ‘70s and ‘80s, this exhibition, using works from the Artist Rooms’ collection of 232 of the artist’s work, present Warhol’s vision of the American Dream. This exhibition includes Self-Portrait with Skull (1978), images from his 1980s Art and Illustration series depicting paratrooper boots, maps of US missile bases and symbols of nuclear power, as well as later objects symbolising 20th century America, such as Dollar Sign (1981), Camouflage (1986), and Gun (1981).

DON’T MISS ... London Art Fair Alfred G. Buckham, Aerial view of Edinburgh, c. 1920 Silver gelatine print, 18 x 15 in

Business Design Centre, Islington, N1 www.londonartfair.co.uk January 18 to 22

©RICHARD AND JOHN BUCKHAM

TAG Fine Arts at London Art Fair 2016 PHOTO ©MARK COCKSEDGE

The View From Here

Artes Mundi 7 Award

Celebrating landscapes from around the world as recorded by the camera from the 1840s to the present day, the images, drawn entirely from the National Galleries of Scotland Collection, capture the shifts in human engagement with the land and the evolution of the medium itself; from early daguerreotypes to contemporary digital prints.

American artist and designer Amy Franceschini (b. 1970) features among the shortlisted candidates for the Artes Mundi 7 Award. The award is a celebration of contemporary art and the UK’s cultural relationship with the international community. The award winner will be announced on January 25 2017, but from now until late February, you can see work by the shortlisted candidates at the National Museum in Cardiff, Wales. Franceschini and her group, Futurefarmers, create work which explores public transportation, rural farming networks and food policies.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery 1 Queen St, Edinburgh EH2 1JD to April 30

National Museum Cardiff, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP to February 26

Amy Francheschini / Futurefarmers, This is Not a Trojan Horse (in transit) PHOTO DANIELA D’ARIELLI, 2010

This is the 29th London Art Fair, and is the most international edition to date. With art spanning the early 20th century to the present day, London Art Fair 2017 sees 129 galleries present museum quality Modern British art alongside the very best international modern and contemporary art. Over one fifth (22%) of this year’s exhibitors come from outside of the UK, with galleries from 18 different countries including China, France, Germany, South Korea and USA. Among the highlights of this year’s Fair is a collaboration between the Maus Contemporary gallery in Birmingham, USA and the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast, Ireland, which is part of international art project, ‘Dialogues’, curated by Miguel Amado; and to celebrate the America’s Cup, TAG Fine Arts exhibit artworks by artist Ewan David Eason using gold leaf to recreate maps of the eight cities sponsoring a ship in the race. 

The TheAmerican American

Suzi Quatro Tough rock & roller from Detroit, inspiration to generations of female musicians, huge star in the UK and around the world, Leather Tuscadero in Happy Days... the much-loved artist, who’s still playing and touring around the world, is now an Honorary Doctor and a lady of the manor in an Elizabethan house in rural England. She tells The American about her incredible journey.

t first sight, Suzi’s start in music, in a group with her sisters, might seem like some kind of rebellion against her Italian American Catholic upbringing. Is that how it was in reality? Quite the opposite! There were five kids in the family, four girls and one boy, and my father was a parttime musician because he worked in the daytime at General Motors. [Suzi’s father played keyboards in his own jazz band, the Art Quatro Trio, and Suzi’s first public performance, age eight, was playing the bongos with the trio. Art was also house organist for Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings home games - Ed.] Dad taught us all music - I actually read and write classical piano and percussion, I’m self-taught on bass – and my dad was all for us starting a band. So where other people had to fight their parents to be able to do this, it was just the opposite. It was our profession – I’m very professional about it too. My dad even gave me my first bass, too, a 1957 Fender Precision – still got it, it hangs on the wall. Was Detroit a rough place to grow up? Yeah, you had 60 percent black, 40 percent white, you had your rich surrounding communities such as Grosse Point, which I grew up in even though my dad couldn’t really afford to live there - he had the two jobs, and his focus was to let us grow up in

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a nice neighborhood. Grosse Point is where all the wealthy car industry people lived, and there were some middle class families there too, which we were. We certainly weren’t poor, but when you looked at the mansions you’d kinda go, oh, OK, there is a difference! Plus we had five kids. As a girl band, were you pressured to dress in miniskirts and look sexy to get on in the business? Well, it was unusual being an all girl band. We played in a lot of clubs and some of the owners’ attitude was, if you’re girls look like girls, it’ll First band, The Pleasure Seekers, with Suzi on the far right PUBLICITY PHOTO

bring the customers in. We had some cute costumes, but I was more comfortable in blue jeans and tee shirts, I was more of a tomboy. But I never had any problems – I learned early on how to get rid of the idiots. I was a 14 year old in a club I shouldn’t have been in and believe me you had to learn how to handle yourself. And I did. If they did something once, they certainly wouldn’t do it again! You’ve said you had no female role models, is that true? Not doing what I did, no. It didn’t exist. There were singers, and of course I wasn’t the first female musician by a long shot - there was Phil Spitalny’s All Girl Orchestra way back in the ‘20s! - but I was the first serious rock & roll singer and musician to have success. It kicked down that door, and gave women permission to be in this profession as something other than groupies. I wouldn’t say I did it for that reason – I didn’t even know I was doing it until I looked back on it, I was just being who I am - but I am proud of it. Would you call yourself a feminist? No, I’m ‘me-ist’. A different thing. I’ll fight just as hard for guys. I believe that you should always be who you are. Do not compromise. Be yourself – that’s the only thing you got in this world. I could have done a Melanie, or an Olivia Newton-

PHOTO Â© TINA K

The American

The breakthrough hit single ‘Can The Can’

John, but I thought no, why should I do that? Do women musicians acknowledge you as an inspiration? I know Joan Jett has spoken about it. Joan was probably my biggest fan in the early days. I love her, she’s such a sweetheart. Before she started a band, when I was playing in LA she’d be in the lobby, with the jacket and the haircut, waiting for me. I used to call her Clone Jett. But only in the early days, she developed her own way and we all have to start somewhere. But I do hear it all the time. There’s a documentary coming out in 2017 about me, and all the girls are in there! Why did you choose to play bass guitar? We had just seen The Beatles on TV and we were so excited, we had the idea of starting a band and everybody grabbed an instrument – lead guitar, drums… I went, hello, what about me? My sister Patti said, “You? You’re on bass”. OK! I didn’t mind, I was a musician. I think it was written in the stars, I was gonna be a serious player. It certainly made you stand out – you’re not the tallest of people, and it’s not the smallest of instruments. [Laughs] I know, people used to say why did you choose such a big bass? I said I didn’t, it’s just I’m little. Everything just kinda worked, y’know? I was the little girl with the big bass. I wasn’t big busted so I wasn’t threatening to the women. I was able to be cute and sexy, the women liked me and the men did too. Mickie Most said: “You get all the elements in there somehow”. Mickie Most became your record producer. How did you get involved with him, and with the

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songwriters and producers Nicky Chinn & Mike Chapman? Mickie found me in Detroit. He wanted me only, out of the band, he thought I had what it takes. He signed me as a singer-songwritermusician and I came over to the UK. Mickie didn’t know how to produce me, but I wrote a lot of material, got my band together and everything started to make sense. Mickie brought Chinn & Chapman in, he brought them to a gig, and said here’s what she does – it was all my own material – and they wrote ‘Can The Can’. They added the 3 minute commercial singles to what I was already doing. It was a real good combination. They wrote specifically for me – very personalized. Like ‘If You Can’t Give Me Love’ - we decided together that we wanted to try something different, and it’s one of their best songs, isn’t it? But Mickie always said that live, the meat of my shows is my own compositions. And of course you’re famous for the leather look. When ‘Can The Can’ [Suzi’s first UK number one single, June 1973] was ready to come out Mickie asked what I wanted to wear. I said leather, and he was very against it, but I insisted. He said, “What about a jumpsuit?” and I said good idea. In a 52 year career, you’ve sold over 50 million albums… 55, don’t cheat me!

… and you’ve been a glam rock star, done your own harder rock music, been an actress in Happy Days among other shows, you write poetry. How would you define yourself? It’s hard. I’m an enigma! Basically I’m an artiste. I love writing songs, I love acting, I love musicals, I love my show that I’ve been doing on BBC Radio 2 since ‘99, and I love my poetry. [In 2015 Suzi published a book of her poetry, Through My Eyes.] I never wanted to be boxed into one area of the arts. But if you push me, I’d say that my heart is in rock & roll. You’ve been given an Honorary Doctorate by Anglia Ruskin University. What’s it for? I was made an Honorary Doctor of Music, and I received it at Cambridge – isn’t that fantastic! I wish my mom and dad were here. That highlights that you’re an expat - you could live anywhere around the world, or back in the States. Why settle in Britain? Nobody plans these things. I’d had two offers of solo contracts in the same week. Jac Holzman, the President of Elektra Records, said he wanted to make me the next Janis Joplin. Mickie Most wanted to make me into the first Suzi Quatro. I didn’t want to be the second anybody, so I went with Mickie. I came here for three months to make an album. It took longer and the months stretched on. I fell in love with my guitar player and I put down roots. I always go back to the States two or three times a year, and I’ve toured there since 1974, but my kids are born and raised here, and without meaning to I became an American in London. But I’m Detroit through and through, and proud of it. I have Detroit friends, and

more than almost anywhere I find that you’re not just an American, you’re from Detroit! That’s the truth! Alice Cooper is a very good friend of mine, and we’ve often talked about this. Detroit has got something in the air, I don’t know what it is, but when you’re from there, you are proud to be from Detroit. There’s an energy there, and a musicality. You’ve got Motown, and white rock & roll, the rich and the poor, and somehow it unites itself. And the MC5 and Iggy Pop... And Bob Seger, and Eminem, and Kid Rock ...I can keep going. Detroit seems to be having a resurgence now. It is – I’ve celebrated my 60th and 65th birthdays there and I’ve seen the difference. They’re building in the city and people are moving back in. It used to look like a war zone, but it’s all going to change. I believe it will all come back, stronger than ever, because the Detroit people’s spirit will never die. Look at me, you got me on my podium about Detroit! Is there anything you miss about the city? When I go to Detroit I OD on it. I always go back to the house I grew up in. Because I was on the road so young there’s a part of me that yearns to go back. I’ve been a gypsy all my life, but I’ll never get rid of that. I do miss America. I very much miss Detroit. But I love living here. I love the British people – they’re unusual, you never know what they’re going to do, and they make it through the most appalling circumstances. Finally, what’s the best thing about being Suzi Quatro? [long pause] ...God, I have about a million answers …That I’m able to make people happy for a couple of hours.

Doctor Suzi Quatro

On October 19, 2016, Suzi Quatro was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Anglia Ruskin University, during the year’s graduation ceremony at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. The university honored her as an adopted East Anglian and a globally-recognised, pioneering talent in a previously male-dominated arena. Suzi will be an inspirational role model to Anglia Ruskin students, as she has been to generations of female musicians. Suzi has had links with Anglia Ruskin for years, and she is collaborating on projects including the Popular Music undergraduate degree course, and work in Music Therapy. Below: Doctor Quatro, I presume! Suzi accepts her Honorary Doctorate at Cambridge

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BURIED CHILD By Sam Shepard Trafalgar Studios, London Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell PHOTOS © JOHAN PERSSON

ll this talk of globalization and ‘left behinds’ gives this transfer from New York of Sam Shepard’s play some added resonance. We’re in rural Illinois in 1978 when the US was in that postVietnam crisis of confidence, plagued by high inflation and with farms and rural communities going under. While Shepard is too much of a poet to do plays about ‘issues’, the disillusionment with the American Dream which was pervasive at that time is certainly mirrored in the fragmentation of this family. This, one of his best, is a cross between O’Neill and Pinter and he gives us a Greek tragedy about a family unable to bury its demons. The father Dodge (Ed Harris), dressed All-American in check shirt and baseball cap, is firmly ensconced in the sofa, in a pit of depression, with a bottle of whisky tucked under his cushion. Upstairs we hear his busybody wife Halie (Amy Madigan) in her own domain, rabbiting on like Winnie in Happy Days, before she descends, the picture of provincial propriety, pontificating about the “stench of sin”, while blithely setting off for an actual tryst with her beloved pastor.

