{"id":2,"date":"2014-05-09T04:35:09","date_gmt":"2014-05-09T04:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2019-12-12T18:27:30","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T18:27:30","slug":"sample-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/?page_id=2","title":{"rendered":"About Shirty Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The original idea of shirtyletters. com was to try and generate a ‘run of steam’,\u00a0 the end result being that I would hopefully find a publisher.\u00a0 There must be some 200 letters to politicians, \u00a0journalists, \u00a0rulers, \u00a0psychiatrists, solicitors, \u00a0friends and family, \u00a0church people, \u00a0council car-parking jobsworths that I have composed over the past 35 years \u00a0– \u00a0the general theme is to prick people’s pomposity in, \u00a0I hope, \u00a0an entertaining way.<\/p>\n

However, it’s not all berating at bureaucrats \u00a0– \u00a0there are plenty of softer, kinder letters too. \u00a0Perhaps a modern version of the Henry Root Letters<\/a> with a touch of Dear Lupin thrown in ?<\/p>\n

You judge.<\/p>\n

So far I have had one outright rejection letter from Broo Doherty, formerly of Wade & Doherty Literary Agency who did not like my ‘humour’ in a letter written in Latin to Boris Johnson and no reply at all from Jamie Byng of Canongate Books, Edinburgh. More recently I received my first rejection email from Darton, Longman + Todd who sat on my ‘hard copy’ for nearly 4 months (without even bothering to read it), failed to answer my chasing email before eventually telling me I was not suitable for their list. \u00a0Who do these people think they are ? \u00a0Bryan Harris at Kent Christian Press responded some 6 weeks down the line to say that they no longer published books. My hopes of\u00a0 getting a letters book out are now pretty much shelved. The autobiography now takes precedence before revisiting the pastoral care in mental health book. Then perhaps I can write a short book about my maternal grandfather before trying again for a compendium of these ‘shirty’ letters.\u00a0 I am comforted by the fact that Decca turned down The Beatles.<\/p>\n

I am now 65 years old and could do with a bit more income ! \u00a0Having said that, \u00a0it’s actually not riches I seek but reassurance and affirmation. \u00a0It’s been an amazing life thus far but a roller-coaster – a privileged upbringing on a Cotswold farm, the best education in the world ( Eton, Christ Church, Oxford ) with a varied career path from Wall Street banker, reinsurance clerk, wholesale organic baker to mental health worker and minicab driver. \u00a0Now I am trying to combine an occasional bit of writing, gardening, a bit of DIY and volunteering at the Royal Hospital for neuro-Disability whilst retaining my interest in a small charity (Being Alongside<\/a>) which does good work in the spirituality \/ mental health world.\u00a0 Also nowadays much effort goes into ‘shepherding’ the Oxford branch of Faith and Light, occasional afternoons of fun and games with learning disabilities people.<\/p>\n

It must be obvious that I am new to this ‘blogosphere’ lark but nothing ventured, nothing gained.<\/p>\n

\"Jerusalem_flat\"<\/a>The American Colony, Jerusalem. My parents’ flat top right, I think.<\/em><\/p>\n

Strong genes suffuse my soul. \u00a0My father had a fascinating war and inherited much of the Summers steel <\/a>\u00a0money.<\/p>\n

My mother was teaching at a cookery school in Beaconsfield when just 17 and single-handedly ran the rest home for allied officers at the Loaves & Fishes church at Tabgha<\/a>, \u00a0Lake Galilee, in her early twenties.<\/p>\n

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My mother at Tabgha, Christmas 1941, my father at her feet <\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to that she was working for MI6 in Ankara, Jerusalem and Cairo plus acting as PA\/secretary to the Chief of Police by Jaffa Gate in the Old City. She was aided by a boxer dog and a small donkey called Percy who travelled on the back seat of the open-top Buick between Cairo and Palestine! \u00a0Her father, Mark Patrick ( also Eton, Christ Church I am proud to say ) was our man in Switzerland in his twenties, 1st secretary in Moscow until 1934 before returning to be elected MP for Tavistock.<\/p>\n

\"Stalin_meeting\"My grandfather greeting Stalin in 1930. Trotsky lurking in the background.<\/em><\/p>\n

He became PPS ( Parliamentary Private Secretary ) to Sir Samuel Hoare , first at the India Office and later the Foreign Office (Kindertransport<\/a>) and convened the so-called ‘Eden Group’, \u00a0the anti-appeasement group comprising Winston Churchill , Anthony Eden, \u00a0Harold Macmillan, \u00a0Alfred Duff Cooper and Harold Nicolson.<\/p>\n

Please post your comments and let’s get this show on the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The original idea of shirtyletters. com was to try and generate a ‘run of steam’,\u00a0 the end result being that I would hopefully find a publisher.\u00a0 There must be some 200 letters to politicians, \u00a0journalists, \u00a0rulers, \u00a0psychiatrists, solicitors, \u00a0friends and family, \u00a0church people, \u00a0council car-parking jobsworths that I have composed over the past 35 years … Continue reading About Shirty Letters<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39,"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/shirtyletters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}