Two things a child should learn 

That observation surely comes from your enjoyment of my stepfather's broadcasts. I value your words. I was not trying to imitate Jack. What you see is the best, so far as I can offer it, of me.

Simon Baddeley. Im not suggesting imitation for a minute. And certainly not that thoughts and views are not your own. Just observing maybe how close Jack’s influence has been. Maybe without you even recognising it in your self. For me you have the same engaging ways.

@@grahambrittongb Thanks. High praise.

Gallagher's Golden Honeydew was my stepdad's tobacco. The house was full of the flat deep green boxes that held that brand. They were useful for storing many odds and ends in his workshops. That tobacco is no longer available. There's an art to lighting a pipe and keeping it burning - one Jack, though he tried at my request, never succeeded in teaching me. You also have to keep the pipe clean which is why Jack eventually chose the Falcon as his favourite pipe. You're right that Jack was twice awarded Pipe Smoker of the Year - now an abandoned celebration. I do not smoke at all but I enjoy the smell of pipe smoke. It suffused my childhood. I so appreciate your flattering words about me as well as JH. Jack was alive during the relentless social transition from nicotine to chemical drugs. In the studio when broadcasting in later days Jack was used to opening with a puff on his pipe after which he'd put it aside. On a couple of occasions he carelessly put the pipe in his jacket pocket. On two occasions a studio floor manager, noting a spiral of smoke rising from J's pocket, crept under the cameras with a jug of water, reached up and poured it into the smouldering pocket, while Jack - consummate professional - continued with the show.

​@@SimonBaddeley Wonderful, your response made my day! Thank you very much, it's fascinating to me and I appreciate you sharing what is personal to yourself. From reading, it seems to be a classic English Virginia blend, I knew it had to be a refined classic. I have a few rusty St Bruno's tins of my Grandads, full of screws and drill bits! That's a great story about Jack, he could have probably kept the show running smooth with his trousers on fire! For a man to see so much unnecessary change, that pipe would have been a bulwark, a time machine, and a solid companion. I know that my pipe slows down time to the correct pace. I thoroughly enjoy watching Jack give the BBC interviewer a good smoking when interviewed at home! I was only ten when Jack passed, yet the past few years his work and his character have struck a chord with me. Watching Old Country instantly healed the damage of modern day nonsense and pace. It's great that his work still inspires and affects many and points to the correct path. Thanks again for your kind response, it means a lot. Tonight I shall smoke a pipe to you and your stepdad.

Four of them on the shelf above my head in small wooden rack, Alan.