Don Featherstone

I was very appreciative and touched to get your good wishes and a copy of your stimulating journal.

I am getting along all right and my medicos seem pleased with me and I feel more or less my old self except that I am a bit fragile, and puff and pant a lot if I do too much. But then, I am an old guy so it must be expected!

I am quite amazed at the degree of good will and sentiments coming from America, from where I have received over 100 letters and cards, with twice that number of names. I had not got any idea that I was so well known!

This is the first time I have seen your journal and I am very impressed with it, although I have not gone into it as thoroughly as I want to, but will do so when the heat is off a bit!

I have only had the pleasure of meeting Don once at a Historicon or Cold Wars convention years ago. However, I have been reading his stuff (books and newsletters) since the early 1960s. I would venture to say that due to the excitement exhibited by Don and Jack Scruby in the very early 60s it drew me into gaming.

It took me 40 years but I finally got Jack’s figures painted that I bought in 1962. It is very good to know that gamers in the US have sent their best wishes to one of the ‘fathers’ of modern wargaming.

Stay healthy Don!

Ted Herbert

As a subscriber to the 'Heliograph' and editor of the newsletter 'Reports from the Skirmish Line', it occurred to me in a sudden flash of inspiration (and I don't get many) that we overlap in terms of readers' interests and might usefully swap plugs in each other's publications.

I therefore attach a sample copy of our newsletter which you might like to mention in 'The Heliograph' and say that anyone with a real interest in skirmish wargaming can obtain it free by email from ted.herbert@tinyworld.co.uk General info on Skirmish Wargames Group can be obtained from Mike 'Botch' Blake at mike.blakeuk@virgin.net Mike attended Historicon in the US of A this year and organised some skirmish games there with another of our members, Les Beilby-Tipping.

Any message to me must have the full and clear title 'Reports from the Skirmish Line'.

I have not sent the latest issue of the Newsletter no 56 as this contains colour pictures of our latest colonial campaign but if you have a mailbox that takes more than 2 Mb (compression not quite right yet for one of the pictures) and can wait a bit for it to be downloaded, I would gladly transmit this.  Most people (21 out of 24) have managed to cope with it.  I do send out a very small number of hard copies but don't like doing this and would require postage to do so. Keep up the good work on 'The Heliograph', which I always find a highly informative read (apart, as you may have gathered from my previous comments, irrelevant travelogues).  I would be happy to include a plug in our newsletter.

I have read twice the two issues I have received and find them a marvelous read, informative and light-hearted. Very enjoyable.