I loved your piece on Kipling

Dear Steve, Thank you again for another wonderful newsletter, and let me wish you a Merry Christmas, as well. I loved your piece on Kipling. My college degree was in History, and I focused on 19th-century European history (basically the French Revolution through WW I). I even used to be a member of the Victorian Military Society. As you might expect given that focus, much of my study was of British imperialism, and I became quite familiar with Kipling. He became my favorite author, and still is, mainly because he wasn't shackled to the "White Man's Burden" concept so much as other authors who hadn't spent so much time in India. I get that he genuinely felt that the native populations benefited from European rule, but unlike most, he acknowledged their cultures, he saw them as human beings, and his native characters come across as real people, not just stereotypes. He clearly had some respect for them. As you probably know, he could also tell a great ghost story. His story "At the End of the Passage" is absolutely chilling. Check it out if you're not familiar with it. As something of an apologist for Robert E. Lee, it's easy for me to take the same stance with Kipling. Yes, he was a man of his time, but when held up against current standards, he was, nonetheless, about as progressive as you could hope for regarding native populations and cultures. And as you said, a wonderful story-teller. I do have one question for you: as a native Texan, I am not familiar with the phrase, "... contradiction that ran through Kipling like lettering through a stick of Blackpool rock." Tell me a little about that! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Yours, DT, Dallas, TX.