GOOD EVENING!

It has been a dozen years since Raymond Swing's voice was one of the most famous in radio, and doubtless this book will be received by most Americans with comments such as ""--Swing? Oh, yes; whatever became of him?"" In this smooth, even, and lengthy but steadily interesting volume of ""Professional Memoirs"" as he chooses to call it to forestall expectations of either an historical survey or conventional autobiography, the reader will eventually learn that since 1951, six years out to ghostwrite for Edward R. Murrow, Mr. Swing's mellow voice was continued to ride the airwaves throughout the world, via USIA and the Voice of America. But first we follow him through a full career as a newspaper correspondent, two world wars, and extensive travels in Europe, Russia, and the Middle . Most interesting, perhaps, are the later sections with their sketches of major statesmen, left, right, and center, and a full account of Swing's personal struggles with McCarthyism. In semi-retirement now and beginning the fourth quarter-century of his crowded and satisfying life, Mr. Swing can calmly say that he hasn't regretted a minute of it, and that his faith in the United States and the democratic process continues undiminished.