“The manager’s name was Love” is the opening sentence of Frederic Raphael’s autobiography (he calls it “a writer’s memoir”) Going Up.
Month: April 2016
The Manager’s Name was Love, Part One
No it wasn’t, the night manager’s name was Bellew; Christopher Bellew. While I was enthusing about The Night Manager series on TV I was bursting to tell and I can’t resist any longer. I was the night manager at the White Hart Hotel in Braintree, Essex, in July 1974 while I was on a summer… Continue reading The Manager’s Name was Love, Part One
How Big is Your Diocese?
The 12th century cathedral in Trondheim had an extensive diocese; by way of the Faroes and Iceland to Orkney and the Hebrides and round to the Isle of Man. Quite a reach, until I think about the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe whose patch covers all of Europe and the former Soviet Union countries. These… Continue reading How Big is Your Diocese?
History Isn’t Always Bunk
A Monsignor
I’ve been asked by a regular reader to mention a famous 20th century scion of the Gilbey family, Monsignor Alfred Gilbey. To get him in context, Monsignor Gilbey is the grandson of the Alfred Gilbey who founded the firm with his brother, Walter, in 1856. I met him only once that I can remember, when… Continue reading A Monsignor
The Compleat Imbiber, Part Two
Cyril Ray was prepared to turn his hand to anything. In the early 1950s, when he was on the staff of The Sunday Times, his colleague Godfrey Smith recalled* : “he wrote the Atticus column and the Autolycus saleroom column, he was also Christopher Pym, the reviewer of thrillers … he understudied Harold Hobson and… Continue reading The Compleat Imbiber, Part Two