‘EVER HAD A WOMEN IN A PARK?’

by Brian Bamford

George Orwell and son Richard Blair

DAVID J. TAYLOR, sheltering from the blazing sun in the patio of The Garden House Studio at the Holt Festival on the 24th, July, addressed the logistics of George Orwell’s love life.  At one point he reminded us that Orwell had once asked a friend if he had ever had a woman in a park?  When the reply that came was ‘No!’; Orwell said ‘I have; no where else to go’.

Malcolm Muggeridge in his essay on Orwell entitled ‘A Knight of the Woeful Countenance’ writes:

‘Orwell characteristically held forth on the logistic difficulties which dogged the penurious amorist.  Where was he to go if he could not afford a hotel room and had no private accommodation at his disposal?  He himself, he said, had been forced through poverty to avail himself of public parks and recreation grounds.’

In The Garden House Studio

The occasion of this talk in Holt, Norfolk by Orwell’s award winning biographer David Taylor was an exhibition of the hitherto unpublished love letters from George Orwell to Eleanor Jacques in Southwold.  The letters involved a correspondence between them which began in mid-1931, and continued until the 13th, January 1936, after he had married Eileen. According to Taylor their sexual relationship concluded around the end of 1932.

In one earlier letter already published and written in October 1932, Orwell recalled old times:

'It was so nice of you to say that you looked back to your days with me with pleasure. I hope you will let me make love to you again sometime, but if you don't it doesn't matter. I shall always be grateful to your kindness to me.'

Another reminisces about ‘that day in the wood along past Blythbugh Lodge – you remember, where the deep beds of moss were – I shall always remember that, & your nice white body in the dark green moss.’

'The Blyth Estuary-A Creative Haven'

The title of the Holt event in the pictureses patio of the Garden Studio was 'The Blyth Estuary-A Creative Haven' stems from an area called Blythburgh located on the main A12, about 4 miles west of Southwold in Suffolk. It was a place where Orwell and Eleanor used to go bird nesting, and he was later to refer to these trips together in his letters.

Mr. Taylor said 'Orwell's novels reveal a fondness for plein air frolics: they probably had their origin here.' The situation between Eleanor and Orwell was immensely complicated because she was also involved with Dennis Collings, who she later married, and who was a close friend of Orwell. Taylor describes their situation in Southwold as a classic 'Jules et Jim' kind of ménage à trois.

Bernard Crick in his own biography 'George Orwell: A Life' wrote:

'Eric (Blair or George Orwell) was soon to enjoy what may have been his first serious affaire. It is not without its difficulties, geographical and economic as well as the need to avoid hurting his friend Dennis Collings.'

Another aspect of Orwell, not dwelled upon by Taylor, is that he had an obsessive sense of being physically unattractive, and according to Malcolm Muggeridge 'Orwell did not find relations with the opposite sex easy (who, by the way does?)'

In a sense his early life was spent in a matriarchal pit smothered by the women around him.  An isolated passage from a notebook, quoted by Crick (page 55), shows this:

'The conversations he overheard as a small boy, between his Mother, his aunt, his elder sister and their feminist friends. The way in which, without ever hearing any direct statement to that effect, and without more than a very dim idea of the relationship between the sexes, he derived a firm impression that women did not like men, that they looked upon them as a sort of large ugly, smelly and ridiculous animal, who maltreated women in every way, above all by forcing their attentions on them.' 

Questions of Copyright

Introducing the topic Mr. Taylor pointed to Richard Blair (the adopted son of George Orwell and Eileen Blair) sitting near the back, and members of Eleanor Jacques' family.  It's not clear who will have the copyright to the letters, as Richard is Orwell's beneficiary, but the letters are presently in the possession of the Jacques family.

On July 10th, 2018, The Sunday Times ran a story by D.J. Taylor no less, reporting that:
'Major literary finds rarely come more dramatic than the one uncovered at 23 Station Road, Southwold, Suffolk.  While the relatives of the late owner were clearing the house of her effects, they decided to explore the garden shed.  Here, amid piles of detritus going back half a century, they turned up a stout, buff envelope bearing the pencilled message “Letters to be destroyed EC”. Stuffed inside, and clearly extant, were 19 letters dating from the 1930s, some handwritten, a few carefully typed, each addressed to “Dearest Eleanor” and signed “Eric”.  “Eric”, it instantly became clear, was George Orwell.'