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Dodge’s two sons are in no better shape, both crocked in their own ways. There’s the predatory man-child Bradley (Gary Shelford), who once amputated his own leg. He terrorizes his father with unwanted haircuts while the latter is asleep. There is also the haunted figure of Tilden (Barnaby Kay), recently returned home, who appears covered in muck and clutching root vegetables dug from a garden long thought to be fallow. He is drawn to that garden which we learn was the burial site of an unwanted infant of Halie’s. The third son, Ansel, was a sporting hero, now deceased, whom she still venerates. Scott Elliott who directed it for his company The New Group, off Broadway, gives the piece time to breathe and it pays off. The silences and deadpan humor really enhance the atmosphere as does Derek McLane’s great naturalistic set and Neil Austin’s evocative lighting, which give us the feeling of time passing and life ebbing away. But Shepard writes such great dialogue and such quirky characters that there are no longeurs here. Every character is a mystery. Harris and

Madigan, both with such great screen pedigrees, fit these roles like a pair of gloves and make for a divine acting duo. Elliott also expertly navigates the abrupt change of tone between the rather quirky first act and the much darker and sinister second. The supporting roles too are very well cast. War Horse star Jeremy Irvine plays the demanding role of the prodigal grandson Vince who turns up after 6 years, looking cool with his New York ways and with feisty girlfriend Shelly in tow. Game of Thrones star Charlotte Hope, in an impressive West End debut, gives Shelly a breezy, prickly edge and more than stands her ground against a veteran like Harris. She has come to the Midwest expecting “turkey dinners and apple pie” and is horrified to be abandoned with the family while Vince is sent off to stock up on booze. Like Ruth in The Homecoming this male clan get more than they bargained for with this young woman. It’s the first time we’ve seen Harris and Madigan on the West End stage and they must return soon. This is great American drama served up with confident panache. 

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09/12/2016 16:02

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Which fictional detective takes his coffee with cream in the mornings but black at other times of the day? A) Lieutenant Columbo B) Inspector Gadget C) Philip Marlowe Email your answer to theamerican@blueedge.co.uk with COFFEE USA in the subject line; or send it by postcard to: The American, Old Byre House, Millbrook Lane, East Knoyle, Salisbury SP3 6AW, UK. You must be 18 years old or over to enter. The editor’s decision is final. No cash alternative.

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PHOTO ©ALASTAIR MUIR

King Lear T

he return of Glenda Jackson to the stage after an interval of 23 years during which time she was an MP and junior government minister certainly ranks as a news event. You’d think that having turned 80 her return might be a cameo in something light and easy which involved sitting down. But that’s not Ms Jackson’s style. No, she has opted for probably the most challenging male role in the theater, the thankless old King who rejects his daughters and ends in solitude with the realisation that his life has been a mistake. She is of course perfect casting now that gender neutral is all the rage. She has the androgyny of old age but makes the part her own because she has been able to re-ignite what made her one of our greatest acting stars in the first place – a striking presence and mastery of technique, especially her diction which is as crisp and clean as ever it was. Who better than Glenda to growl “thou art a boil”. It allows what is often a torrent of words to be understood clearly whilst never sacrificing the emotional line and she

By William Shakespeare Old Vic Theatre, London

brings an undoubted poignancy to the quieter moments. The play has been much analyzed as a portrait of senility and mental decline and she calibrates this disintegration with consummate skill. It is a pity however that her return is in such a pitiless production by Deborah Warner. It displays all the, now tired, clichés of modern European theater/opera. Flat lighting that would scare off William Forsythe, the stage as a rehearsal room, the slow accumulation of detritus on stage, pointless disrobing, repetitive nudity and masturbation, incoherent nondesign, more distancing effects than in a revival of the Berliner Ensemble, oh and the staple, black bin liners. None of it aids the comprehension or audibility of the text and some of it is so off target it astonishes. The gouging of Gloucester’s eyes produces giggles, inept fight scenes with flick knives when swords would only suffice and Regan adding combat trousers to her platform-shoed clubbing outfit in the final climatic scenes. The layering of

Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell www.oldvictheatre.com

design elements that didn’t help in the first place makes it more distracting. A top flight supporting cast do rise to the occasion. Casting the huggable National Treasure Celia Imrie as Goneril does make us empathise with her growing irritation. Jane Horrocks too is striking as usual but her Regan is essentially a cackling Bond villainess. Morfydd Clark holds the attention as a strong and confident Cordelia. The revelation though is Rhys Ifans. He cuts through the arcane comedy to give us a Fool with real heart and his comic timing lifts us all. Watching this production is like being allowed to wander into the rehearsal room late in the day. Everything has been put out on the table, every approach, every design ‘solution’ but the next step is to make some decisions and pull it together and I’ve never before seen a production where it all appears just left there. It remains worth seeing however to witness Glenda Jackson’s return in triumph to the West End stage, reminding us what we’ve been missing. 

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here’s a wonderful symmetry to Bill Russell’s book for this unique musical. When we first meet the conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, real life characters who were virtual slaves in a wretched traveling Side Show, they dismiss themselves as “just freaks”. “That’s not the word I’d use” says the kindly Terry (Haydn Oakley) who rescues the pair and tries to instil some self-confidence and hope in them. He gives them a new life on the famous Orpheum vaudeville circuit, during dying days. Years later, just as they’re on the cusp of a promised Hollywood career, they ask the Hollywood producer, who will be their next ‘saviour’, what their movie will be called. “Freaks” he replies as he jauntily walks off. The book of this conventional show about an unconventional pair dares to tackle big themes such as the consequences of treating people as commodities. Being ‘freaks’ provided them with a living. Separation would have given them freedom but also penury as this

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PHOTO ©PAMELA RAITH

Side Show

Book and lyrics by Bill Russell; Music by Henry Krieger Additional book material by Bill Condon Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell Southwark Playhouse, London was Depression-era America. It also, then, ran the real risk of killing them. The pair of course wouldn’t have survived long in the outside world on their own, something their captor/master, ‘Sir’ (Christopher Howell), who rescued them from their ‘Auntie’ in England, points out when fighting a court battle to retain custody. They were always a commodity to be traded and even for Violet’s wedding to a troubled hoofer Buddy (Dominic Hodson), Terry sold 60,000 tickets. The piece sensitively explores how you might have a private life when literally joined at the hip. The strong score, from Dreamgirls’ composer Henry Krieger, provides great opportunities for two top West End performers, Louise Dearman and Laura Pitt-Pulford, to shine as these two, temperamentally very different women, one extrovert and one introvert. Vocally they’re both standouts and in the show’s climactic duet ‘I Will Never Leave You’ they deliver a masterclass in how to act through a song.

The weaknesses in the piece: some clumsy recitative and the odd overegged lyric, are redeemed by a gripping narrative which is stylishly honed here by director Hannah Chissick into a show which has real pace. The ensemble who begin and remain as the motley collection of side show freaks are also superbly polished. The designer Takis also works wonders in evoking the sadness of the fairground. He cleverly uses small crates which come together to form seats or beds or even mirrored dressing-up boxes. The show has had two goes on Broadway, first in 1997 and then in 2014. Both times it was highly admired but, perhaps understandably, its quirkiness failed to draw big audiences. It did however make stars of two great performers: Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner. Southwark Playhouse is to be commended for giving it a London berth as it is a prime example of a slick, modern, Broadway treatment of some challenging but nevertheless compelling material. 

PHOTO ©BRINKHOFF MÖGENBURG

Dream Girls

Book and lyrics by Tom Eyen; Music by Henry Krieger Savoy Theatre, London

hy has it taken this show 35 years to transfer from Broadway? It’s a mystery, but it has arrived and is sensational. Glee star Amber Riley does not just star in it, she owns it, and elicits not one but two standing ovations mid-show. Whilst ovating is de rigeur on Broadway, London audiences have always been more reticent, but Riley appears to have changed that. Dreamgirls is the story of a black female singing trio that rises from the ghetto to national fame during the ‘60s. Like The Supremes, to whom they share more than a passing resemblance, The Dreams have their share of obstacles to overcome. By the end of Act 1 their hard driving manager Curtis (a dashing Joe Aaron Reid) informs Effie (Riley), who is both his lover and the group’s best singer, that she is through. He’s concluded they need to depart the ghetto of R&B for the sunlit, white and far more lucrative uplands of pop. Effie doesn’t fit the bill, she’s big in stature and in voice, so he promotes instead the pretty and svelte Deena (a solid Liisi LaFontaine). Effie’s response is the operatic ‘And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going’. This song has attained a calling-card status for

black soul singers, an X-Factor anthem to affirmation, which is odd considering it’s a song of debasement. Director Casey Nicholaw has the good taste though not to milk it and it emerges organically, almost creeping up on us. Riley proves a true artist though in that she communicates everything through the song. Her sheer talent lifts what could otherwise have been merely a collection of sassy poses. The group start out as backing singers for James Brown-like character Jimmy Early. Adam J Bernard plays Jimmy as if his somebody was after him with a gun. This firecracker of charisma whelps, drops into the splits with effortless ease and has a razor sharp wit. It is a star making performance. Early is of course “too black” for the supper clubs of Miami Beach and Curtis’ attempts to get him to tone down prove more than he can bear. Another victim is the group’s songwriter CC White (Tyrone Huntley). In a wittily staged sequence we see one of his hits get Pat Boone-ified for the TV audience. It’s testament to the brilliance of Michael Bennett’s original conception of the piece that he was able to com-

Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell bine sold gold entertainment with a deft exploration of the cultural assimilation going on in the music business at the time. The business was also riven with payola scandals. Tom Eyen’s great book also sensitively maps the destructive impact of show business life on both marriages and friendships. In a wonderful fusing of art and life two opposing visions for black music, R&B vs pop/disco, fight it out in the show’s hit number ‘One Night Only’. Angered by CC and Effie’s refusal to back down Curtis seeks to destroy them by rushing out a dance version of the song to do battle with Effie’s more traditional take. The show, in constant motion, has no naturalistic settings yet Tim Hatley’s designs and Hugh Vanstone’s lighting are pivotal to its success. Gregg Barnes’ costumes too, revel in the journey from '50s primness to early '70s Day-Glo. We get every possible permutation also on the ‘glitter slash’ curtain, reaching its apotheosis with a blue-tinted diamanté example, in the shape of an arch. You might as well have arrived at the Pearly Gates. This is a show that will require revisiting. 

The American

Swan Lake/Loch na hEala PHOTOS © COLM HOGAN

he Irish company Fabulous Beast Theatre led by Michael KeeganDolan was hailed as one of the most daring and original dance theater companies in the world, with productions which blended narrative and physical theater, dance, speech and song. Three of their productions seen in London - Giselle (2003), The Bull (2005) and The Rite of Spring (2009) - were Olivier nominated and Keegan-Dolan is now an Associate Artist at Sadlers Wells. The legacy of Pina Bausch looms large in his work but with added splashes of dark melancholy, leavened by a wry Irish humor. The company has toured extensively all over the world and is a wondrous, polyglot mix. Phoenix-like he has re-invented Fabulous Beast as a new company called Teac Damsa (variation on Gaelic for “dance house”) where he aims to deepen his connection between his dancing and his rural Irish roots. This move is very evident in his latest work which is a re-interpretation of Swan Lake, blending it with another fable about swans taking human form, the Irish legend of the Children of Lir and setting it in remote, rural Longford, where the company is based. With its stripped-down rehearsal room aesthetic it may look like

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standard issue avant-garde but the piece is fully grounded in the original story. Instead of a lonely Prince Siegfried and his doomed Odette, we are deep in remote, rural, Longford. Jimmy O’Reilly (Alexander Leonhartsberger) is a lonely and depressed young man and on his birthday his mother tries to cheer him up with a party, inviting all the local single girls. But his only interest is the gift bestowed by her, his late father’s shotgun. He escapes to a nearby lake, intending to end it all. There he encounters his Odette. Finola (Rachel Poirier), is a wraith of a girl, made into swan by the sinister local priest who also fell in love with her, until he was caught out and sought his revenge. Dominating the piece is Mikel Murfi, one of Ireland’s great actors, who not only narrates but covers a range of roles from the priest, to a local policemen, to a crooked local councillor (amusingly all called O’Loughlin), and even a tethered goat. It’s a gloriously full blooded performance and it perfectly knits together the various strands here. The script ingenuously integrates into this classic tale many themes of contemporary Ireland – clerical sexual abuse, young male depression, crony politics, ravaged rural

By Michael Keegan-Dolan Sadlers Wells, London Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell

communities - and it manages to do all this with wit. Fusing the local and the universal like this is a true hallmark of excellence. Keegan-Dolan too has sensibly dispensed with Tchaikovsky and replaced it with a vibrant score of original compositions by the trio Slow Moving Clouds. The style is traditional Irish but as one of the musicians is Finnish there are strong Scandinavian influences, so we move from the liveliness of the céili to an achingly beautiful Nordic air. In the company of the swans Jimmy feels alive for the first time and falls so deeply in love that it consumes him. The pas de deux to a Finnish song is ripe with romantic longing. Up till this the choreography seemed constrained by the sheer force of the narrative, commanded as it is by Murfi, but here it is given full flow. Earlier group dances share a primitive, ritualistic, style akin to Mark Morris in his full pantheistic mode. At the end these two casualties of a corrupt, introspective, small town, come together in the afterlife in a joyous crescendo and the finale has a simple beauty that will linger long. 

