AH, THIS IS WONDERFUL - AT 10:24 A.M. ET:  How often do we get to report a positive, optimistic story that brings back a noble past? 

Are some of you old enough to remember Vera Lynn, the singing sweetheart of British forces in World War II?  Her rendition of "We'll Meet Again" is a wartime classic that Americans loved as well.  All World War II buffs know it.  Well, Dame Vera is 92, still with us, still spry, and still on top.  Get this:

She beat the Arctic Monkeys, the Kings of Leon and the Beatles to the top of the charts this month, becoming the oldest recording artist ever to have a number one album – but the best thing about Dame Vera Lynn is that she hasn't got the faintest idea who the first two are. "They were just names to me," she says, eyes creased up in amusement. "And fairly odd ones at that."

Despite selling more than 24,000 copies of her re-released wartime anthem of hope, We'll Meet Again, in the past week alone, Dame Vera – on a working holiday in Antibes yesterday to promote her autobiography, Some Sunny Day – remains matter-of-fact. "It was a surprise, obviously, a wonderful surprise," she says, agile and Riviera-tanned in white linen slacks and a coral jersey top, "but when my lawyer called to say that I was in the top 10, I assumed he was joking."

COMMENT:  Congratulations, Vera.  It's so nice to have you back where you belong.

September 19, 2009