Newsletter dated October 2011

Letters to the Editor

From Heather Mayfield

We have just come home from a very successful Convention in Seattle, organised by Laura Schneider. She did a great job, helped by John Anderson and Alison Jenner. I really can't think of any way in which it could have been improved.

I would like now to tell you what we did to continue the work of our Foundation.

1. Elections

   President	Heather Mayfield
   Vice President	John Anderson
   Secretary	Alison Jenner
   Treasurer	John Anderson
   Scholarships & US Librarian	Laura Schneider
   Newsletter	Joost Meulenbroek
   Web Master	David Dawson-Taylor

   
   We reluctantly accepted the resignation of Babette Hills as our Secretary/Treasurer. She has been a great addition to our Board.
Because our Secretary and Treasurer are now both residing in the UK, rather than in the U.S., specifically New Mexico, where the Foundation is now registered, we need to find out the legalities of this move. Do we need to register the Foundation in the U.K ? If so, how do we go about it ?

Is there anyone among the readers of this Newsletter who can help us with this ?? Would it still be acceptable to retain the Foundation's registration as a non-profit organisation in New Mexico and seek 501c status there, as well as in the UK ?? Does it have to be in New Mexico, or can it be in another State ?


2. Scholarships. In the past we have awarded several scholarships, in Australia, England and the United States. Most have been worth $1,500, although we did award one double scholarship. The recipients of these scholarships have all gone on to excel in their field. A very generous benefactor, who is now no longer available to us, funded these scholarships. We would like to continue these, but we do need donors. At our recent Board meeting, we decided to ask for donations. Not memberships, as we don't want to charge anyone for belonging to this organisation. Donating is very simple, as there is a Pay Pal button on our Internet site.
   
   Briefly, the main criteria for these scholarships are that the applicant must hold a private pilot's icence, and be going for a commercial pilot's licence, or some other area in the aviation field for which a PPL is necessary. We can also award scholarships to ground engineers, who, of course, would not have a PPL, but we can specify other criteria for this category. Any applicant must show that he has a knowledge of Nevil Shute and who he was. He/she must also be of good character. We are hoping to put these criteria on the Internet.



3. We gave a lot of consideration as to where the 2013 Convention should be. It is Australia's turn on the rotation. Cairns was suggested as a possibility. However, no matter where in Australia we have it, we do need a competent person on site to organise things.
   
   Is there anyone out there who can help us with this? Laura, who organised the Seattle Convention and also the Alice Springs Convention in 2007, is willing to help anyone who will take this on.

I do hope that one or more of our readers will be able to help us with these various problems confronting us. If you were at the Seattle Convention and therefore have our e-mail addresses, you can contact us directly. Otherwise e-mail Joost Meulenbroek, the editor of this newsletter, and he can forward your messages to the right person.

Best wishes to all

Heather Mayfield.

Afterthought. John Anderson's biography of my Dad, "PARALLEL MOTION", was sold out at the Convention. It is available at Amazon.com. Should anyone want the definitive biography of my Dad, this is most certainly the book. John has a clear and concise style of writing. It is also well balanced between his life as an engineer and as an author. I cannot praise this book highly enough. It belongs on everyone's bookshelf.

Thanks to all of you who came to Nevil Shute's Seattle! Your collective interest, enthusiasm and passion made the week so memorable. Kudos to John Anderson and Alison Jenner who were incredibly helpful before and throughout the conference. A very special thank you to Heather for arranging the perfect weather !

Laura

From Padre Daniel Beegan

I too am a monarchist, although the crown does not need to be as costly as in the UK. Holland and the Scandinavian countries that have kings or queens are a good example. If a country, such as the Republic of Ireland, is firmly anti-monarchist, an elected but virtually powerless president can do the job too, although I prefer the stability of a monarchy.

But it makes sense to me to have separate heads of state, the king or queen, and heads of government, prime ministers.

I have also liked Mr. Shute's idea of the multiple vote.