Mr. Taylor concluded his talk by justifying his role as a biographer, the search for details like the love letters. He said biographers have no hesitation in grabbing every morsel of information about their subject.

After the talk by Mr. Taylor, we chatted with Richard Blair about the event and Tameside Trade Union Council's decision to take out corporate affiliation to THE ORWELL SOCIETY. The Tameside Trades Council had had its eyes wide-open when it took the decision to identify with Orwell and common decency at a time when politics is at a low ebb.

A few days before we were in Holt the Daily Mail had reported that students at Manchester University had painted over Rudyard Kipling's venerated poem 'If'.   Bernard Crick claims Orwell drew upon Kipling's work when he wrote '1984'.  We mentioned the relevance of Orwell to the reports about the attacks on Kipling by the Manchester students as we bought a copy of David Taylor's biography.

In the exhibition of Orwell's letters to Eleanor we noted one that was typed that talked about him tutoring 'an imbecile', reading a book on poisonings in the USA which he said was psychologically interesting and Plutarch*, who he recommends to her. Curiously, Plutarch born Greek and later became a Roman citizen was also a biographer, and among his quotes is this one which is vintage Orwell:

Plutarch wrote:  'I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.'  Which is of course vintage Orwell, and something these politically- correct students in Manchester could do well to consider.

* Plutarch, later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, was a Greek biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. 

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REVIEW: Close to the Original

 Richard Blair attended a performance of Nineteen Eighty-Four at the Tower Theatre in London and has provided us with this report on the latest adaptation of his father’s masterpiece.

“this was an excellent production” (Richard Blair)

Nineteen Eighty-Four close to the original –

and with audience participation

ON Saturday March 3, I attended (along with a sell-out audience of 70 people) this wonderful production of Nineteen Eighty-Four at the Theatro Technis theatre in Camden. The play was adapted by Matthew Dunster and produced by Angharad Ormond with a cast of 15 amateurs.

The audience (proles) were greeted on entering the foyer by the cast dressed in blue overalls, Ingsoc armbands and dead-pan faces. Having been interrogated to identify ourselves, we then had to swear allegiance to Big Brother, with hand over heart and stern commands for “silence” when we were out of order. After that we were escorted in groups to our seats. The overall reaction from the “proles” was a mixture of amusement and nervous bewilderment, but all was taken as part of the “experience”. Once the play started, we were invited to stand and sing the party’s National Anthem!
Nineteen Eighty Four is a notoriously difficult play to put on without it becoming very long and tedious, so the producer has to come up with ideas that keep the audience focused and the story-line clear. Did this particular introduction work or was it all a gimmick? I tend to feel the audience probably enjoyed being involved in a completely new experience – given that probably 90 per cent may well have already read the book.

Once under way it settled down to what was an excellent, straight forward production that told the story of Winston and Julia, being faithful to the original. There was quite a long emphasis on the love making, which Orwell was a little more perfunctory about, and the torture scenes were pretty brutal. The cast delivered their lines convincingly with some long passages from O’Brien (Martin South), Winston (Paul Graves) Julia (Chloe Ledger) and Symes (Kevin Furness). That is not to say that the rest of the cast were in no way less impressive.

In conclusion, this was an excellent production, well executed by a well-rehearsed cast. The success of this play is clear given the more or less 100 per cent attendances for the first week and bookings looked no less impressive for the following week.

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The Tower Theatre performing at Theatro Technis, Camden until March 10, 2018.

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Uploaded March 4, 2018

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Richard Blair speaks at Wigan town hall

by Andrew Nowell Email Published in Wigan Post on 5 Friday 02 February 2018

ichard Blair speaks at Wigan town hall Andrew Nowell Email Published: 14:15 Friday 02 February 2018

Read more at: https://www.wigantoday.net/news/george-orwell-s-son-visits-wigan-to-promote-new-musical-1-8997559

drew Nowell Email Published: 14:15 Friday 02 February 2018

Read more at: https://www.wigantoday.net/news/george-orwell-s-son-visits-wigan-to-promote-new-musical-1-8997559

drew Nowell Email Published: 14:15 Friday 02 February 2018

Read more at: https://www.wigantoday.net/news/george-orwell-s-son-visits-wigan-to-promote-new-musical-1-8997559

