Best Character Writer of the Week: aniuby

**Snugglie** · 26-02-2009 21:48

Nice going, mate!

**Jingle_Bombs** · 26-02-2009 23:05

My heartiest congratulations, Correspondance is one of my all time favourites for this very reason.

...I'm not ashamed to admit I've read it twice either

**Hardraade** · 27-02-2009 20:28

Congrats, robou! Well deserved.

**robou** · 01-03-2009 19:38

Thank you, again, everyone. Though I have not served out a full week, in an attempt to get this running sunday-sunday, at least for a while I will hand over the award today, if you don't mind that.

It seems that everyone, me included, is very busy at this time of year. I'm not sure totally why, I have my theories, but for me this has meant cutting back on reading quite so many narratives as I once did. This made giving this award aa much tougher contest, as I generally continued to read those which I enjoyed most, and there is so little between them that it is difficult. Now don't say I am a vicky favouritist... I have moved to EU3 for the time being, but the award I shall hand over to one of Vicky's finest AARs.

A Special Providence has always been my favourite AAR; it encapsulates everything I love in both history and narrative. The vast array of well tuned and interesting characters deserves serious recognition, but, actually, I intend to award this to Director for a single character, one that most of you will know; General US Grant. Director manages to get this... tricky character and nail it right on the head. He is short, sharp, not over dignified, everything Grant was, and you can really get a feel of what the General would have been like through Director's writing. So, Porter, get up here and accept this damn award, ok?

Let me be the first to congratulate my dear friend:

Director

**Snugglie** · 01-03-2009 20:18

"A Special Providence"... one of those things that are on my eternal list of things-to-read-when-school's-over-and-life-restarts. Congratulations, Director!

**asd21593** · 01-03-2009 23:44

Congrats, Director!

**Lord Durham** · 02-03-2009 00:38

Yep. easily one of the best AARs on the go, with a host of great characters. Congrats,buddy!

**Rensslaer** · 02-03-2009 01:35

Congratulations, Director!

Very well chosen.

Rensslaer

**demokratickid** · 02-03-2009 02:12

Congrats, Director!

**daemonofdecay** · 02-03-2009 05:50

Conbobulations, Herr Direktor.

***Veldmaarschalk*** · 02-03-2009 08:28

Congratulations Director !

**The Yogi** · 02-03-2009 12:41

Conga-rats, Director!

**stnylan** · 02-03-2009 14:53

Many congratulatiosn my friend.

**Stuyvesant** · 02-03-2009 16:07

My favorite author on the boards (yes, others come very close, but if I had to pick just one, it'd be Director)! All of Director's AARs feature memorable characters, be they AI constructs, time-traveling merchant-meddlers, space opera admirals or a mysterious German (or should that be Czech?) advisor responsible for the explosive growth of Bremen. Whether they are entirely fictious or modeled on real historic characters, Director succeeds in making them human. It's always a joy to see what makes those people tick.

Congratulations, D! I hope that you get better soon, so that we may enjoy more of your fine writing.

**canonized** · 02-03-2009 18:21

Congratulations Director !

**coz1** · 02-03-2009 19:48

Great to see you getting this recognition, even if it's not the first time. Each and every nod is very deserving. Congratulations, Director!

**Lord E** · 02-03-2009 21:00

Nice choice. Congratulations Director

**Le Jones** · 02-03-2009 22:48

Congratulations Director!

**TheHyphenated1** · 04-03-2009 01:52

Many congratulations, Director!

**Director** · 04-03-2009 05:48

Thank you, robou, and thanks to all of you who took the time to wish me well. I'm suffering through some serious personal problems right now, and your good wishes are sincerely appreciated.

I recommend Grant's 'Personal Memoirs' to anyone with an interest in military history. It is clear, clean, relatively evenhanded and has been called the best military memoir since Julius Caesar explained the 3-part nature of Gaul. Grant was dead broke and dying of throat cancer when he wrote it. His friend Mark Twain set up a deal with the publisher, promising an annuity for Grant's wife and children in exchange for the memoir. Grant was in great pain, but he finished it and immediately died. The passages on the Mexican War, on his journey to California, and of course on the Civil War, are amazingly well-written and easy to follow.

I'd always heard he was a drunk - not true - and a butcher - also false, as anyone who studies his campaigns can see. He never possessed the grace and charm of Lee or the furious battle instinct of Jackson, but he was never intimidated, never stunned, and almost always victorious. The challenge in getting my conception of Grant on paper is that he was not given to pomp or show, rarely spoke on public occasions and had no personal warmth. What he could do was organize, train and use the men in his command, better than almost anyone else on the Union side.

Still, I like him and respect him. Without him the war might not have been winnable, or won at such length and at such cost as to permanently cripple the country. For Belmont, Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga and the Overland Campaign, and for the surrender of three Confederate Armies, we are in his debt. He did his part - and more - to preserve the Union.

Lastly, I thank all of you who have taken the time to read and comment in 'A Special Providence'. If you haven't read the whole thing, try out the last few posts. There is always room for a few more readers.

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