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A more popular Irish institution, George Bernard Shaw, who has never retired and has no plans for doing so, was given the perfect birthday present: a setup for the classic denial. When the Nigerian West African Pilot ran his obituary shortly before his 92nd birthday, Shaw gleefully snorted back: "Your note is premature. I am only half dead yet . . ."
In Paris, Lucien Lelong, classic-conservative of dress designers, closed up his atelier, with his new fall creations still unfinished. His doctor had ordered him to stop work, and he couldn't bear to think of anyone else carrying on the Lelong line.
In Trujillo City, Dominican Republic, Trujillo-intoxicated President Rafael Trujillo lip-serviced the idea that he was not indispensable. After 14 years as chief executive (with four more to serve), Trujillo publicly suggested "the propriety of beginning, as far in advance as possible, to prepare the public mind for ... choosing the candidate whom the party desires . . . in the elections of 1952."
Onetime German Actress Emmy Sonnemann Göring, who has had no leading roles since the death of her husband, the late Hermann, did a personal appearance in a denazification court at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, received an empty sentence. As a "second-class Nazi" she drew twelve months in a labor camp (but would not have to serve it, since she has spent 18 months in prison awaiting trial) and a fine of 30% of her savings (but would not have to pay it, since she has no money).
The stir of the 1948 Olympics (see SPORT) reactivated Jim Thorpe. The old (now 60) Sac-Fox Indian who won the Olympic decathlon and pentathlon in 1912, but had to return his trophies when it was ruled that he had played professional baseball, was going through the motions of demanding them back again. U.S. Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage seemed to Jim like just the man to help him, but he doubted whether Brundage would: "So far he's just played shut-mouth."