By Henrik Ibsen in a new version by Patrick Marber National Theatre – Lyttelton Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell

Ruth Wilson and Rafe Spall PHOTO ©JAN VERSWEYVELD

“I

HEDDA GABLER

’ve no talent for life, there’s nothing” says Hedda Gabler. Never before has this aspect of Ibsen’s “bored to death” heroine been brought out more clearly. What we’ll remember of Ruth Wilson’s Hedda though is just how disagreeable she is. Wilson, a double Olivier winner and now a star in the US, thanks to The Affair, makes a triumphant return to the National under the direction of the acclaimed Ivo van Hove. van Hove recently said that for him Hedda wasn’t just a victim of the rigid social conventions of her time but also a flawed manipulator. We feel for her being in this trap but her unhappiness stems from how she got there: the trade-offs she made for security, which then didn’t deliver for her so she takes refuge in her ability to destroy others. She is after all fascinated by the kindly Mrs Elvsted who got out of her marriage and was redeemed by love. Her inability to do likewise is at the core of her unhappiness and her scathing dismissal of everyone, to her confidante and lover Judge Brack, speaks volumes about what a coiled spring of anger she is. It’s a refreshing reading of the play and Wilson is glorious in how she orchestrates Hedda’s

many moods, from intelligence and playfulness to manipulation and self-loathing. With this production van Hove demonstrates again why he has gone from Benelux avant-garde to being one of the world’s most acclaimed directors. Let loose on a classic he strips it bare and rebuilds, so it’s like seeing and hearing it afresh. The settings are always vaguely modern but never time specific and his blocking eschews naturalism. It’s the emotions he conjures up though which are key and these are always perfectly etched. Jan Versweyveld’s designs, too, succeed in making really effective use of the vast width of the Lyttelton. The Tesman household is a stark modern apartment. Three huge white walls trap Hedda in the space and other characters enter from the auditorium. It’s almost as if she’s a wild bird which got trapped in a gallery. There are also some wonderfully expressionistic flourishes, such as when she demolishes bouquets of flowers, some of which she then staples to the walls or, when the blackmailing Judge Brack sprays her with a red liquid signifying his control over her. Hedda is always an object and

we see her husband, Tesman, revel in his proprietorship of her body. Fast rising American star Kyle Soller (of Poldark fame) gives a refreshing take on him. Instead of the usual wet rag, we get a more dynamic character: vain and selfishly absorbed. The other stand-out is Rafe Spall as Judge Brack who has the presence and swagger of a hedge fund king enhanced with a basso voice. He quickly takes control of every situation and plays Hedda for all she’s worth. Tom Gibbons’ sound design is ravishing and complements van Hove’s clever use of songs by Joni Mitchell, Jeff Buckley and Nina Simone. It’s certainly not your typical bookshelves and corsets Ibsen. van Hove has had an astonishing year with Tonys for A View from the Bridge and The Crucible, transferring the Bowie musical Lazarus to London and now this. All the while he runs the great ensemble company Toneelgroep Amsterdam and next year no less than three of his epic productions for them will visit the Barbican. Meanwhile this production will be broadcast live to cinemas worldwide on 9 March 2017 as part of NT Live. 

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BOOKS The Holidays are over, but the days are still short and the evenings long. Here are some publications that we’ve enjoyed recently, that you might want to curl up in front of a fire with. Reviewed by Virginia Schultz.

Betrayal

Martina Cole Hardcover: 480 pages

Headline ISBN: 978-1472201034 This is not an easy book to read. As always, Cole grabs you by the neck and shakes you like a feather duster until you’re dizzy with fatigue. Aiden O’Hara has been head of the family since he was a boy. He was a brilliant student whose teachers wanted him to go on with his education, but Reeva, his mother, turns down the opportunity offered him. Reeva loves her children, all of different fathers as well as race, yet despite her lifestyle, is liked as well as respected because friends and enemies know she’ll be there for them if needed. The criminal element Aiden becomes involved with is Mafia with a British accent. He marries Jade and they have a son. He owns a number of clubs, but there is a hardness about him that no one,

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not his wife, mother or members of his family can penetrate. There’s a Cane and Abel twist at the end of the book. A book, I might add, that should be and undoubtedly will be made into a film. In fact, if I were an actor, I’d be talking to my agent now. Aiden in the film I am certain they will make from this book.

Windows on the World Complete Wine Course, 2017 edition Kevin Zraly Hardcover: 386 pages

Publisher ISBN: 978-1454921066 I was in New York on 9/11 and had planned to go to Windows on the World restaurant for lunch and I don’t have to give an explanation as why my plans were sadly and unexpectedly changed. I still recall a black woman watching the TV in the window of one of the stores and bursting into tears, crying, “My nephew works there.” I held her sobbing in my arms for a least five minutes and then she whispered, “Thank you” and walked the opposite way on Madison Avenue I was going and I never saw her again. I oftentimes think of that time when I refer to this book. It is one of the best books on learning about wine sold. Explanations are

Dissolution

C. J. Sansom Paperback: 480 pages

Pan ISBN: 978-1447285830 It is the time of the Tudors, and England is going through the greatest changes since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself head of the Church and on his orders a team of commissioners are sent by Thomas Cromwell to investigate the monasteries. One of them, Robert Singleton, has been murdered, his head severed from his body and Cromwell asks Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer and a long time supporter of reform, to find out who committed this horrific murder. I wish I had read this book when I was studying the Tudor period for it brings the era vividly alive with all the sights, sounds - and smells - of that turbulent age. Shardlake himself is a fascinating character for he is a hunchback who is often feared because of his disability. This is the first of a series of Shardlake novels and I plan to start reading the next one, Dark Fire, in the near future.

simple and clearly explained and even I, who write about wine, am constantly checking some fact I’m not certain of. Highly recommended.

New American Releases in the UK

Horrible Histories Magazine

Arcadia Publishing and History Press, one of the largest publishers of local and regional content in the USA, are releasing several US inspired books in the UK in January and February 2017. Southern Food and Civil Rights: Feeding the Revolution by Frederick Douglas Opie (ISBN: 9781467137386) combines history with cooking. The author, Professor of History and Foodways at Babson College, reveals how the Civil Rights movement was fueled by a distinct culinary style, and offers recipes on treasured meals of the era. The Blue Angels, by Maureen Smith Keillor and Evelyn L Wheeler (ISBN: 9781467117470) is a pictorial history book in tribute to the Navy’s Flight Demonstra-

Terry Deary & various authors

Eaglemoss Publications If you see this magazine on the newsstand, you may pass it by, but DON’T! It is a great magazine to learn about history for any child from eight and up. At times it can be irreverent and even crude, but hey, that’s history. My eight year old granddaughter has learned more about the past than all the proper books at school. It has, however, given her more interest in yesterday because it’s not ever dry or boring. It also sparks her interest in more serious books which is what we all want.

AND

The Hiﬆory Press

tion Team. Formed in 1946, the Angels were established by Admiral Chester W Nimitz to “showcase the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country through flight demonstrations and community outreach”. A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo (ISBN: 9781467137393) focuses on Beale Street in Memphis, which may be recognized for its musical influence, but was also once a hub for Hoodoo culture. Ethnographer and writer Tony Kail traces the mysterious tradition’s role on Memphis and its inhabitants.

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The American People Have Spoken

Sir Robert Worcester, founder of pollsters MORI, rounds up the available election data

s The American goes to press in late December, there is still no official final count from the November 8 ballot in which the people elected Donald Trump President under the Electoral College system. His inauguration is scheduled for January 20, 2017. Yet his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, had the support of considerably more voters than Trump. America today is a closely divided country. But, playing by the rules, Clinton conceded the election even before all the ballots were counted,

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as did Al Gore in 2000 when he had more votes but George W Bush won in the Electoral College.

How close it really was

Polls early on in the campaign reported that the marginal states where the election would be decided were three key states: Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Voters in these states elected Trump over Clinton. Trump had to win all three, and he did, but if one person in one hundred in Pennsylvania with its 20 electoral votes and one person in one hun-

dred in Florida with 19 electors voted for Clinton rather than Trump, along with New Hampshire’s four electors, Mrs Clinton would be headed for the White House in January with one more delegate than the 270 she had to win to be president. That’s how close this election was. As President-elect, Trump will now be concentrating on choosing his administration, with the single most important nomination the judge to put forward to fill the vacancy left by the death of the conservative Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court. Further,

Election night images Opposite: Donald Trump. This page: the US Embassy in London © US EMBASSY LONDON

it is anticipated that during Trump’s four year term of office he will have the opportunity to fill two more Justices, possibly three. This would have an impact on American foreign and domestic policy for decades. President Trump’s programme will not necessarily have an easy ride in the Congress. The Senate kept its Republican majority, but narrowly, and the House of Representatives is still controlled by the GOP, but there are a number of Senators who dissociated themselves from supporting Trump believing that he was untrustworthy or worse to be considered to be president, especially commander in chief. In this, they have the support of more than nine in ten of the American people (94% said Clinton would be tustworthy, with just four percent saying that Trump would be, according to the Exit Poll*).

Exit Poll Results

When the first results of the Exit Poll* were put up on the screen before the polling stations closed, showing that of the 62%** of voters were white, Trump had a 14 point lead over Clinton, 53% to 39%, it was clear that it was much more likely to

be Trump’s night than the tracking polls running up to the election had suggested. While by 2 to 1 most people who supported Clinton thought foreign policy was the most important issue (60% to 34%), followed by the economy (52% to 42%), Trump supporters said Immigration (64%) and Terrorism (57%) were most important. The candidate qualities thought to be important show the divisions in the minds of the voters. It is clear that while the Trump supporters wanted change, 83% to 14%, Clinton’s supporters thought that the most important traits were right experience, 90% to 8%; good judgement, 66% to 26%, and cared about people like themselves, 58% Clinton to 35% for Trump. Mrs Clinton was thought by 82% to have the right temperament to serve effectively as President, among Mr Trump’s supporters the figure was 72%. There was much speculation among the media during the campaign about honesty and trustworthiness of the candidates; and ended in a tie, as 94% of Trump’s supporters thought he did, as did 94% of Clinton’s who thought she did. Much was also made during the

campaign of demographic and geographic differences, and it is interesting to note that City dwellers were by nearly two to one, 59% to 35% for Clinton, among those in small cities or rural areas it was the reverse, 62% for Trump and 34% for Clinton. Surprisingly however, income was not what was thought, as among the very small proportion of the electorate who are in households whose family incomes are $250,000 or more, votes were evenly split, 48% for Trump and 46% for Clinton, while among the under $30,000 family income households Clinton did better at 53% than Trump at 41%. Nor was there the anticipated difference by amount of education. Of college graduates, 49% were for Clinton, and nearly as many, 45%, Trump, and of high school or less, 45% for Clinton and 51% for Trump. * Edison Research conducted the Exit Poll among a sample of 24,537 voters leaving 350 voting places across the US on Election Day including 4,398 telephone interviews with early and absentee voters. ** (later results went up to 70% whites)

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Polling booths open for business in New Hampshire © NSHEPARD

Polling in a Post-Truth World

MORI founder Sir Robert Worcester explains what happened to the polls in the presidential election

he American Presidential Election was the biggest political upset in American History. Britain’s Brexit also took the British people and experts by surprise. Much analysis has been written about the parallel between these two comparable outcomes and why these elections have come out the way they did and why. Much criticism has been levelled at the polls not ‘getting it right’, or as one otherwise very knowledgeable person put it to me recently, “How did the polls get it so wrong?”. My response? “They didn’t”.

