Word: baron
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...insufficient to police Dubuque, Iowa. They were meeting in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, nestled in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria, to advance "the cause of peace by working for more tourism." This project, neatly combining idealism with the hope for profit, came from the teeming brain of Baron Edward von Falz-Fein, 47, a loyal Liechtensteiner of Ukrainian origin and the leading entrepreneur of Vaduz. He runs three tourist shops and the Quick Tourist agency, is the country's principal photographer, and, as founder of Liechtenstein's Olympic Committee, will personally lead three local skiers...
...Olivier, who arrived with a secretary and a head cold. San Marino, a landlocked mountain peak in northeastern Italy, sent a Belgian lawyer and musicologist who also serves as San Marino's consul general to Belgium and Liechtenstein. "They couldn't spare anyone from San Marino," explained Baron von Fab-Fein, "because of the political problems there. The Communist opposition has been sentenced to ten years in jail. How ridiculous can you get-putting politicians in jail...
...voluble baron was confident of amicable relations: "The Big Four can't even agree to meet together. We will show the way, and reach total agreement in one day." The number of delegates was left up to the individual countries. They eliminated the veto problem by eliminating votes. Falz-Fein was chosen president, without a vote, and he rang a cowbell to bring the first meeting to order in a hilltop motel, the only one in Liechtenstein...
...BARON IN THE TREES (217 pp.)-Italo Calvino-Random House...
Aside from well-written and amusing scenes. The Baron in the Trees stops short of real worth. Its satire on life-on-the-ground is too tentative to slice deep, and only once does Author Calvino suggest a theme. That is when Voltaire asks Cosimo's brother: "But is it to be nearer the sky that your brother stays up there?" The answer: "My brother considers that anyone who wants to see the earth properly must keep himself at a necessary distance from...