' I do not believe that there is a calling other than that of journalism which presents so much opportunity for observation of personalities. The journalist has a front seat in the stalls of the Human Theatre. He sees the vanities, the strivings, the sacrifices, the kindliness and the selfishness, the triumphs and the failures as they pass before him ...' Thus wrote Ralph D. Blumenfeld in a preface to a recent book. He might have added, too, that successful journalists often have the gift of succinct and lively expression in conversation. But ' R. D. B. ', one of Fleet Street's most forceful personalities, will probably remedy the omission in practical fashion this evening.
He was bom in America in 1864, and for a time was a reporter on the Chicago Herald ; but in 1893 he came to England as the London Correspondent of the New York Herald. Since then he has held important editorial and executive jobs in the English newspaper world.