Hello Evie Mae...

All my life I've loved words but sometimes - just sometimes - no words are necessary.

 

 

LOST AND FOUND - THE AERO GIRL - STILL AS BUBBLY AS EVER.

  It's official! Former artist and ballet dance Pamela Synge is the first of the famous 'Aero Girls' to be found, and she still has the earrings to prove it..



Pamela Synge featured in The Times

Pictured in The Times today, 93-year-old Mrs Synge looked just a glamorous as she did more than fifty years ago, wearing the same hooped earrings as she did in the original sitting. Hers was one of  a series of  portraits commissioned by Rowntrees, now Nestle, as part of a post-war advertising campaign to encourage more  women to eat chocolate. Back then she was a 'young artist, fresh from a painting trip to Venice,' completely unphased by her fame.  And, it seems, nothing has changed.

 In the living room of her home in Belgravia, London, where the sister painting to the original still hangs, Mrs Synge  appears immune to all the fuss.

Not so Kerstin Doble who, along with Francesca Taylor is leading the research project into the portraits at the Borthwick Institute for archives in York. 'The fact that she is also an artist and owns the sister painting ..is a great twist in our quest to unravel the Aero Girls' mystery,'  says Kerstin.

Though these wonderful portraits lined the walls of the company's offices for many years, no records were kept of the women. I wonder who will be next to come forward?

Meanwhile, ageless octogenarian Yoko Ono  was also featured  in times2 yesterday, admitting to being a 'control freak.' This didn't capture my attention so much as the heartache  John Lennon's widow suffered before she married one of the most famous singer/songwriters in the world. Yoko has a daughter, Kyoko, from her marriage in the early sixties to American art promoter Tony Cox.  The couple split when Yoko met John and so Tony vanished, taking the eight-year-old Kyoko with him. It was twenty years before they  would see each other again.

Mother and Daughterwere finally reunited  in 1994 when Kyoko, who is now 31 and has two children of her own, finally got in touch. That, surely, is the real story?





 

CHOC FULL OF MYSTERY - WHERE ARE THE AERO GIRLS?

Were you an Aero girl? This is the tantalising question being posed by one of the world's most famous confectioners and yes - they could be looking for you!

Photograph courtesy of Visit York

According to archives of Rowntrees, who were taken over by Nestle in 1988, several  sitters were commissioned for oil paintings featured in the company's advertisements for Aero between 1951 and 1957. Chocolate, it seems, was still a luxury at that time and the manufacturers wanted to appeal to a broader range of customers.

These wonderful portraits lined the walls of the Rowntrees offices for many years though,  amazingly,  no records were kept of these women. Now  Alex Hutchinson, archive curator at Nestle, is trying to discover who they were.  As most of them will now be in their eighties he's understandably eager to make contact now before it is too late. Think what a wonderful story these women would have to tell, particularly about the social etiquette of a time that is already firmly sealed in history.

Aero first went on sale in 1935, ceasing production during the war, becoming extremely popular again when sweet rationing ceased.  And I was one of its biggest fans!As a child in the sixties I remember thinking someone must have spent a great deal of time adding all those bubbles...

This week, until October 20 York is staging The Chocolate Girls - an exhibition of original art work and advertising material used in Terry's and Rowntrees campaigns between 1950 and 1980.

Apparently the display focuses on the link between women and chocolate....Now that's something that really hasn't changed at all.

If you want to know more go to http://www.visityork.org/information/ and find out about the many chocolate events going on in the city right now.

 

THE DAY PRINCE CHARLES BANNED BAD NEWS

Journalists around the country smiled a few years ago when Prince Charles asked them why they didn't print good news. One enterprising national newspaper printed a whole front page of  riveting reports including how many millions of people got to work on time, how many trains weren't delayed and  the flu epidemic that wasn't expected that winter.

Everyone - including Prince Charles apparently - admitted it didn't make very good reading.  Now comes the revelation that  the Government's  attempts to regulate Britain's much lauded free press have failed . The sad  fact is that the newspaper industry's own proposals for a system of self-regulation have been rejected.

Under the proposed plan the independent regulator would have had a right to impose heavy fines on newspapers, as well as insisting on the correction of mistakes and inaccuracies.  Instead, our three political parties are going to make a final decision about the Royal Charter which will be imposed on the industry, with or without their agreement.

Even Lord Justice Leveson himself has admitted that Parliamentary involvement might be perceived as Government interference.

Every one of us in business, as employees or employers, has been guilty of making a mistake. But we don't let it stop us doing what we think is right. We live in a free country where, thankfully, we can choose whatever we want to read. So please, please,  don't take away the freedom of the press.

HELLO JILLY...

I met Jilly Cooper when I was 18. I had just started as a trainee reporter on my local weekly newspaper and she was a highly successful columnist on the Sunday Times.

      'Where do you work?' she enquired politely, before the talk she gave to a roomful of captivated women.
      'The Express' I mumbled.
      'The Daily Express?' she asked.
      'The Lytham St Annes Express,' I managed with as much confidence as I could muster.
       It's a moment I've never forgotten.
       During that speech Jilly made a confession that has also stayed in my mind: she always looked through people’s airing cupboards when she visited the bathroom, to see what the family were really like. Excellent research for a writer, of course, but I've often wondered how she got away with it!
        Jilly has written so many best selling novels - with titles like Riders, Rivals and Polo - that even she must have trouble remembering them all. Now in her seventies the author has announced  she plans to keep on writing blockbusters for as long as she can. The reason? To pay for round-the-clock care for her publisher husband, Leo, who has Parkinson's Disease. Jilly herself has had a minor stroke, but nothing it seems, can stop her writing. And all I can say is – good for her. She’s been through some difficult times, not least when Leo had a much publicised affair with another woman, but she has always held her head up high and got on with life.

