Steve Fairbairn was a famous and influential rowing coach between the wars. One day a young aspiring coach asked him if he might accompany him along the towpath – he was a bit disappointed. “You don’t seem to say much,” he said.” “Too right” was the reply, “but I stop other bloody fools from saying anything” —a salutary story. Many sportspeople have been damaged by listening to coaches who sought to change how they ran, rowed, fought or played.
An RA exhibit details attempts to wipe out Ukrainian culture – and what survived
The parallels between the threat to Ukrainian culture in the 1930s and today are unmistakable.