Tlionias Fleming, executive secretarv’rnof The Ingersoll Prizes, says MadisonrnJones is “a novelist who has not beenrnafraid to tackle the most pressing socialrnand moral issues of our time, fiis fifthrnnoel, A Cry of Absence, is the most seriousrnfictional exploration of the painfulrndilemma of American race relations Irnhave encountered. Often considered arnnovelist’s novelist, he has won the plauditsrnof his most important contemporaries.rnAs Flannery O’Connor once saidrnof him, ‘He’s so much better than thernones all the shouting is about.'” Wrifingrnin the New York Times Book Review,rnOvid Pierce proclaimed of Jones thatrn”outside of Faulkner, few writers liavernbeen able to command such a range ofrncountr with so much atmospheric detailrn. . . nor have they been able to capture sornwell the air of defeat over forgotten littlerntowns.”rnBritish philosopher Antony GarrardrnNewton Flew was born in London inrn1923. He studied at St. John’s College,rnOxford, where he received First ClassrnHonours in Litterae Humaniores (1947)rnand was avarded the John Locke Scholarshiprnin Mental Philosophy (1948). Hernhas taught philosophy and moral philosophrnat, among other schools, ChristrnChinch, Oxford; King’s College, Aberdeen;rnthe University of Kcele; and thernUniversit’ of Reading, where he is professorrnemeritus. Flew is the editor of 12rnbooks and the author of 24, includingrnHume’s Philosophy of Belief (196),rnThinking About Thinking (1975), A RationalrnAnimal: Philosophical Essays onrnthe Nature of Man (1978), and Power tornthe Parents: Reversing Educational Declinern(1987). His articles have appearedrnin the journal of Libertarian Studies, thernjournal des Economistes et des EtudesrnHumahies, Encounter, and Hume Studies,rnamong many other journals. He receivedrnan honorary doctorate from thernUniversitv of Keele in 1974 and wasrnmade a laureate of the Academy of Humanismrnin 1983. He and his wife haverntwo daughters.rn”Anton’ Flew is the foremost conservativernphilosopher in the English-speakingrnworld todav,” noted Thomas Fleming.rn”Turning against the collectivistrnmentalih that has dominated philosoph)rnsince the 1940’s, Flew has devoted his careerrnto the defense of individual dignit)’.rnhi the tradition of British philosophersrnlike David Hume, Flew is a brilliant analystrnof individual rights and duties whornhas not shrunk from the important politicalrndebates of our time. He has affirmedrnparental prerogatives against the powerrnof the state and, in an era of Europeanrnamalgamation, has defended the authenticrnsovereigntv’ of Britain.”rnThe Ingersoll Foundation is the philanthropicrndivision of the IngersollrnMilling Machine Company of Roekford,rnIllinois. The Roekford Institute administersrnthe prizes. The past recipients of thernT.S. Eliot Award are Jean Raspail (1997),rnRichard Wilbur (1996), Zbigniew Herbertrn(1995), Wendell Berry (1994), FredrnChappell (1993), Muriel Spark (1992),rnMario Vargas Llosa (1991), CharlesrnCauslev (1990), George Garrett (1989),rnWalker Percy (1988), Oetavio Pazrn(1987), V.S. Naipaul (1986), Eugenernlonesco (1985), Anthony Powell (1984),rnand Jorge Luis Borges (1983). ShelbvrnFoote (1997), David Hackett Fischerrn(1996), Francois Furet (1995), MurrayrnRothbard (1994), Eugene Genovcsern(1993), Walter Burkert (1992), JohnrnLukacs (1991), Forrest McDonaldrn(1990), Edward O. Wilson (1989), EdwardrnShils (1988), Josef Pieper (1987),rnAndrew Lytic (1986), Robert Nisbetrn(1985), Russell Kirk (1984), and JamesrnBurnham (1983) arc the prexious recipientsrnof die Richard M. Weaver Award.rnEPICYCLES:rn• Transgendering the Militar)-: Canadarnhas given new meaning to the “feminization”rnof the military. In September,rnCanada’s Defense Department announcedrnthat the military will pay forrnsex-change operations for its soldiers.rn.According to Reuters, Colonel ScottrnCameron, director of medical servicesrnfor the Canadian military, argued thatrn”this is an illness and the treatment isrneffective.” Since Canada’s universalrnhealth coverage would pay for a sexrnchange for civilians, the military’ simplyrnconformed to the broader socict)’. Therernare services, however, that tiie militaryrnwon’t pa- for. “There are some thingsrnthat these patients sometimes have donerncosmetically, like breast implants andrnso on. We would not pa- for that,”rnCameron said.rn• The Roekford Schools Case Continues:rnFederalism is resurgent in Rockford.rnOn September 1, the RoekfordrnSchool Board informed Federal DistrictrnCourt Magistrate P. Michael Mahoneyrnthat they could not afford to fund courtorderedrndesegregation programs. Sincern1991, the programs have been paid forrnout of the tort fund, a state-mandated taxrnthat municipal bodies ley to pay settlementsrnin civil suits. Late last year, however,rnIllinois Circuit Court Judge JohnrnRapp ruled that the tort fund could notrnbe used to pay for desegregation. In thernpast, the federal court has ordered thernschool board to adopt tiie tort tax, forcingrnmembers to change their votes. Thernschool board’s action, however, putsrnMagistrate Mahoney on notice: forcedrnto choose between complying with arnfederal court order and a state court ruling,rnthe board will take its stand with thernstate.rnO B I T E R DICTA: Richard Moore, arnpoet from Belmont, Massachusetts, hasrncontributed one poem to this issue. Mr.rnMoore is the author of nine books of poetry,rnas well as translations of Plautus andrnEuripides, a book of literarv essa’s, and arnnovel. The Investigator. His most recentrnbook of verse. Pygmies and Pyramids, v’asrnpublished by Orchises Press. Mr. Moorerngives frequent readings in the Bostonrnarea. Our second poet this month isrnHarold McCurdy, the author of eightrnvolumes of verse, including his currentrncollection. Realizing Westward.rnOur artist this month is StephenrnSchildbach. He received his Master ofrnFine Arts in illustration at die SavannahrnCollege of Art and Design. He started hisrnillustration career in New York Cityrnwhile working as a graphic designer at arnbook publishing company. He illustratesrnmagazines, books, and newspapers, andrnlives in Seattle, Washington.rnSnowbirds, take note. Chronicles canrnbe found at the following locations in thernsunny state of Florida: Goerings BookrnStore, 1310 West University Avenue,rnGainesville; Borders, 9205 South DixiernHighway, Miami; World Wide News,rn1629 Northeast 163 Street, North MiamirnBeach; Sarasota News & Books, 1341rnMain Street, Sarasota; Books Plus, 485rnWest Brandon Boulevard, Brandon;rnand Franklin Street News, 604 WestrnFranklin Street, Tampa.rnFOR BACK I S S U E S , C A LLrnl-80(^77-5459rnNOVEMBER 1998/9rnrnrn