November 20 is the birthday of two unlikely bedfellows, Alistair Cooke and Chester Gould. Cooke, broadcast journalist and author, was born in 1908 in Salford, England but moved to the U.S. in the 1930's. His program, "Letter from America" on BBC radio was broadcast in more than fifty countries. He is perhaps best known to Americans for his eloquence as a host of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.

Chester Gould's name may not ring a bell but his comic strip, Dick Tracy was read by thousands. Gould was born in Pawnee, OK, and later moved to Chicago. His square-jawed, clean-cut Tracy was the epitome of a no nonsense detective. The strip first appeared Oct.4, 1941 in the "Detroit Daily Mirror" and went on to be syndicated in nearly 1,000 newspapers. Who could forget lovely Tess Trueheart and bad guys named Mole and Pruneface?