First off, Alan Jonhson on his memoir of his childhood,
"This Boy". A wonderful interview; which demonstrated to me what we
lost when he didn't challenge Brown after Blair left office. His book has
received rapturous reviews and he revealed that Blair had emailed him after
reading it to say "brilliant; you missed your vocation". A back
handed compliment if there ever was one. It gives an often harrowing account of
his difficult childhood in Notting Hill, growing up looked after by his older
(by 3 years) sister and oft ill mother, who died when she was 42 leaving Alan
and Linda still kids.
Then, after slotting in a visit to my favourite charity
shop - the Helen and Douglas Hospice - and buying an antique fountain
pen, it was Jonathan Aitken talking about his biography of Margaret Thatcher. A
contrast to the Johnson interview as you can imagine. However a fascinating
behind-the-scenes account of Thatcher that was revealing, though I can't say it
did much to add lustre to her divisive career as PM.
And the final leg was Kate Adie on her book about
"Fighting on the Home Front", which details the contribution women
made to the war effort between 1914-18. She told some great stories about
unsung heroines and argued that without the contribution women made in this war
we would not have won. This was the first war to be fought by the nation that
involved attacks on the home front and civilian casualties.
And while I'm on the subject of Oxfordshire, a plug for
an ACEVO members' meeting taking place at the Oxford Hub - lunch on Friday 23rd
May. We will be hearing from Ben Rick, who has established the Social and
Sustainable Capital fund to encourage social finance for third sector
organisations, and from me! Booking information will follow shortly.
No comments:
Post a Comment