When I read about Ashoka the 3rd century BC ruler of much of India, my curiosity was aroused. Ashoka began as a warlord but felt remorse at the waste of life on the battlefield. He invited followers of the Buddha
It’s taken these surreal times for me to appreciate the outstanding locations and crowded book launches I've enjoyed. The most special was the launch of Oxford Castaways in the Cast Gallery of the Ashmolean which Sir Roger Bannister wound up,
When Claret Press suggested my tagline should be ‘Stories for the Global Reader’ , I froze for a moment. It became obvious to me – that is what I had been writing since 1998 when I started freelance journalism
Why are there , to my knowledge, few statues in the UK to truly good people like Sir Roger Bannister but plenty to men who exploited their fellow human beings or made their mark using legal violence in war? My
More memories . I am often surprised that Newsquest recycle features of mine that I wrote for The Oxford Times. They publish them online all over the country like this one in The Warrington Guardian . http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/10582069.Turner_and_Constable__Sketching_from_Nature__Compton_Verney/ It’s interesting reading
Has Covid affected readers of my blog as it has me? Because many of us have more reflection time have you found yourselves remembering something which leads you on a nostalgic journey? Every time I walk by the Radcliffe Observatory
The Shark House is one of Oxford's favourite landmarks . Its mostly associated with the late Bill Heine and the artist who made it is often forgotten. John Buckley is not as celebrated as he should be . Bill
I feel a poem coming on! Only Connect Build bridges not barriers and not barriers to bridges. Build bridges over walls. Build bridges from a narrow mind to a world of potential. Build arcs of energy and empathy.
African soldiers in WW2and how they were thanked - please read this. I was delighted that The Today Programme had a Ghanaian tell the story of the war in Burma. on this anniversary of # VJ Day Not many people
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lbh9 A dramatization of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy starts on BBC1 on Sunday. In Sculpting the Elephant and Not so Black and White I tackle the problem of being a girl. In today’s BBC radio 4 Saturday Live