Thank you, Library of Congress !

I was very pleased by the news on page A2 this morning of the Providence

    Journal : " Director wants Library of Congress to be an open book ".

        But how many people  even know this truly patriotic and brilliant

    man's name ?  He is doing the country a great service by making available

    on the Internet  things of great scholarly interest as the draft of

    the Declaration of Independence . To even view such a document was

    formerly the exclusive privilege of  very distinguished scholars.

          How different from the arid textbook experience: to view a

    splendid computer screen image of a surviving draft of  Lincoln's 1863

    Gettysburg Address.



          I recall viewing with awe on my brother's laptop  computer, the


    Vatican's Virgil  manuscript, the epic poem of the founding of  ancient

    Rome. It was the next best thing to having the precious  thing in my

    hands.

         The people who do the most good in the world rarely become

    celebrities. The name of our American benefactor is James H. Billington.

       He has been very successful at fundraising. Get out your checkbook

    Bill  Gates. Do the right thing !

        Thanks to Mr. Billington our national KNOWLEDGE -which is indeed

    POWER - is no longer a MONOPOLY!


         And thank you too  Bill  Gates for helping to make this possible.

      What beautiful irony !
( the S. Ruggieri is my brother. His picture was in the Providence

Journal a few weeks ago in the Executive Room: he was promoted to

art supervisor at Duncan & Donnelly in East Providence.

    He thinks that I am most likely to be assassinated !

   Have a nice day !  )