Looking for Richard

All power to those who've begun the search for Richard III, the much maligned king, who deserves better, in my opinion, that to be interred under a car-park in Leicester. I've always liked Richard and had my gravest suspicions about Henry V11. I went on the Bosworth trail myself last Autumn, and here I am paying my own homage, having almost got run over to get to the statue. I'd like them to give Richard a state funeral if they find him; my husband, ever the optimist, has gone one further and suggested he should be given a Nurofen and restored to the throne. Sadly, I doubt if that can be done, so I may have to content myself with seeing Mark Rylance, if I can get a ticket.

The Last Romantic/Part 2

I believe (although I cannot prove this, and there may be some-one, possibly a centenarian, out there who will contradict me, ) that I may be the last fan of Sir John Martin-Harvey on the planet, a fan, I might add, of an actor who died before I was born, and whose work I only know from books, my collection of Edwardian postcards, and one silent film ('The Only Way' based on 'A Tale of Two Cities) which I had to wait nearly forty years to see, when it was finally screened at the NFT, to my absolute joy and enthrallment. I  loved it, despite the fact that by the time silent movies arrived, Martin-Harvey was twice the age Sydney  Carton is supposed to be, and therefore was recreating a role he'd first played on stage as a much younger man.
I was seventeen when I bought this postcard of Martin Harvey as Sydney Carton (in 'The Only Way')  in 1967, (I'd been in the Portobello Road looking for Henry Irving memorabilia at the time) and it was love at first sight. Here, as I quickly learned, was a man whose theatrical art had embodied everything that appealled to me at that age, romance, a tortured anti-hero bent on self-sacrifice, he'd been the ultimate, tragic, Dickensian rake. And he was so absolutely gorgeous too...no wonder he'd been one of the top matinee idols of his day.
After acquiring the postcard, I embarked on the research; sadly, I was very inexperienced and had no idea how to go about it properly. I remember writing to The Stage, asking for anyone who remembered Martin-Harvey to write to me and received several replies, including one from his daughter, (then, I think, in her late seventies) but I was too shy to follow it up and visit her in person. Such a lost opportunity, particularly as I've since learned from the most recent book on Martin-Harvey that she lived well into her nineties. I wish I could find those letters now; there was one from an actress who'd  appeared in 'The Only Way' and who described the beauty of his voice as he proclaimed 'It is a far, far better thing...' and the agony of having to boo him in her role as a sans-culotte when all she wanted to do was listen.

There are at least three references in literature to Martin-Harvey; one in Elizabeth Taylor, as already mentioned, one in a forgotten novel by Cecil Roberts, 'A Terrace in the Sun' and one in James Joyce's Ulysses, no less, when lame Gertie sees a man on the strand who looks like him, but with a moustache....which she prefers, not being stage struck.
I remain, at my advanced age, very stage-struck.....

The Last Romantic

What is the link between this photograph and the wonderful English novelist,
Elizabeth Taylor, whose centenary is currently being marked by an on-line Readathon? I'll be back later to answer this question!

New Year, New start?

I'm sure that most aspiring writers would agree that seeing something you've written in print is a lovely way to begin a New Year, and I was certainly cheered when the latest 'Silent Companion' came through my door yesterday, containing a short story that I've tinkered with for years (latest title, 'A Ghost's Story for Christmas') and compensating for my woeful failure last year to interest any agent in my novel. Receiving the magazine also, of course, gave me the opportunity to read some excellent stories by friends. I'm lucky to know some very talented writers, many of whom deserve wider recognition for their work and some of whom are enjoying publishing success, always encouraging news.
The 'Silent Companion' is the journal of A Ghostly Company, a delightful society for afficiandos of the ghost story that I joined a few years ago and with whom I've enjoyed some superb weekends, touring, amongst other places, parts of East Anglia associated with the master of the genre, M. R.James. (On a trip to Aldeburgh a few years back, one of our group managed to whistle up a storm, quite literally, in a tour de force that surprised us all, but that's another story.) I'm posting a link to the society in the comments box. New members are always welcome, and non-members are welcome to buy the magazine!