Enlightenment

My father, George Dudley Vaill, died in April and bequeathed his entire American Heritage collection to my husband and me. It may be one of few that are complete from the beginning. Of all the books, manuscripts, magazines, et cetera, that defined his life, American Heritage was his favorite, and the only set of anything for which he built special bookcases. My family is now rereading the earliest issues and is enjoying what will be years of enlightenment.

I also have a small nit to pick with you about an error in “A Map of Weather History” in your June/July issue. Since moving to the Lexington, Kentucky, area in 1975, we have heard many tales of the day in 1974 when more than one hundred tornadoes terrorized the place. Also, in 1984, the local radio station did a ten-year anniversary broadcast of the April 1974 tornado series, and I’m sure there is no disputing that the tornadoes were in 1974, not 1984.

The correct date is 1974, as Susan Bonner points out, not 1984, which was a typographical error. George Dudley Vaill was the associate secretary of Yale University and was also a contributor to American Heritage.