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One thing is clear from the abuse heaped on the polls by people who should know better. Few political pundits and even fewer journalists know little and understand less about the uses and limitation of opinion polls. Polls are done systematically and objectively for the most part, and pollsters do their best to ‘get it right’. They have every incentive to do so. Sometimes they do ‘get it right’, spot on in fact, but the record has not been good enough recently to satisfy the likes of writers in the London Times’ TMS columnist (“Now we can

all agree that opinion polls are almost useless”), or the slagging off on BBC Newsnight, and even the political cartoonist, Matt, in The Daily Telegraph, immediately after the election of President-elect Donald Trump. If you go to the horse races, your eyes tell you which horse is ahead, which is behind, and the likely winner. In elections, the polls are your eyes at the track. But sometimes horses win by a nose, and not even your eyes can tell you which horse won in a photo finish. The same applies to opinion polling during elections and referen-

dums, and both the US election and the vote to determine Britain’s future, or not, within the European Union, were ‘photo-finishes’. Polls early on in the American campaign reported that some of the marginal states where the election would be decided were Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump had to win all three, and he did. Just. In Pennsylvania, Trump’s margin of victory was some 55,000 out of 4.9 million who voted, in Michigan 11,000 out of 2.5 million, and in Wisconsin 22,200 out of 2.8 million.) That’s how close this election was. In fact, the six likely ‘swing’ states were all photo-finishes. Most people accept that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over 2 million votes, but the Electoral College system decided who would be

the President-elect, and so Trump won. Some have alleged that the polls are ‘rigged’, as Donald Trump said during the campaign when he was lagging in the polls. Now he’s claiming the popular vote was rigged as well, as he stated just after the count that millions of bogus votes were counted for Clinton. Pollsters have every incentive to ‘get it right’, and go to great lengths to try to do so. The tools that pollsters have to assess the electorate’s propensity to vote and their predictive voting behaviour, is based on their ‘views’ and are subject to the laws of statistics. Yet media expectations, and therefore the expectations of the public, are that they are gospel, and if proved fallible as a forecast of the outcome on the day, many say that

polls are useless. Polls depend on what people tell the pollsters, and most people tell the truth. Polls are systematic and objectives and if they are not, they are soon found out by the results of others polling on the same election or same issues. Polls can tell you what the public are thinking, where they have the ability to define the universe (potential voters most likely to cast their ballots) with reasonable precision, model the universe to be sampled accurately, draw a representative sample, reach the selected people in the sample with sufficient success to be able to elicit their views, return their views to the researcher, code the answers, aggregate them with accuracy, and report the collective responses with objectivity.

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Wait Till This Year

Cubs Beat Goat Curse! Jay B Webster reports

pent up emotion that comes with a century of losing; goats, ghosts, curses, black cats and Bartman be damned.

“The Chicago Cubs win the World Series”.

Close Calls

ords not uttered in 108 years sprang from the mouths of baseball fans around the world on a balmy night in Cleveland: Such simple words, words that have waited for an eternity for their chance to spring forth. Instead it was always ‘Wait till next year’ that passed the lips of Cubs fans, season after season, through wars and depresions, horse drawn carriages to automobiles to jet planes, from telegraphs to transistor radios to live video of games streaming to a device you hold in your hand. 1908. It boggles the mind that fans of Chicago’s north side baseball team would have to wait so long. But, now they’re not just saying it, they are shouting it from the rooftops, with all the 70

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Oh there were close calls since Mordecai ‘Three Fingers’ Brown, and the legendary double-play combination of Tinkers to Evers to Chance won their second consecutive World Series title over the Detroit Tigers in five games, eight years before the Cubs moved into Weeghman Park on the corner of Clark and Addison Streets. In 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938 the Cubs reached the World Series, only to lose each time. Then came 1945. After winning the pennant with a 98-56 record, the Cubs faced the Tigers in the World Series. They won 2 of the first 3 games in Detroit,

but it was during game 4 that Chicago tavern owner William Sianis was asked to leave Wrigley Field along with the pet goat he had brought to the game. It was then, legend has it, that he muttered the words “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more,” and the Curse of the Billy Goat was born. The Cubs went on to lose Game 7 that year by a score of 9-3 – the last whiff of October baseball Wrigley Field was to see for 71 years. Lean years followed, and it was 1968 before the likes of Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ferguson Jenkins were even able to string together two consecutive winning seasons. In 1969, the Cubs led the National League Eastern Division by 8 ½ games in mid August. They went on to post a record of 18-27 the rest of the way, losing the

The Chicago Cubs team that last won in 1908 PHOTO GEORGE R LAWRENCE, PUBLIC DOMAIN

pennant to the New York Mets. The swoon was attributed by the superstitious to a black cat that wandered across the on-deck circle at Shea Stadium where third baseman Ron Santo was standing during a game against the Mets. It was during the 1970s that the Cubs earned the moniker the Loveable Losers, and it was 1984 before the team finally managed to get back to the playoffs behind Ryne Sandberg and Rick Sutcliffe. But with a 3-2 lead in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Padres, and just nine outs away from the World Series, a Steve Garvey ground ball went between the legs of first baseman Leon Durham, starting a rally that saw the Cubs denied in heart-breaking fashion yet again. 1989 again saw the Cubbies in the playoffs, this time against the Giants, but after splitting the first two games in Chicago, the Cubs lost three straight in San Fran, despite holding the lead at some point in each of the three games.

Don’t Blame Bartman

Then, of course, there was 2003. Three-games-to-one series lead in the National League Championship Series, Cubs leading 3-0 with one out in the eighth. They were but five tantalizing outs away from the World Series when the Marlins’ Luis Castillo lofted a fly ball down the left field line and towards the seats. Left fielder Moisés Alou rises up, reaching into the stands to snag the second out, but it is Cubs fan Steve Bartman, eyes on the ball, oblivious to Alou’s endeavours, who reaches out, the ball clanking off his hands

and into oblivion. Castillo draws a walk, and two batters later, it’s a high chopper directly at shortstop Alex Gonzalez, a tailormade, inning-ending doubleplay ball. Only it isn’t. Gonzalez boots it. Bases loaded. It is eight painful runs later before the inning mercifully ends, as the game slips away. In Game 7, Kerry Wood takes the hill. Twice the Cubs take the lead. Twice they fail to hold it, and the Marlins, in just their tenth year of existence, deny the Cubs yet again. The irony is that this one was never really on Bartman. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, a pawn of destiny, caught up in a narrative well beyond him that somehow managed to take on a life of its own. The Bartman curse was never really his. It has always rightfully belonged to Gonzalez. Bartman simply took the bullet. All those years of frustration mounted and continued, swirling, echoing through history, magnified every step of the way. Playoff appearances in 2007 and 2008 ended in inglorious sweeps. Then there were 91 losses in 2011, 101 in 2012 and 96 more the following year. But the seeds were being planted. A young prospect named Anthony

Rizzo was acquired in a trade with the Padres in 2012. Kris Bryant was taken with the second pick in the 2013 draft. Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler were picked up in trades the next year, and Joe Maddon signed as manager. The pieces were falling into place.

The Curse is No More

Then came 2016. The Cubs are consensus favorites to break The Curse. 103 wins follow, the most for a Cubs team since 1910. The whispers turn into screams, the expectations grow to biblical proportions. In the playoffs, the San Francisco Giants are up first. Three wins and one loss later, the first ghost is slain. Now it’s on to LA in the National League Championship Series. An 8-4 win in Game 1 keeps things rolling, but then the bats go cold and the Cubs fail to score even a run in Game 2 or 3. The ghosts start rattling their chains, but the team responds with a 10-2 explosion, and goes on to close out the series in six games. In the ninth inning of Game The American

William Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, being denied entry to Wrigley Field by usher Olaf Logan, a re-enactment of the incident that started the ‘goat curse’

6, closer Aroldis Chapman is flinging his 100+-mph bee bees when he walks the second batter with one out. Are the ghosts awakening, the doubts and memories starting to swirl? Yasiel Puig steps to the plate and fittingly hits a high chopper directly at shortstop Addison Russell, another tailor-made, inning-ending double-play ball. Here we go again. Russell fields flawlessly, flips to second baseman Javier Báez, who fires a strike to Rizzo at first. Double play. World Series. Finally. All those ghosts slain in one fell swoop. Steve Bartman mercifully, rightfully and eternally off the hook. The party is on, the Champagne flows in the Cubs’ luxurious new locker rooms in the heart of Wrigley Field. As euphoric as the moment is, as rich and dripping with history, it is only the ghosts from 1945 that have been quieted. But those of Tinkers and Evers and Chance, older than Wrigley Field itself, are still whispering in the Wrigleyville night. Getting to the World Series is undoubtedly a victory in itself, but the Cleveland Indians stand between the Cubs and the ultimate prize – a team that has sliced through the Red Sox and Blue Jays in these playoffs with 72

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but one blemish to show. Indians’ ace Corey Kluber is masterful in Game 1, engineering a 6-0 shutout. The Cubs rally for a 5-1 win in Game 2, but fail to score yet again in Game 3, a 1-0 loss in the first World Series game at Wrigley since 1945. Game 4 ends in a 7-2 loss and we wonder if this is as far as it goes. Was this summit of reaching the World Series as high as this team could go this time around? If so, it was certainly all worth it, but 108 years would only become 109, the weight of history would only become heavier. In Game 5, the Cubs score three in the fourth. It’s 3-2 with one out in the 7th when Maddon summons Chapman from the bullpen. There are eight outs to record. That’s usually enough for a closer to get three saves. Chapman closes out the 7th, gives up but a single in the 8th and retires the side in the 9th, striking out José Ramírez to send the series back to Cleveland. It’s not over yet, but they’ll have to

win two in Cleveland. The Cubs explode for seven in the opening three innings of Game 6, including an Addison Russell grand slam, and it’s essentially over early. But with a 7-2 lead and the Indians threatening in the 7th, Maddon calls on Chapman yet again. He records the final out, and cruises through the 8th, even returning to start the 9th after Rizzo’s two-run homer extends the lead to 9-2. After walking the leadoff batter, Maddon relents, bringing Pedro Strop and Travis Wood in to record the last three outs. But by now Chapman has a heap of pitches under his belt in back-toback nights. On to Game 7 of the World Series. What more can you say? Every baseball fans’ dream, with all of the history and heartache weighing on Cubs fans, to boot. Dexter Fowler leads the game off with a home run for the Cubs. They add two in the 4th and two more in the 5th. Up 5-1 in the bottom of the 5th, Maddon elects to remove starter Kyle Hendricks, who looks in control, after he gives up a two-out walk, and brings in Jon Lester, a starter not used to stepping into the middle of an inning and inheriting base runners. A throwing error by catcher David Ross on a dribbler in front of the plate is followed by a wild pitch that allows two runs to score. Suddenly it’s 5-3.

