The warmly cultured voice of Alistair Cooke is recognized by millions of people from all over the world thanks to the BBC World Service who broadcasted his keenly insightful views to fifty countries for more than half a century.  His observations of American and British cultural differences and the many common values that tie the two civilizations together revealed his great affection for both countries.  The one he was born in and the one that eventually became his home.  Alistair Cooke was a man who loved the English language and expressed it brilliantly in a long and distinguished career in both print and broadcast journalism and as the author of many books.

Born Alfred Cooke in the city Salford, a city that is near Manchester in northern Britain on November 20, 1908 Cooke was the son of an iron fitter and Methodist lay preacher.  He received his early education at Blackpool Grammar School and with a scholarship went on to Jesus College, Cambridge were he earned a first-class honors degree in English.  He then attended Yale University and Harvard University in the United States on a Commonwealth Fund Scholarship. Before beginning his professional career he legally changed his name to Alistair at the age of 22.

He began work as a broadcast journalist in 1935 as a film critic for the BBC and a London correspondent for NBC.  During this time he made a series of fifteen minute radio shows about life in Britain for American audiences called London Letter.  In 1937 as England was entering the Second World War Alistair fled to America where he remained for the duration of the war, eventually becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941.  While in America he proposed reversing the formula and doing a series about life in America for the BBC called Mainly about Manhattan in 1937 but the series ended in 1939 as England’s involvement in World War II began.  The 15 minute weekly radio series resumed in 1946 and was renamed Letter from America in 1950.  Letter from America played on the BBC for 58 years before it came to a close in March of 2004 totaling some 2869 episodes, all featuring the erudite Alistair Cooke reflecting upon his observations of the life, politics and culture of America.  During the many decades of his show he frequently commented on the things that made the United States a great country and gave voice to the many issues that threatened it, particularly its violent tendencies and its inclination toward flag waving self aggrandizement. 

Not only was Alistair a commentator on American history but he was an eyewitness as well.  He was only yards away from presidential candidate Robert Kennedy when he was assassinated in 1968, fully witnessing the infamous event and all the chaos that followed.  As a long time film critic and entertainment reporter for the BBC he met with and was familiar with some of Hollywood’s most famous stars from the 1930’s, the 1940’s and onward.  Cooke himself became a celebrity in America in 1971 as host of Public Broadcasting’s Masterpiece Theater, a program that aired high quality British television shows.  He remained host of Masterpiece Theater until 1992, a run of 22 years of presenting some of Britain’s finest television series.  In 1976 he was asked to address the joint Houses of the United States Congress as part of America’s Bicentennial celebration.  In his speech he mock seriously proclaimed “I gratefully accept your nomination for President of the United States,” bringing both sides of the political isle to thunderous laughter and applause. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been an entirely bad thing if they had nominated him.

Alistair Cooke died at midnight on the night of March 30, 2004, he was 95 years old.  The cause of death was lung cancer which had spread throughout his body including his bones.  Later that same day his body was picked up from its Manhattan home and delivered to the New York Mortuary Services Incorporated, a private funeral home, where on the next day his bones were surgically removed prior to cremation.  This procedure was preformed without the consent or knowledge of his family.  The cancerous bones, in violation of FDA rules, were later sold for more than seven thousand dollars to two tissue processing companies for eventual transplantation procedures. Falsified papers were later discovered with the forged names of his family granting permission to donate his body and on the documentation required for the sale of his bones to the two tissue processing companies who purchased his remains, his age was listed as 85 and the cause of his death was entered as heart disease.  The plundering of Alistair Cooke’s body was performed by Biomedical Tissue Services Incorporated which was owned by Michael Mastromarino who is suspected of similar crimes involving dozens of funeral homes in the New York City and New Jersey area.  In life Alistair Cook had expressed his desire to be cremated and it is said that he was horrified at the thought of being surgically cut opened.