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August 2003
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Contents:
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Carol Shields - Canadian novelist,
poet,
playwright
and
essayist
The
death
occurred
in Canada
on 16th
July
2003
of Carol
Shields
(née
Warner).
Born
2nd
June
1935
in Illinois,
she
emigrated
with
her
husband
Donald
Shields
to Canada
in 1957
and
had
held
dual
US/Canadian
citizenship
since
1971.
She
completed
her
MA in
Canada
and
also
bore
five
children.
The
reponsibilities
of motherhood
limited
her
early
writing
to poetry
and
it was
not
until
she
was
40 that
she
produced
her
first
novel,
'Small
Ceremonies'.
Subsequent
books
won
her
critical
acclaim
and
a worldwide
readership
and
with
her
novel
'The
Stone
Diaries'
she
won
the
Pulitzer
Prize
of 1995.
Her
next,
'Larry's
Party'
won
the
Orange
prize
for
1998
and
it was
soon
after
this
that
she
was
diagnosed
with
an aggressive
form
of breast
cancer.
Despite
this
she
remained
'joyous,
creative
and
graceful'
(Random
House)
and
her
output
continued
with
a collection
of short
stories
'Dressing
up for
the
Carnival'
in 2000,
a biography
of Jane
Austen
in 2001
and
her
final
novel
'Unless'
in 2002
which
was
nominated
for
the
Booker
prize.
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 Edinburgh
International Book Festival
Described as the friendliest, funniest, brightest and best, an International Book Festival will be held in Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh, from 9th to 25 August this year.
Visiting the Festival will be authors from over twenty different countries, including
John Irving, Mario Vargas Llosa, Susan Sontag, Thomas Keneally, Ariel Dorfman,
Edmund White, Robert Winston, Ben Okri, Candace Bushnell, Alan Ayckbourn, P D
James, Ian Rankin, Doris Lessing, Paulo Coelho, Jane Smiley, Clive James, Iain Banks,
Melvyn Bragg, Graham Swift, Jonathan Raban, Tariq Ali, Kate Adie, John Mortimer,
Joanne Harris, David Starkey, Alfred Brendel, Douglas Coupland, Kate Atkinson,
William Dalrymple and over 500 more.
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‘Gremlins in My Garden’ an unlikely book title yet part of a series of humorous and very readable biographical works by Angus MacVicar. Cleopatra’s people? No, not an Angus MacVicar, rather one of the prolific Naomi Mitchison’s historical titles focusing (as the title suggests) on the reign, or to be precise the end of the reign of the vaguely mythological Queen of Egypt. There again there are the Lucy Daniels (definitely a mythological person) Dolphin Diaries penned by science fiction author Lisa Tuttle. Of course I mustn’t forget ‘Tales from the Dawn Hunter’ one of a number of books by former journalist Freddy Gillies who now runs his own publishing house, and of course ’The Ring Net Fisherman’ by Angus Martin, a postman turned author whose scholarship is exemplary.
What is it that links all these authors? Each successful in their own field, each with a dramatically different style and content. Location is the answer, and a brief literary tour of Kintyre otherwise known as ‘The Garden of Argyll’ will make it clearer.
The Kintyre is a long peninsula on the West Coast of Scotland, stretching further south than Newcastle, boasting a balmy climate with each deep glen concealing a grand house of near stately home proportions. When driving down the east side the first village of any size one comes to is Carradale. A picturesque fishing village, made famous in picture by William Mactaggart and in the literary world by Naomi Mitchison. Naomi is considered by some to be one of Scotland's literary greats and
lived with her husband Dick (The Local labour MP) on their estate in
Carradale, Kintyre. 14 miles north of Campbeltown on the eastern side of
the peninsula.
 Locally Naomi was regarded with affection and throughout her long life she played a major part in the activities of the community. She has written over 80 novels and whilst very few of these are still in print her experiences in Scotland and in Africa, her unconventional lifestyle, and her brand of socialism have all left their mark on her work.
She brought up five children creating and practising a philosophy of open sexual option within a committed marriage. She was at the centre of London's intellectual and political life during the 1920's and '30's and enjoyed (sometimes stormy) friendship relationships with Aldous and Julian Huxley, Lewis Gielgud, Wyndham Lewis, W. H. Auden and many others. After her death in 2001 many rare first editions from these and other authors were auctioned from her remarkable collection which included one of the first copies (from the first 200) of 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom' fetching over £20,000.
 Leaving Carradale behind one continues towards Campbeltown, home of Scotch Whisky, where Angus Martin, poet and scholar, ekes a living as a postman whilst pursuing the research and scholarship that are his real passions. Born in 1952 Angus’s works on the history of the fishing industries and Kintyre are increasingly sought after, as his fine style and attention to detail attracts critical acclaim. Three of his titles are still in print whilst those out of print are difficult to find fetching £30 - £40.
The road winds through Campbeltown and past the Loch before heading towards Southend, so named because it is the Kintyre’s most southerly village and until 1999 the home of Angus MacVicar. Angus is known internationally as the author of a number of popular children’s Science Fiction titles published throughout the 1950’s. The ’Lost Planet Series’ commands the highest prices today with the scarcer books in the series currently fetching around £45 in very good condition with a like wrapper. The market for these is buoyant with copies being snapped up almost as soon as they are put up for sale.