        Her only concession to her age is that her latest novel is ‘not as racy as the others.’  It does, she says, get harder to write erotic scenes in old age!

I don't believe it for a minute. As far as I'm concerned Jilly Cooper will never grow old..

 

 

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

Literature throws us many great heroes.  Real life invariably outdoes them.

So said veteran author Wilbur Smith who has come up with a real-life story of his own.  The eighty-year-old, whose 34th book Vicious Circle is out next month is looking for someone to write his books! At first, when we heard he was providing six new storylines for Harper Collins, most people assumed he would co-write them.  Instead, he is looking for a younger version of himself to do the work.

 

As you form an orderly queue remember that this is a man with very strong views on artistic talent who is used to getting what he wants. You should be in your early thirties with one or two novels to your credit but yet to achieve the heights of success. As Wilbur Smith has sold 122 million novels worldwide,  he could be quite a hard act to follow...

 

The much-travelled author of  River God, The Song Bird, Birds of Prey and the Sound of Thunder  has tongue in cheek memories of his early days as a writer. My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers.  Starting again was a real wrench.

 

Wilbur Smith will be speaking at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival on October 10 at 2pm.
I'm sure there won't be an empty seat in the house.

HERE COMES JAMRACH'S MENAGERIE...

I was born twice. So begins Jamrach's Menagerie written by Lancaster author Carol Birch - an exceptional novel which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011.  It's a brilliant beginning to a beautifully written book that had me turning the pages almost faster than I could read.

 

Described by the Mail on Sunday as 'Moby Dick, Treasure Island and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner...with a pinch of Dickens all in one pot,' this is an epic story full of beautiful if graphic imagery.

Carol, author of eleven novels, was guest speaker at  a highly successful Writers' Day organised by   the Lancashire Word at Astley Hall Chorley this weekend. She gave an amazingly honest and entertaining account of her somewhat tortuous rise to fame. 'There were times when I wanted to give up writing,' she said, 'to earn what people call a proper living, but something made me carry on.'

The book's hero, Jaffy Brown, is eight years old when the book opens and destined to live his life in the slums of Victorian London.  A chance encounter with 'the magnetic Mr Jamrach'  sends him off on a ship bound for the Indian Ocean and more adventure than anyone could possibly expect in an entire lifetime.  Some of the writing is fantasy, some of it is gruesome, but every word has been carefully chosen to heighten all the senses.

Today's event, described as  'One Day in Lancashire to celebrate good writing' included talks by fiction and non-fiction writers Zoe Lambert and Peter Moore,  as well as book designers Ned Hoste and Ed  Christiano.

It was a brilliant chance to mix with fellow writers, meet old friends and, of course, make some new ones. Special thanks go to Alan Whelan, Tim Gavell, AJ Noon, John Rutter, Jon Poutney, Heather Carey and Jane Brunnin for organising the event.You can find out more about The Lancashire Word on http://the-word.org.uk/

 

MR CHIPS MEETS THE YORKSHIRE TERRIERS

A 101-year-old author  flew from New York to Northampton this week for the stage premier of his 1959 novel To Sir With Love.  The indomitable E R Braithwaite received a standing ovation at the Royal and Derngate Theatre when the audience realised he had been sitting amongst them throughout the performance.

Set in post-war Stepney, this semi-autobiographical novel  follows  a black schoolmaster's attempt to tame a class of unruly  kids who do everything in their power to make his life a misery. Despite his lack of experience the teacher stays strong in the face of extreme provocation and gradually gains the respect of his pupils. Clearly a tale of its time, the play points the finger at upper class racism as didthe hugely successful  nineteen sixties film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner just a decade later.

Contrast this with Channel Four's Educating Yorkshire  which was heavily criticised in the  Mail's TV review column today.  According to Christopher Stevens 'Cliques of arrogant, swaggering pupils had the staff dancing to their every command... The savvier youngsters took all the advantage they could. It was sickening to watch.'

Educating Yorkshire takes the cameras inside Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, where head teacher Jonny Mitchell prefers be on equal terms with his charges, greeting them with a cheery 'Hello Mate' at the start of a new term.

We've all come across a teacher who battles to control their class at some time or other. But a head teacher who doesn't command respect?  Now that's  a different story altogether. What do you think?

Spread the word....

And now for some good news. My new novel Baggy Pants and Bootees is to be published under the Safkhet Soul imprint as an e-book and paperback in 2014,  and celebrations are already underway in the Chapman household!

A romantic mystery, Baggy Pants and Bootees was shortlisted for the Festival Of Romance New Talent award 2012 under the working title Sophie's Secret.

Based in London and Germany, Safkhet Publishing was founded in 2010 by Dr.jur. William Banks Sutton and Kim Maya Sutton. Interestingly, Safkhet is the Egyptian goddess of wisdom, books and libraries as well as the consort of Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing.  It seems she was accredited with the invention of writing, being  both a scribe and record keeper. Which makes the publisher's name especially appropriate, don't you think?

One of the company's recently signed authors, Suzie Tullett, has been shortlisted for the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize and will be appearing on a panel at the Wood Green Literary Festival  in London when the judging takes place.

So that's the end of the good news.  Now I'd better get back to my writing - the next novel is just taking shape...