One for the Ages

Why does it matter? Grown

PHOTO JULIE FENNELL/UCINTERNATIONAL

Ross atones for his sins with a solo homer in the top of the 6th to make it a 6-3 game. Lester looks much more composed coming back out to start the bottom of the inning, getting through the 6th and 7th innings unscathed. After retiring the first two batters in the 8th, José Ramírez lines a single up the middle and Madden elects to go to Chapman for the third straight day. And it looks like he’s gone to the well one too many times as Chapman, clearly showing the effects of so much work, promptly gives up an RBI double to Brandon Guyer before Rajai Davis blows the lid off the place with a game-tying two-run blast over the wall in left. Amazingly, Chapman returns for the 9th, and retires the side in order. Extra innings. In the words of the immortal Harry Caray, ‘Holy cow!’ A 17-minute rain delay allows the Cubs to regroup. In the top of the 10th, Ben Zobrist, who won a ring with the Royals a year ago, doubles home Albert Almora Jr, and Miguel Montero brings him home with a single. The Indians plate a run in the bottom of the 10th, but Mike Montgomery gets Michael Martínez to roll softly to Bryant at third, who throws to Rizzo and it’s all over. They’ve finally done it. The Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

Second baseman Javier Báez takes stock, July 16, 2016

men playing children’s games hold outsized importance in general in our society, at least in proportion to their relevance to our existence and physical well being. But I was raised a Cubs fan, as were my father, and his father before him. All of those shortcomings, losing seasons and heartbreaks echo through the years on a very personal level for a lot of us Cubs fans. I remember watching woeful Cubs teams lose games in a half-filled Wrigley Field as a kid in the '70s. I remember sitting in front of the television with the whole family (and a few of the neighbors) as that ball went through Leon Durham’s legs in the 1984 playoffs. I remember skipping classes in college to go to Wrigley Field and pay 5 bucks for a seat in the bleachers, and I was lucky enough to have a job in the early '90s that regularly got me into the press box. The Cubs, and Wrigley Field, have always had an outsized place in my personal history and my psyche, stretching all the way back to my childhood, and even

though it’s just a baseball game, it really is something special to me; to us. This title echoes, it resounds, through the ages and through the years, and decades, and it means a lot because of all those people who didn’t get to see it. For Harry Caray, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Jack Brickhouse, and my grandfather, and all those generations of Cubs fans who kept being Cubs fans despite it all. The good thing is the Cubs are poised for years of success with the young roster and coaching staff they have assembled. It most likely will not be another 108 years until the next World Series appearance or title. But as Red Sox fans will attest, there is nothing as sweet as that first one, breaking that curse and putting the ghosts to bed, and we Cubs fans will enjoy, savor and pack away the memories of how sweet those words sounded as we screamed them out on November 2nd, 2016: Cubs win. Cubs win. Holy cow. The American

by Jay B Webster

Billion Dollar Stadia I

t looms imposingly on the Minneapolis skyline, looking more like an art gallery or opera hall than a sports stadium. What it is, however, is US Bank Stadium, the brand spanking new $1.13 billion home of the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings. Built on the site of the old, and very dated, Metrodome, with its creaky plumbing and collapsing roof, the palatial new stadium, thirty stories tall at its highest point, is twice the size of its predecessor. In fact, the old dome would easily fit inside the new digs. Supposedly inspired by rock and ice formations in the Mississippi River, which keeps the sibling Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul an arm’s length apart, the sleek, modern, angular design also evokes a Viking ship cutting through the waters. The impressive and imposing architecture of the stadium is accompanied by a rich array of features, amenities and luxurious indulgences and is but the

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next step in ultra modern, billiondollar sports stadiums which continue to spring up across America in an arms race that, despite the costs involved, shows no signs of abating any time soon. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Minneapolis’ stadium is the clear space-age plastic called ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) that composes 60% of the roof, allowing natural light to flood the playing surface while keeping out the notoriously inhospitable Minnesota winter weather (just ask Vikings place kicker Blair Walsh, who missed a potential gamewinning field goal in swirling -25 F winds at the end of last season’s NFC Wild Card game at outdoor TFC Stadium how inhospitable it can be). “Clear is the new retractable,” quipped Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf, who, when exploring the options for his new stadium, discovered that retractable roofs on NFL fields were only opened

four to five times a year, while adding roughly $75 million to construction costs. The entire west end of the new stadium is covered in glass panels as well, offering scintillating views of the Minneapolis skyline. The West Plaza entrance also incorporates five of the world’s largest hinged doors, ranging from 75 to 90 feet tall, which can be fully opened to let in the more hospitable elements. While it is undoubtedly impressive from the outside, the wow factor continues once fans set foot inside the building. Turf suites are at field level, literally on the sidelines, allowing fans to practically step onto the field. The Vikings players walk through the Delta Sky Club to get between the locker room and the field. And the stadium boasts seats which are closer to the action than in any other NFL stadium (41 feet from sideline to first row). All of this adds up to an unprecedented up-close-and-

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personal NFL experience. Even all the way up in the cheap(er) seats, sightlines are impeccable. There’s a fantasy football lounge and a “Club Purple”, effectively an in-stadium nightclub where members watch the game from plush sofas and can warm up around a fire pit on a deck overlooking the city. Not to mention a vast array of food and drink options available at over 400 concession points, with offerings from television chef Andrew Zimmern and trendy Minneapolis restaurants like Spoon and Stable and Revival. In step with today’s wireless world, fans can plug into the stadium’s massive bandwidth through their smart phones, not only to find out which bathrooms and concession stands have the shortest lines, but even to put in an order and have it brought straight to their seat. Fans can also access six different live feeds of the game with instant replays and shareable clips, so they can catch replays even if they miss them on the mammoth HD video screens situated above the end zones. NFL owners realize that they are literally competing with the living room sofa and 64-inch 4K Ultra HD televisions, and the stadium experience has to offer a compelling alternative to staying home to watch the games. Of course luxury and amenities come at a price, and US Bank Stadium is no exception. The Vikings continued the recent trend of financing models for new stadiums by charging season ticket holders a “stadium builder’s license,” or SBL, for the right to purchase tickets for a particular seat. Once a fan pays for a license, they control the seat for as long as they continue to buy

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season tickets. After the first year they can sell the license. The average seat license at US Bank Stadium is $2,500, going all the way up to $9,500. The license fee only guarantees you the right to pay for the individual tickets for the seats, which are $400 per game at the high end, with access to the field-level club attached to the team’s locker room, to $50 for seats up in the clouds. Of the 62,000 seats in the stadium, 50,000 require the purchase of a license. Facing increases of 25 to 50 percent over the cost of tickets in the old Metrodome, fans grumbled and complained, but ultimately, wrote the checks. 90 percent of season tickets for the stadium’s inaugural season were sold by July. Even for local residents who never go to Vikings games, the financing of the stadium was a lesson in sticker-shock economics. Of the $1.13 billion cost of the stadium, taxpayers picked up almost $500 million, a trend that has played out again and again across the American sporting landscape. Nationwide, taxpayers over the last 18 years have spent nearly $5 billion to help build 20 new NFL stadiums. Teams argue that sports stadiums are investments, pumping funds and funneling business into local economies. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority claim there has been $1 billion of private development linked to the new building so far, and that the Super Bowl and Final Four, just two marquee events scheduled to be held there in the coming years, could bring a further $600 million into the local economy. But not everyone is convinced.

Politicians and economists often question whether benefits of sports stadiums really spill over to the local communities, or whether public stadium funding simply amounts to massive handouts to already thriving private enterprises. The fact is, sports teams are primarily emotive issues within local communities, rather than economic. Teams gain leverage by threatening relocation, and local politicians tend to manage to come up with the money. Whether sports stadiums are good investments or not, when push comes to shove, the fans almost always come up with the money to pay for the seats, and the local governments hand out the taxpayer money to get the stadiums built. The trend isn’t going away anytime soon. In Atlanta, $600 million in public money is already on the table for the new Falcons stadium, which is expected to cost upwards of $1.6 billion. And word is that the Rams’ new 80,000-seat stadium in Los Angeles – to be ready in time for the 2019 season – will blow everything that has come before out of the water, and is projected to become the most expensive stadium in the world, with an estimated cost in the neighbourhood of $2.6 billion. They might be solid investments in local economies or simply gaudy paeans of civic pride, depending on your perspective. But as long as the appetite and the market exist to sell these expensive indulgences to local football fans, politicians and taxpayers, these luxurious sports stadiums, with their outrageous price tags, as well as the desire to out-do everyone else, will only continue.

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American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery 020 7312 2444 individualgiving@npg.org.uk www.npg.org.uk/support.php

American Friends of the Philharmonia Orchestra jennifer.davies@philharmonia.co.uk www.philharmonia.co.uk/support/friends/afpo/ American Friends of the Royal Court Theatre U.S.: Laurie Beckelman, Beckelman and Capalino +1.212.616.5822, laurie@beckcap.com UK: Gaby Styles, Head of Development 020 7565 5060 gabystyles@royalcourttheatre.com or info@afrct.org American Friends of the Royal Institution U.S.: c/o Chapel & York Limited, PMB #293, South Building Washington, DC 20004 UK: The Development Office, Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS 020 7670 2991 kdodd@ri.ac.uk www.rigb.org American Friends of the Royal Society http://royalsociety.org/Overseas-Donations development@royalsociety.org 020 7451 2211 American Friends of Sadler’s Wells USA: 222 Park Avenue South, 10A, New York, NY 10003 +1.917.539.9021 americanfriends@sadlerswells.com www.sadlerswells.com/page/american-friends UK: 020 7863 8134 development@sadlerswells.com American Friends of St Bartholomew the Great 2925 Briarpark, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77042, USA. UK: 020 7606 5171, administrator@greatstbarts.com Shakespeare’s Birthplace America John Chwat, President, 625 Slaters Lane, Suite 103, Alexandria, VA 22314, +1. 703.684.7703 www.shakespeare.org.uk/support-us/sba American Friends of the Victoria and Albert Mus. U.S.: Diana Seaton, Executive Director 61 Londonderry Drive, Greenwich, CT 06830 +1.203.536.4328 diana.seaton@afvam.org www.afvam.org UK: 020 7942 2149 American Friends of Wigmore Hall U.S.: c/o Chapel and York, 1000 N West Street Suite 1200, Wilmington DE 19801. UK: 020 7258 8220, mhosterweil@wigmore-hall.org.uk American Institute of Architects 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX 020 3318 5722 membership@aiauk.org, www.aiauk.org American International Church Pastor: Rev. Jennifer Mills-Knutsen 79a Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TD 020 7580 2791/07771 642875 www.amchurch.co.uk churchsecretary@amchurch.co.uk American Museum in Britain Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD. 01225 460503. info@americanmuseum.org www.americanmuseum.org American Red Cross RAF Mildenhall, red.crossv3@mildenhall.af.mil 01638 543742 US (Toll free) +001 877 272 7337 Facebook RAFL.RAFM.RedCross

The American

American Voices International (AVI) - PAC http://avipac.org events@avipac.org @AVInterPAC American Women Lawyers in London www.awll.org.uk joanne@awll.org.uk The Anglo-American Charity Limited Jeffrey Hedges, Director. 07968 513 631, info@anglo-americancharity.org www.anglo-americancharity.org The Association of Americans Resident Overseas 34 avenue de New York, 75116 Paris, France + 33 1 47 20 24 15 www.aaro.org Association for Rescue at Sea To make a tax efficient gift to the Royal National Lifeboat Association contact AFRAS. Mrs. Anne C. Kifer, P.O. Box 565 Fish Creek, WI 54212, USA, 00-1-920-743-5434 ackafras@aol.com Atlantic Council UK 185 Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UF 0207 403 0640 info@atlanticcounciluk.org Bentwaters Cold War Museum c/o Bentwaters Aviation Society, Building 134 Bentwaters Parks, Rendlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 2TW 07588 877020 info@bcwm.org.uk Bethesda Baptist Church Kensington Place, London W8. 020 7221 7039 office@bethesdabaptist.org.uk bethesdabaptist.org.uk Boy Scouts of America in the UK Mayflower District 075 9210 1013 crpriddy@bsamail.org Find your local Troop at the website www.tac-bsa.org/Districts/Mayflower/Unit List British American Business Inc. 75 Brook Street, London, W1K 4AD. 020 7290 9888 www.babinc.org ukinfo@babinc.org British American-Canadian Associates Contact via The English Speaking Union – esu@esu.org Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 66-68 Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2PA 020 7584 7553 adcockmp@ldschurch.org https://lds.org.uk, http://mormon.org Church of St. John the Evangelist Vicar: Reverend Stephen Mason. Hyde Park Crescent, London W2 2QD 020 7262 1732, parishadmin@stjohns-hydepark.com www.stjohns-hydepark.com Commonwealth Church Rev. Rod Anderson, PO Box 15027, London SE5 0YS commonwealthchurch.com Democrats Abroad (UK) Box 65, 22 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JE www.democratsabroad.org.uk 020 7724 9796 www.democratsabroad.org/group/united-kingdom Register to vote: www.votefromabroad.org