His first novel 'The Purple rock' was published just before the war; however, he was struck down with a life threatening illness which temporarily halted his writing. On recovery he headed off to the war where he fought all over the world with the Royal Highland Fusiliers. The war did bring heartache however, with Angus travelling through Sicily to meet his brother Archie only to find that Archie had died of wounds the previous day.
Angus's career was badly affected by the war when his publishing house was bombed in the blitz so upon his return to civilian life Angus had to more or less start his writing career again. He became a freelance script-writer for the broadcasting companies and introduced an entire generation to science fiction, including the afore-mentioned ‘Lost Planet' series. He also scripted for radio 'The Glens of Glendale' which was one of the most popular series of its time, and he presented 'Songs of Praise'. Angus continued writing and published more than 70 books over the years. His biographical books with their wacky titles and humorous anecdotes are also consistently popular today reflecting the gentle pace of life, and interesting characters here on Kintyre.
 Leaving Southend there is only one way to go - north, back through Campbeltown and up the West, or Glasgow, road. Around twelve miles from Campbeltown the small village of Tayinloan bids you welcome and it is from here that the ferry to Gigha (meaning God’s Isle) is found. It is on Gigha where Freddy Gillies resides and when he is not writing, or pursuing his publishing interests he can be found captaining the ferry or chatting to tourists. Gigha recently made the news when the inhabitants bought out the landlords, setting up an Island trust and firmly establishing this beautiful little island on the tourist map with improvements to local amenities and attractions. Freddy’s books largely turn around his love of Kintyre and island life with memoirs, histories, and amusingly readable anecdotal ramblings among his offerings. Largely unknown outside of Kintyre his books are worth picking up simply for the joy of catching a glimpse of a refreshingly different kind of world.
Leaving Gigha and continuing up the west road one approaches Tarbert and it is near here that Lisa Tuttle has made her home. American by birth, Lisa has lived on Kintyre for a number of years and is well known in Sci Fi circles both for her writing and as a regular judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Sci Fi prize. She has also written a number of children’s books including ’Panther in Argyll’ some well researched feminist pieces and countless articles both fiction and non fiction.
Sadly our tour ends here, and of course I haven’t mentioned such Victorian notables as Cuthbert Bede, or James MacNeill, both with country homes here. Or poets such as George Campbell Hay, who made Loch Fyne famous with his ’Wind on Loch Fyne’, and I could go on, but I won’t because I hope your appetite is whetted, your interest stirred, and perhaps it is time to try … an author of Kintyre.
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  Charity Book
Sale
- Turville
The annual charity
book sale, this year
in aid of the Thames
Valley Adventure Playground
as well as the Elizabeth
Finn Trust, takes place
over four days from
Thursday 7th to Sunday
10th August, 2003. The
event will be well signposted from exit 5 of the M40,
is half a mile
from Turville, between Oxford and High Wycombe and once
again getting on for
20,000 books will be
available from the barn
and marquee.
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Christie's,
Playboy and an Ian Fleming
manuscript
 Playboy
celebrates it's 50th
anniversary this year
and Christie's New York
will offer some of their
archives at their 'Playboy
at 50' sale on 17 December.
The collection includes
paintings, cartoons,
celebrity and fashion
photographs, original
manuscripts and memorablia.
Ian Fleming's
'On Her Majesty's Secret
Service' was first published
in Playboy in May and
June 1963 and included
in the sale are advance
proofs of parts 1-3
of the first English
edition, marked with
corrections and insertions
by the author. There
are also original corrected
typescripts from other
authors including Jack
Kerouac, Arthur C. Clarke,
Ray Bradbury and Alex
Haley.
The sale
catalogue is available
through Christie's
site, as is online bidding,
and highlights from
the collection will
tour the major cities
of USA in a travelling
exhibition from August
until December.
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 Thomas
Hardy notes
When
Thomas Hardy died in
1928, under the terms
of his will his notebooks
and other accumulated
private papers were
destroyed but twelve
volumes were left out
of the bonfire. One
of these, known as the
'Facts Notebook' has
been for many years
in the Dorset County
Museum at Dorchester
and it was there that
Dr. Brian Greenslade
first came across it
when an undergraduate
in the 1970's.
In 1995
Dr Greenslade, an English
lecturer at Bristol's
University of the West
of England, returned
to the museum and was
surprised to find that
the notebook was still
remained unedited. He
decided to undertake
the project himself
and found that it containing
much research by Hardy
and references to events
in the West Country
in the 1820's, many
from press reports.
Dr Greenslade soon realised
that here were the source
notes for many of Hardy's
ideas for scenes and
plots of his later books
and as such form an
important reference
source to his later
works including, for
example, the opening
'wife selling' scene
from 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'.
The book
is to be published in
facsimile by Ashgate
Publishing in November
2003 and the notebook
and Dr. Greenslade's
work will be the subject
of a BBC documentary
later this month (BBC2
13 August 7.30pm).
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Next Month: The feature for
September 2003 will be
by Orangeberry Books
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