Continuing our 1970s theme, Steerforth recalls that decade's obsession with bizarre dance shows and other strange telly... The above picture shows the Easter story, expressed through the medium of dance. How anyone thought it was a good idea to tell the story of the crucifixion of Jesus through dance and mime, performed ... Read More...
General
In October last year Frank Key posted about the wonderful Puffin book The Pirates' Tale by Janet Aitchison, aged five and a half. He said in the piece: Janet Aitchison will be middle-aged by now... We can only hope she gets in touch if she sees this. And lo! and behold, ... Read More...
In his early 20s Douglas Dalrymple followed a romantic notion to work in a salmon cannery in Alaska. It turned out to be tough. Here is his story... It’s a romantic notion. By way of explanation for a summer’s grubby employment on a steamer bound for Alaska in 1923, E.B. White ... Read More...
Unfortunately the comments feature is not currently working. We're trying to fix it, mainly through prayer and animal sacrifice. Thank you for your patience. ... Read More...
Revealed: the shocking truth about the less well-known Cub Scout badges... When I was eight, a great-uncle offered me the princely sum of 50p to join the local Cub Scouts. I'd never had that much money before and was sorely tempted, but I couldn't bear the idea of having to wear ... Read More...
Can reading fiction ever really be justified when there are so many more 'important' things in the world? Douglas ponders a question that occasionally troubles all bibliophiles... My first year of college I took a course in Arthurian literature. There were fewer than ten of us in the class. After a ... Read More...
They don't make politicians like this any more (and it's probably just as well, really)... In today's media age, politicians are subject to such a high degree of scrutiny that it encourages a culture of blandness and conformity. Where are the mavericks? Consider Sir Gerald Nabarro, whose autobiography I discovered one ... Read More...
Nige discovers that the author of some rather dry zoology reference works was anything but dull in his private life... One of my most treasured books is a battered copy of Butterflies by E.B. Ford, the first in the Collins' New Naturalist series. I value it partly because it was a ... Read More...
Justice for the dead - Daniel Kalder wonders whether it makes sense... The other day I read an interesting story: Apparently a recent investigation in Russia’s Far East has just resulted in Fyodor Dostoyevsky being cleared of instigating contempt of court. I’m sure that came as a great relief to the ... Read More...
Terry Stiastny, a new John Murray author, on a visit to her publisher's historic home... Daylight falls into a below-stairs office at 50 Albemarle Street from an elaborate glass rotunda above. The rotunda has a strange quality: if you stand beneath the highest point of the dome and speak, you hear ... Read More...