The American

Farm Street Church 114 Mount Street, Mayfair, London W1K 3AH Tel: 020 7493 7811 www.farmstreet.org.uk

Methodist Central Hall Westminster, London SW1H 9NH 020 7654 3809, church@mchw.org.uk www.methodist-central-hall.org.uk

Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) Department of Defense, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington DC 20301-1155. UK 0800 028 8056, US:1-800-438- VOTE (8683). www.fvap.gov vote@fvap.ncr.gov

North Am. Friends of Chawton House Library US Office: 824 Roosevelt Trail, #130, Windham, ME 04062 +1.207 892 4358 UK Office: Chawton House Library, Chawton, Alton, Hampshire GU34 1SJ 01420 541010 www.chawtonhouse.org

Friends of Benjamin Franklin House Director: Dr. Márcia Balisciano 36 Craven St,London WC2N 5NF 0207 839 2006 www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org Friends of Jewish Museum London Oliver Nesbitt 020 7284 7379 oliver.nesbitt@jewishmuseum.org.uk www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/friends Friends of Chicksands Priory (12th Century) Julie Benson 01525 860497 friendsofchicksands@gmail.com www.chicksandspriory.co.uk Friends of St Jude London Debbie Berger debbie.berger@stjude.org 07738 628126 www.friendsofstjude.org/london Grampian Houston Association Secretary: Bill Neish, 01224 484720, wineish@sky.com 5 Cairncry Avenue, Aberdeen, AB16 5DS International Community Church (Interdenom.) Pastor: Rick Andrew 01932 571820 Chertsey Hall, Heriot Road, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 9DR Office: 13 London Street, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8AP churchoffice@icc-uk.org www.icc-uk.org Junior League of London President: Suzy Bibko; Office Admin: Ruth Linton CAN Mezzanine , 49-51 East Road , London N1 6AH Tel: 020 7499 8159 jrleague@jll.org.uk www.jll.org.uk Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 19 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PT. Tel: 020 7713 2030 info@jdrf.org.uk www.jdrf.org.uk

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner 5th Floor, Counting House, 53 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QN 0207 211 1500 info@oisc.gov.uk www.oisc.gov.uk Republicans Overseas UK Chair Malise Sundstrom www.republicansoverseas-uk.com chair@republicansoverseas-uk.com wlowery@republicansoverseas-uk.com Rotaract in Great Britain & Ireland For 18-30 year olds, international membership www.rotaract.org.uk Rotary Club of London 6 York Gate, London NW1 4QG. Tel. 020 7487 5429 Rotary Great Britain and Ireland www.ribi.org, membership.rcol@gmail.com Royal National Lifeboat Institution Head Office, West Quay Road, Poole BH15 1HZ 0845 045 6999 www.rnli.org.uk The Royal Oak Foundation Sean Sawyer, 35 West 35th Street #1200, New York NY 10001-2205 USA 212- 480-2889 or (800) 913-6565 ssawyer@royal-oak.org www.royal-oak.org St Andrew’s Lutheran Church Serving Americans since 1960. Whitby Road & Queens Walk, Ruislip, West London. Services: 11 am. 020 8845 4242 pastorvan43@hotmail.com www.standrewslutheran.co.uk, www.lutheran.co.uk

Liberal Jewish Synagogue 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA Services 6.45pm Fri., 11am Sat. First Friday each month service is 7pm with a Chavurah Supper. Please bring non-meat food dish to share. 020 7286 5181 ljs@ljs.org

T.R.A.C.E. P.W. Reuniting children with GI fathers and their families. Norma Jean Clarke-McCloud 29 Connaught Avenue, Enfield EN1 3BE normajean78@hotmail.com www.tracepw.org

Lions Club International Lakenheath & District 105EA, 15 Highfields Drive, Lakenheath, Suffolk IP27 9EH. Tel 01842 860752 www.lionsclubs.org

United Nations Association, Westminster Chairman: David Wardrop 61 Sedlescombe Road, London SW6 1RE 0207 385 6738 info@unawestminster.org.uk www.unawestminster.org.uk www.wethepeoples.org.uk

St Anne’s Lutheran Church stannes.stagnes@gmail.com www.stanneslutheranchurch.org.uk

USA Girl Scouts Overseas – North Atlantic gsmembership@usagso-na.org www.usagso-na.org

SOCIAL American Club of Hertfordshire President: Kathy Morris Wood End, 29 Orchard Road, Tewin, Herts AL6 0HL 01438 798 389 hertsamerica@outlook.com American Expats of the Northwest of England The Ruskin Rooms, Drury Lane, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6HA. expatsnw@gmail.com American Society in London Chairman Raymond A Colledge c/o The English Speaking Union 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED info@americansocietyuk.com 020 7539 3400 American Stamp Club of Great Britain Chapter 67 of the American Philatelic Society. Hon. Publicity Secretary: Stephen T. Taylor 5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS. 020 8390 9357 AWBS International Women’s Club [formerly American Women of Berkshire & Surrey] PO Box 10, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 4YP. www.awbs.org.uk info@awbs.org.uk American Women of Surrey PO Box 185, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3YJ. www.awsurrey.org American Women’s Club of Central Scotland P.O. Box 231, 44-46 Morningside Road, Edinburgh, EH10 4BF info@awccs.org www.awccs.org American Women’s Club of Dublin P.O. Box 2545, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 IRELAND www.awcd.net awcdmembers@gmail.com American Women’s Club of London 68 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LQ 020 7589 8292 awc@awclondon.org www.awclondon.org Americans in Bristol Tim Ellis 07572 342483 Twitter @americansinbris americansinbristol@yahoo.com www.facebook.com/groups/USEXPATSINBRISTOL Anglian Shrine Club Recorder: Allan David Warnes “Koloma House”, Warren Avenue, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NP 01328 862001, 07860187333, VOIP 08714084364 Skype batman4499adw allan@allandavidwarnes.co.uk www.anglianshrineclub.co.uk Association of American Women of Aberdeen PO Box 11952, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB13 0BW email via website www.awaaberdeen.org British Association of American Square Dance Clubs Patricia Connett-Woodcock, 87 Brabazon Road, Heston, Middlesex TW5 9LL, 020 8897 0723 tricia_baasdc@btinternet.com www.squaredancing.co.uk

Canadians & Americans in Southern England 023 9241 3881 contactcase@casecommunity.com Canadian Women’s Club Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London. SW1Y 5BJ Tues–Thurs 10.30-3.30 0207 930 3889 info@canadianwomenlondon.org www.canadianwomenlondon.org CAWC Int’l (was Chilterns American Women’s Club) PO Box 445, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, SL9 8YU 07789 076238 membership@cawc.co.uk www.cawc.co.uk Colonial Dames of America Chapter XI London. President Anne K Brewster: AnneBrewster@hotmail.com Daughters of the American Revolution St James’s Chapter (London) stjameschapter-nsdar.org regent@stjamesnsdar.org, UKDARStJames@aol.com Daughters of the American Revolution Walter Hines Page Chapter (London and UK) Adrienne Pitman, Regent daradrienne@gmail.com http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~engwhdar/ walterhinesdar/membership.html

Limerick International Women’s Organisation www.limerickiwo.com limerickiwo@live.ie New Neighbours Diana Parker, Rosemary Cottage, Rookshill, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 4HZ, 01923 772185 welcomeservicesinternational.com/index.php/finda-welcome-service-in-your-area/106-england/133new-neighbours-limited.html North American Connection (West Midlands) PO Box 10543, Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands. B93 8ZY 0870 720 0663 info@naconnect.com www.naconnect.com Petroleum Women’s Club of London www.pwc-london.co.uk Petroleum Women’s Club of Scotland pwcscotland@yahoo.co.uk www.pwcos.com Pilgrims of Great Britain Allington Castle, Maidstone, Kent M16 0NB. 01622 606404 sec@pilgrimsociety.org Propeller Club of the United States, London propellerclubhq.com +1 703-691-2777 [USA]

East Anglia American Club 49 Horsham Close, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 7HN 01440 766 967 eaacexpats@karej.co.uk

Royal Society of St George Enterprise House, 10 Church Hill, Loughton, Essex IG10 1LA. +44 (0) 20 3225 5011 info@royalsocietyofstgeorge.com www.royalsocietyofstgeorge.com

English-Speaking Union Director-General: Jane Easton Dartmouth House, 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED. Tel: 020 7529 1550 esu@esu.org

Order of the Eastern Star #45 Washington Jurisdiction District #9, RAF Lakenheath sogb45@yahoo.com elizabeth.jackson.tripod.com/sogb

Hampstead Women’s Club President - Stacy Popovici president@hwcinlondon.co.uk www.hwcinlondon.co.uk

St John’s Wood Women’s Club membership@sjwwc.org www.sjwwc.org

High Twelve International, Inc. Arnold Page High Twelve Club 298 Secretary, Darrell C. Russell 01638 715764 russelld130@btinternet.com Inter-Cultural Society of London Contact: Dr Kenneth Reed, 01753 892698, kjreed37@yahoo.co.uk ticsl.org kcwc (was Kensington & Chelsea Women’s Club) President: Catia Dal Poz, president@kcwc.org.uk Membership: potential@kcwc.org.uk www.kcwc.org.uk Facebook /kcwc.kcwc Twitter @kcwc_womensclub Knightsbridge Village info@knightsbridge-village.com www.knightsbridge-village.com

Thames Valley American Women’s Club PO Box 1687, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 8XT. 01628 632683 membership@tvawc.com www.tvawc.com UK Panhellenic Association Contact Susan Woolf, 10 Coniston Court, High St. Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex HA1 3LP. 020 8864 0294 susanrwoolf@hotmail.com Wandsworth Women’s Institute Secretary: Laura wandsworthwi@hotmail.com www.wandsworthwi.org.uk W.E.B. DuBois Consistory #116 Northern Jurisdiction, Valley of London, England, Orient of Europe, Cell: 0776-873-8030 mjack36480@aol.com

The American

MILITARY 290 Foundation (UK Confederate Navy memorial) Ian Dewar, President, 2 Thompson Drive, Middleton on the Wolds, East Riding, Yorkshire YO25 9TX 01377 217 442 290admin@onetel.com sites.google.com/site/290foundation

American Legion London Post 1 Adjutant: Christopher Shea, 10 Ivel Bridge Road, Biggleswade, Befordshire SG18 0AB 07501-062-882 info@amlegionpost1london.org.uk www.amlegionpost1london.org.uk

The American

American Institute for Foreign Study 37 Queensgate, London SW7 5HR 020 7581 7300, www.aifs.co.uk info@aifs.co.uk American School in London 1 Waverley Place, London NW8 0NP 020 7449 1200, www.asl.org admissions@asl.org American School of Aberdeen Craigton Road, Cults, Aberdeen. 01224 861068 / 868927.

US Air Force Recruiting Office Bldg 239 Room 139, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk IP28 8NF 01638-54-4942/1566 phillip.guffa@mildenhall.af.mil Retired Affairs Office, RAF Alconbury Serving Central England POC: Rex Keegan Alt. POC: Mike Depasquale 423 SVS/RAO, Unit 5585, Box 100, RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs PE28 4DA. 01480 84 3364/3557 Office Hours: Tuesday and Friday, 10:30am–2:30pm RAO@Alconbury.af.mil. Emergency no. 07986 887905 2nd Air Division Memorial Library The Forum, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1AW 01603 774747 www.2ndair.org.uk 2admemorial.lib@norfolk.gov.uk USAF Retiree Activities Office Director: Paul G Gumbert, CMSgt (USAF), Ret 422 ABG/CVR, Unit 5855, PSC 50, Box 3 RAF Croughton, Northants NN13 5XP 01280 708182 422abg.rao@croughton.af.mil

Eighth Air Force Historical Society Gordon Richards/Michelle Strefford UK Office, The Croft, 26 Chapelwent Road, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 9SD, 01440 704014 www.8thafhs.org

Joint RAF Alconbury/Molesworth Retiree Affairs Office 423, ABG/RAO, Unit 5623, RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs., PE28 4DE, rao@alconbury.af.mil 01480 843364 (Tues only 10:30-14:30)

Alconbury Middle/High School RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE17 1PJ, UK. www.alco-hs.eu.dodea.edu AlconburyHS.Principal@eu.dodea.edu

Society of American Military Engineers (UK) UK address: Box 763, USAFE Construction Directorate: 86 Blenheim Crescent, West Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 7HL London Post. President: W. Allan Clarke. Secretary: Capt. Gary Chesley. Membership Chairman, Mr. Jim Bizier.

Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces Europe US Naval Forces Europe-Africa - US Sixth Fleet www.c6f.navy.mil, CNE-C6FPAO@eu.navy.mil

AFJROTC 20021 Principal.AlconburyHS@eu.dodea.edu

Reserve Officers Association London Col. B.V. Balch, USAR, 72 Westmoreland Road, Barnes, London SW13 9RY memberservices@roa.org www.roa.org

British Patton Historical Society Kenn Oultram 01606 891303

Friends of the Eighth Newsletter (FOTE News) Chairman: Ron Mackay, 90 Elton Road, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 3NF, 01270 767669

EDUCATIONAL ACS International Schools ACS Cobham International School, Heywood, www.acs-england.co.uk

Navy League of the United States, United Kingdom Council Council President: Steven G. Franck steven.franck@googlemail.com www.navyleague.org

Bentwaters/Woodbridge Retirees’ Association President: Wylie Moore. 2 Coldfair Close, Knodishall, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 1UN. 01728 830281

Madingley American Cemetery Cambridge The American Battle Monuments Commission Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridge CB23 7PH 01954-210350 www.madingleyamericancemetery.info damian.lappin@madingleyamericancemetery.info

Western UK Retiree Association President: R. Jim Barber, MSgt (USAF), Ret 01280 708182

Military Officers’ Association of America www.moaa.org msc@moaa.org

American Overseas Memorial Day Association To remember & honor the memory of those who gave their lives in World Wars I & II, whose final resting places are in Europe. info@aomda.com, aomda.com

Brookwood American Cemetery The American Battle Monuments Commission Superintendant: Craig Rahanian. 01483 473237 Brookwood, Woking, Surrey GU24 0BL www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/ brookwood-american-cemetery

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Commander: Ernest Paolucci, 00 33 (0)1.42.50.96.34 24, rue Gerbert, 75015 Paris, France

Marine Corps League London, UK Detachment. Founding Commandant Michael E Allen, Creek Cottage, 2 Pednormead End, Old Chesham, Buckinghamshire HP5 2JS mcllondon.1088@sky.com www.mcl-london-uk.org

AFJROTC 073 Lakenheath High School. Tel: 01638 525603 Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA) Chapters at RAFs Alconbury, Croughton, Lakenheath and Mildenhall. staff@hqafsa.org www.hqafsa.org

Joint RAF Mildenhall/Lakenheath Retiree Affairs Office Co-Directors Dick Good & Jack Kramer Unit 8965, Box 30, RAF Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk, IP28 8NF 01638 542039 rao1@us.af.mil

US Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) UK Chapter President: Allison Bennett, bennett.ac@gmail.com Facebook: Kings Point Alumni - London/United Kingdom USNA Alumni Association UK Chapter Pres: LCDR Tim Fox ’97, timfox97@hotmail.com Vice Pres: Miguel Sierra ’90, mrsierra@chevron.com M’ship: Bart O’Brien ’98, bartonobrien2@yahoo.com Secretary: Matt Horan ’87, matthoran@btinternet.com

Benjamin Franklin House 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF. 020 7839 2006 info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Boston University – London Graduate Programs Office 43 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7244 6255, www.bu.edu/london British American Educational Foundation Laurel Zimmermann, Executive Director BAEF, 520 Summit Avenue, Oradell, NJ 07649 USA (201) 2614438 www.baef.org BUNAC Student Exchange Intern in Britain Program - Asst. Director: Jill Tabuteau, Priory House, Wrights Lane, London W8 6TA 020 7251 3472 www.bunac.org iib@bunac.org.uk Butler University, Institute for Study Abroad 21 Pembridge Gardens, London W2 4EB 020 7792 8751 www.ifsa-butler.org/england-overview.html Centre Academy London 92 St John’s Hill, Battersea, London SW11 1SH Tel: 02077382344, info@centreacademy.net www.centreacademy.net

Centre Academy East Anglia Church Rd, Brettenham, Ipswich, Suffolk IP7 7QR Tel: 01449736404 admin@centreacademy.net www.centreacademy.net

Hult International Business School Undergraduate: Hult House East, 35 Commercial Road London E1 1LD +44 (0)20 7636 5667 Graduate: Hult House, 37-38 John Street, London WC1N 2AT +44 (0) 20 7636 5667 Enrolment: 22 Chelsea Manor Street, London SW3 5RL +44 (0)207 341 8555 www.hult.edu/en/contact-us/

Central Bureau for Educational Visits Director: Peter Upton, The British Council , 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, 020 7389 4004. Wales 029 2039 7346. Scotland 0131 447 8024. centralbureau@britishcouncil.org

Institute for the Study of the Americas Director: Professor James Dunkerley. Tel 020 7862 8879 americas@sas.ac.uk www.americas.sas.ac.uk International School of Aberdeen 296 North Deeside Rd, Milltimber, Aberdeen, AB13 0AB 01224 732267 admin@isa.aberdeen.sch.uk www.isa.aberdeen.sch.uk

Council on International Educational Exchange Dr. Michael Woolf, 52 Portland Street, London WIV 1JQ Tel 020 7478 2000 www.ciee.org contact@ciee.org Ditchley Foundation Ditchley Park, Enstone, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 4ER Tel 01608 677346 www.ditchley.co.uk info@ditchley.co.uk

International School of London 139 Gunnersbury Avenue, London W3 8LG. 020 8992 5823 mail@ISLschools.org www.islschools.org

Dwight School London Formerly North London International School 6 Friem Barnet Lane, London N11 3LX 020 8920 0600 vrose@dwightlondon.org www.dwightlondon.org

International School of London in Surrey Old Woking Road, Woking GU22 8HY, 01483 750409, www.islsurrey.com mail@islsurrey.com Ithaca College London Centre 35 Harrington Gardens, London SW7. Tel. 020 7370 1166 www.ithaca.edu/london bsheasgreen@ithacalondon.co.uk

European Council of International Schools Executive Director: Jean K Vahey Fourth Floor, 146 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9TR 020 7824 7040 www.ecis.org ecis@ecis.org

Marymount International School, London Headmistress: Ms Sarah Gallagher George Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 7PE 020 8949 0571 info@marymountlondon.com www.marymountlondon.com

European-Atlantic Group PO Box 37431, London N3 2XP 020 8632 9253 justinglass@btinternet.com www.eag.org.uk

Missouri London Study Abroad Program 32 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7373 7953. web_office@umsl.edu www.umsl.edu/services/cis/

Florida State University London Study Centre Administrative Director: Kathleen Paul 99 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3LH. 020 7813 3233 intprog1@admin.fsu.edu www.international.fsu.edu/london Fordham University London Centre Academic Coordinator: Sabina Antal 23 Kensington Square, London W8 5HQ 020 7937 5023 londoncentre@fordham.edu www.fordham.edu Fulbright (US-UK Educational) Commission Dir. of Advisory Service: Lauren Welch Battersea Power Station, 188 Kirtling Street, London SW8 5BN 020 7498 4010 www.fulbright.co.uk Halcyon London International School Co-educational International Baccalaureate (IB). 33 Seymour Place, London W1H 5AU +44 (0)20 7258 1169 hello@halcyonschool.com halcyonschool.com Harlaxton College UK Campus, University of Evansville, Harlaxton Manor, Grantham, Lincs. NG32 1AG. 01476 403000 harlaxton.ac.uk.

Regent’s University London Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NS. 020 7486 9605. www.regents.ac.uk exrel@regents.ac.uk

Richmond, The American International University in London Queen’s Road, Richmond-upon Thames TW10 6JP Tel: +44 20 8332 9000 enroll@richmond.ac.uk www.richmond.ac.uk Schiller International University Royal Waterloo House, 51-55 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TX. Tel. 020 7928 1372 www.schillerlondon.ac.uk admissions@schillerlondon.ac.uk Schiller International, Wickham Court School Layhams Road, West Wickham, Kent BR4 9HW. Tel 0208 777 2942 Wickham@schillerintschool.com www.wickhamcourt.org.uk

Sotheby’s Institute of Art Postgraduate Art studies, plus day /evening courses 30 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3EE Tel: 0207 462 3232, info@sothebysinstitute.com www.sothebysinstitute.com Southbank International Schools Kensington and Hampstead for 3-11 year olds; Westminster campuses for 11-18 year olds. 020 7243 3803 admissions@southbank.org www.southbank.org Syracuse University London Program Faraday House, 48-51 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AE, sulondon.syr.edu TASIS England, American School Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, Nr. Egham, Surrey TW20 8TE. 01932 565252, england.tasis.com ukadmissions@tasisengland.org UKCISA - Council for International Education 9-17 St. Albans Place, London N1 0NX 020 7354 5210 www.ukcisa.org.uk University of Notre Dame London Program 1 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG 020 7484 7811, london@nd.edu http://international.nd.edu/about/notre-dameglobal-gateways/london-global-gateway Warnborough University International Office, Friars House, London SE1 8HB. Tel 020 7922 1200 www.warnborough.edu admin@warnborough.edu Webster Graduate Studies Center Regent’s College, Regent’s Park, Inner Circle, London NW1 4NS, UK. 020 7487 7505, webster@regents.ac.uk www.webster.ac.uk Wroxton College Study Abroad with Fairleigh Dickinson University, Wroxton, Nr. Banbury, Oxfordshire OX15 6PX 01295 730551, www.fdu.edu admin@wroxton-college.ac.uk

ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS Regent’s American College & Alliant U Alumni (formerly United States International University) President: Eric CK Chan 020 7487 7599 chane@regents.ac.uk, alumni@regents.ac.uk c/o Regent’s University London, Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, UK. www.alliant.edu Amherst College Bob Reichert RAreichert26b@aol.com, alumni@amherst.edu www.amherst.edu/alumni Andover/Abbot Association of London Jeffrey Hedges ‘71, President 07968 513 631, hedgeslon@hotmail.com www.andover.edu/alumni

The American

Association of MBAs info@mbaworld.com, www.mbaworld.com

t.vifor@mbaworld.com

Babson College Nico von Stackelberg ‘12 vonstack@gmail.com Ben McLeod M’97 bernard.mcleod@gmail.com babson.alumni@btinternet.com Barnard College Club Hiromi Stone, President. 0207 935 3981, barnardclubgb@yahoo.co.uk Berkeley Club of London Geoff Kertesz berkeleyclublondon@gmail.com http://international.berkeley.edu/LondonClub www.facebook.com groups/223876564344656/ www.linkedin.com/groups/Berkeley-ClubLondon-4186104 Boston College Alumni Club UK Craig Zematis, President +44 7717 878968 BCalumniclub@gmail.com www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/BTN/cpages/ chapters/home.jsp?chapter=41&org=BTN Boston University Alumni Association of the UK Will Straughn, Snr International Development Officer, University Development and Alumni Relations, 43 Harrington Gardens, Kensington, London SW7 4JU 020 7244 2908 020 7373 7411 bstraugh@bu.edu Brandeis Alumni Club of Great Britain Joan Bovarnick, President http://alumni.brandeis.edu office@alumni.brandeis.edu Brown University Club of the United Kingdom President: Tugba Erem. Communication: Patrick Attie Alumni Club & Liaison: Vanessa Van Hoof Brown Club UK, Box 57100, London, EC1P 1RB contact@brownuk.org www.brownuk.org Bryn Mawr Club Lady Quinton, President. Wendy Tiffin, Secretary/Treasurer, 52 Lansdowne Gardens, London SW8 2EF wendytif@ukgateway.net Claremont Colleges Alumni in London Hadley Beeman, hadley_beeman@alumni.cmc.edu Colgate Club of London Stephen W Solomon ‘76, President 0207 349 0738 swsolomon@hotmail.com Columbia Business School Alumni Club of London 6 Petersham Mews, London SW7 5NR www.cbsclublondon.org londonadmin@gsb.columbia.edu Columbia University Club of London london@alumniclubs.columbia.edu www.alumniclubs.columbia.edu/london

The American

Cornell Club of London nmt4@cornell.edu www.alumni.cornell.edu/orgs/int/London

MIT Club of Great Britain reenan@alum.mit.edu greatbritain.alumclub.mit.edu Mount Holyoke Club of Britain mhcbritain@gmail.com sites.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/wp/ukclub

Dartmouth College Club of London alumni.dartmouth.edu www.dartmouth.org Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Sheila Roberts, Membership Chair 01580 761165, worsleyroberts@btinternet.com www.dkggb.org.uk

Notre Dame Club of London ndlondon@alumni.nd.edu http://london.undclub.org/ NYU Alumni Club in London Jodi Ekelchik, President alumni.london@nyu.edu alumni.nyu.edu

Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity London Alumni Chapter. Ashok Arora, P O Box 1110, London W3 7ZB 020 8423 8231, bertela@yahoo.com www.dspnet.org

NYU STERN UK Alumni Club www.stern.nyu.edu/portal-partners/alumni sternukalumniclub@hotmail.com fjrodrgo@yahoo.com

Delta Zeta International Sorority Alumna Club Sunny Eades 01543 490 312 SunnyEades@aol.com www.deltazeta.org

Ohio University Alumni UK & Ireland Frank Madden, 01753 855 360 frank@madant.demon.co.uk www.ohioalumni.org

Duke University Club of England rpalany@gmail.com, a.sagar@promemoriauk.com www.dukealumni.com/alumni-communities/ regional-programs/groups/london

Penn Alumni Club of the UK w ww.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/UPN/cpages/ home.jsp?chapter=4&org=UPN pennalumniuk@gmail.com

Emory University Alumni Chapter of the UK Matthew Williams, Chapter Leader 079 8451 4119, matthew.eric.williams@gmail.com www.alumni.emory.edu

Penn State Alumni Association pennstatelondon@gmail.com www.alumni.psu.edu

Georgetown Alumni Club Alexa Fernandez, GeorgetownLondon@Yahoo.com UKHoyas@gmail.com , alumni.georgetown.edu

The London Association of Phi Beta Kappa phibetakappalondon@gmail.com www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=5117368 www.pbkldn.org Twitter: @phibetakappaldn

Gettysburg College Alumni London Britt-Karin Oliver, brittkarin@aol.com alumni@gettysburg.edu www.gettysburg.edu/alumni2

Princeton Association (UK) membership@princeton.org.uk princeton.org.uk Rice Alumni of London Kathy Wang 07912 560 177 a lumni.rice.edu kathyw@alumni.rice.edu, suzanne.boue@rice.edu

HBS Alumni Club of London PO Box 1263 Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridge CB25 0UW 01223 812800 / 07703 286931 admin@hbsa.org.uk www.hbsa.org.uk

Skidmore College Alumni Club, London alumni.affairs@skidmore.edu w ww.skidmore.edu/alumni www.facebook.com/SkidmoreCollegeAlumni

Harvard Club of the United Kingdom president@hcuk.org, membership@hcuk.org www.hcuk.org

Smith College Club of London smithclubgb@gmail.com www.smithclubgb.org

Indiana University Alumni club of England ukhoosiers@gmail.com www.alumni.indiana.edu/clubs/england

Stanford Business School Alumni Assn. UK alumni@gsb.stanford.edu alumni-gsb.stanford.edu/get/page/groups/ overview/?group_id=0038990048

KKG London Alumnae Association londonalumni.kkg@gmail.com w ww.kappakappagamma.org LMU Loyola Marymount Alumni Club London Alumni Relations: heather.wells@lmu.edu 310.338.4574 http://alumni.lmu.edu Marymount University Alumni UK Chapter President: Mrs Suzanne Tapley, 35 Park Mansions, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7QT. 020 7581 3742 www.marymount.edu/alumni

Syracuse University Alumni UK SUalumniUK@syr.edu sulondon.syr.edu/about/sualumniuk.html www.facebook.com/SUajlumniUK Texas Tech Alumni Association - London Chapter Scott Dewar 077754 35877 sdewar2@gmail.com www.texastechalumni.org/chapters

Texas Exes UK (UKTE) England: Carra Kane 0778 660 7534 carrakane@alumni.utexas.net Scotland: Corey Cripe coreycripe@gmail.com www.fornogoodreason.com/UKTEMain.htm

Texas A&M Club London london@aggienetwork.com www.aggienetwork.com/club-page/londn The John Adams Society johnadamssociety@gmail.com www.johnadamssociety.co.uk Tufts - London Tufts Alliance tuftsalumni.org Londontuftsalliance@yahoo.com UConn Alumni Association uconnalumni.com UnitedKingdom@UConnAlumni.com UMass Alumni Club UK President, Renu Singh, renu.singh@alumni.lse.ac.uk umassalumni.com University of California Alumni UK Chair: Trisha Rassatt 3 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3RA +44 (0)20 7079 0566, jodi.anderson@ucop.edu http://london.universityofcalifornia.edu University of Chicago Alumni Association rupalyp@gmail.com, www.uchicagouk.org University of Chicago Booth Alumni Association President: hbunuan@chicagobooth.edu www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/clubs/uk University of Colorado Alumni www.colorado.edu/alumni/connect/chapters-clubs/ london-forever-buffs-alumni-chapter Facebook: LondonForeverBuffs Email: contact via website University of Georgia Alumni Association Lee Hutchins lee67@uga.edu www.alumni.uga.edu/alumni/index.php/site/ chapters/london_chapter University of Illinois Alumni Club of the UK Amy Barklam BUS 1994, President, 07796 193 466 amybarklam@msn.com, alumni@uillinois.edu, illinoisalumni@uillinois.edu, uisalumni@uillinois.edu, uicalumni@uillinois.edu www.uialumninetwork.org University of Michigan Alumni Association 0788-784-0941, jesscobb@yahoo.com alumni.umich.edu University of North Carolina Alumni Club unclondoncochairs@googlegroups.com london.unc.alumnispaces.com, alumni.unc.edu

University of Rochester/Simon School UK Alumni Association Julie Bonne, 0118-956-5052, julie_bonne@yahoo.com, alumni@rochester.edu www.rochester.edu/alumni

University of Southern California, USC Alumni Club of London Walter Ladwig, President usclondon@gmail.com uscalumnigroups.usc.edu/london/ University of Virginia Alumni Club of London uvaclubs.virginia.edu/group/uvaclub-of-london 020 7368 8473 uvacluboflondon@gmail.com

US Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) Alumni UK Chapter www.usmma.edu/alumni bennett.ac@gmail.com Facebook: Kings Point Alumni - London/United Kingdom USNA Alumni Association, UK Chapter President: Cdr Timothy W. (Tim) Fox ‘97, USNR timfox97@hotmail.com www.usna.com www.facebook.com/groups/USNAAlumniUK/ Vassar Club UK President: Andrew Solum ‘89 Treasurer Tris Barker’64 treasurer@vassarclubuk.org, 020 8467 0890 www.vassarclubuk.org Warnborough Worldwide Alumni Association 01227 762 107 www.wwaa.info/wwaa.htm admissions@ warnborough.edu Washington University UK Alumni Club Steven Leof, steven@leof.co.uk alumni.wustl.edu/Community/Pages/London.aspx www.facebook.com/groups/WUSTLLondon www.linkedin.com/groups/Washington-Universityin-St-Louis-6966904 Wellesley College Club www.wellesley.edu/alumnae/groups/clubs/intlclubs/ wellesley_uk_club WCLondon@alum.wellesley.edu Wharton Alumni Club of the UK 020-7447-8800 www.whartonclubuk.net Williams Club of Great Britain Ethan Kline: ethankline@gmail.com, alumni. relations@williams.edu, alumni.williams.edu Yale Club of London President, president@yale.org.uk Secretary secretary@yale.org.uk www.yale.org.uk Zeta Tau Alpha Alumnae Kristin Morgan 07812 580949 kristinamorgan@gmail.com www.zetataualpha.org

CIVIL WAR SOCIETIES American Civil War Round Table (UK) American Civil War historical society Derek Young rebeldel55@icloud.com www.acwrt.org.uk

Southern Skirmish Association (SoSkan) The oldest American Civil War Re-enacting Society outside the USA. www.soskan.co.uk membership@soskan.co.uk

ARTS American Actors UK 07873 371 891 admin@americanactorsuk.com www.americanactorsuk.com Savio(u)r Theatre Company Britain’s American theatre company www.saviourtheatrecompany.com

SPORTS English Lacrosse Wenlock Way, Manchester M12 5DH 0843 658 5006 info@englishlacrosse.co.uk www.englishlacrosse.co.uk British Baseball Federation / SoftballUK 5th Floor, Ariel House, 74a Charlotte Street, London W1T 4QJ 020 7453 7055 www.britishbaseball.org British Morgan Horse Society 01981 500488 admin@morganhorse.org.uk www.morganhorse.org.uk Ice Hockey UK 02920 263 441 ihukoffice@yahoo.co.uk www.icehockeyuk.co.uk Infinity Elite Cheerleading (founded by CAC) 077 9132 0115 infinityelite@yahoo.co.uk www.facebook.com/InfinityAllstars Herts Baseball Club Adult & Little League Baseball www.hertsbaseball.com Lakenheath Barracudas Swim Club Open to all military affiliated families. laken.barracudas@yahoo.com lakenheathbarracudas.com LondonSports American flag football, baseball, basketball and soccer, boys/girls, 4-15 all nationalities, new or experienced players. www.londonsports.com vll@me.com London Warriors American Football Club info@londonwarriorsafc.co.uk www.londonwarriorsafc.co.uk

Details changed? Let us know email sabrina@theamerican.co.uk

Send profiles, news or articles about your organization for possible publication in The American. email sabrina@theamerican.co.uk, tel +44(0)1747 830520 Twitter @TheAmericanMag

The American

Coffee Break QUIZ

3 9

Name the US Presidents quoted:

you can do for your country.”

➎ ”Speak softly, and carry a big stick.” ➏ ”They misunderestimated me.” ➐ ”If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

It happened ....25 years ago...

Whose uniform did the number belong to?

➑ February 16, 1992 – The LA Lakers retire the number #32.

....25 years ago...

....30 years ago...

....40 years ago...

to Draft Dodgers?

➓ January 21, 1987 – Muddy Waters is inducted into the “Rock and Roll” Hall of Fame – what is his real name? ⓫ January 1977 – Which US President offered pardons

4 2

3 4

8 2 1

2 1 6

8 5

....50 years ago...

⓬ February 18, 1967 – Which famous scientist on the

January 8, 1992 – President George H W Bush becomes ill ➒ and vomits on the lap of which foreign premier?

6 1

1 7 9 1 3 2 4 7 8 3

➊ “There will be no whitewash at the Whitehouse.” ➋ ”The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” ➌ ”If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” ➍ ”Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what

Manhattan Project passed away, aged 62?

....100 years ago...

⓭ January 10, 1917 – American William Frederick Cody,

who performed his Wild West show in the US and the UK, died. What was his famous nickname?

....100 years ago...

exchanged, selling which islands from Denmark to the US, for $25 million? a) Hawaii b) Greenland c) US Virgin Islands

⓮ January 17, 1917 – The ratifications of a treaty were

Quiz answers and Sudoku solution on page 85

The American

Fixed fees agreed up front

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QUIZ: The Presidents quoted were: 1. Richard Nixon; 2. Franklin D Roosevelt; 3. Harry Truman; 4. John F Kennedy; 5. Theodore Roosevelt; 6. George W Bush; 7. Abraham Lincoln; It happened ... years ago: 8. Magic Johnson; 9. Japanese PM Kiichi Miyazawa; 10. McKinley Morganfield; 11. Jimmy Carter ;12. Robert J Oppenheimer; 13. Buffalo Bill; 14. c) US Virgin Islands.

SOLUTION

5 6 7 2 8 9 3 4 1

2 5 9 6 3 1 7 8 4

7 3 4 9 5 8 2 1 6

1 8 6 7 2 4 9 3 5

6 1 5 8 9 3 4 2 7

9 7 8 4 6 2 1 5 3

4 2 3 5 1 7 8 6 9

Coffee Break Answers

www.burton-sweet.co.uk Call Rachel Finch on 01934 620011 or email her at rachel@burton-sweet.co.uk

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