THE son of one the world's biggest literary stars came to Wigan yesterday as preparations for a new musical about the author’s local links hot up. Richard Blair, son of George Orwell, attended a civic reception at Wigan Town Hall as part of a day of promotion for Beyond Wigan Pier, a lavish show being penned by Ince musician Alan Gregory.  The show’s concert ADVERTISEMENT premiere in the main venue at The Edge is being crowd-funded, with

The show’s concert premiere in the main venue at The Edge is being crowd-funded, with supporters so far raising more than £4,500 of the £25,000 being sought.  Mr Blair and The Orwell Society have been staunch supporters of the project ever since Alan came up with the idea of a full-length theatrical spectacular, a scheme which had its kernel in a few songs he wrote for the 80th anniversary of 'The Road to Wigan Pier'.

The council has also thrown its backing behind the musical, which will be performed for the first time in April.  Local authority chief executive Donna Hall said: 'We were delighted to welcome Richard Blair to the town hall to recognise all of the hard work he has put into telling the story of Wigan’s rich history.

'This exciting Beyond Wigan Pier musical which will be written, produced and performed by Wiganers, is a chance for us to recognise the changing lives of local people and the positive future ahead for Wigan.'  Alan, who is also a ballet pianist and co-founder of Pies, Pianos and Pirouettes which teaches dance to rugby league lads, has amassed an impressive cast with popular Wigan singer

Scott Chapman and the borough’s X-Factor star Olivia Garcia involved.  Love duet 'Look at Me' will be released as a single on Valentine’s Day to drum up further interest in the show.  It is hoped that the crowd-funding appeal will show there is enough public interest in the borough to persuade Arts Council England to invest ahead of a full theatre staging in 2020.  The team behind the musical also believes it will be the catalyst for further regeneration in Wigan and, perhaps fittingly, underline the contrast between the town in the 21st century and in Orwell’s day.

Alan said: 'This will create investment and jobs in the borough.  My grand plan is to get all the people of Wigan to buy into this.

'The arts are an excellent way to attract investment into an area. This will be created by Wiganers and will hopefully create a whole different way of looking at the town and its people.'

Other supporters of the musical include church movement Transforming Wigan and Scholes community centre Sunshine House.  The crowd-funding campaign is the only way to secure a ticket for the first concert performance at the home of Today’s Community Church, with other rewards on offer ranging from being mentioned as a supporter in the end credits to VIP packages.

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Richard Blair on Legacy of George Orwell

In February 1937, an idealistic and ungainly Englishman in his thirties traveled to Spain to take his place in the trenches at the Aragón front to defend the Republic. His name was Eric Arthur Blair, remembered by history as George Orwell. This month, 80 years after the start of that adventure, Richard Blair, the writer’s only son, now a 72-year-old retired agricultural engineer, visited Huesca to take part in the opening of a major exhibition about his father.

TALKING to EL PAÍS during his brief stopover in Madrid on his way back to London, Richard Blair evoked the figure of Orwell and commented on the relevance of his legacy and the enormous interest in his final novel, 1984, which has become an international best-seller since Donald Trump became US president.
“It’s true that in recent weeks, with the references in the United States to ‘alternative facts’ [cited by Kellyanne Conway, one of the president’s top advisors], there has been increased interest in his book. But my father has never gone out of fashion.” The book was not so much a prophecy as a fable about Nazi and Stalinist totalitarianism, says Blair, although as he points out, some details from the novel that once seemed like science fiction have been part of our everyday life for some time, such as security cameras that watch our movements, or what some companies know about us from our internet activity, or how we use our credit cards. “Society has evolved toward what he saw. The world is becoming Orwellian,” he says.
Blair is patron of the Orwell society, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to spreading knowledge about the life and work of the writer, as well as debate about ideas, and that remains scrupulously neutral about politics. Which might explain why he is so careful in choosing his words when talking about Trump.
“I think that there is a lot of tension and compression in the White House right now. It is true that Trump is attacking the press, but he is a complete enigma, they are all maneuvering and learning to live with each other,” he says.
Nevertheless, he says he cannot help but be happy at the hike in sales of his father’s books, particularly as he inherited the publishing rights (“which expire in 2020,” he points out). But he recognizes concerns that this has been due to the public finding parallels between the current situation and the dystopia Orwell described.
Orwell and his wife Eileen adopted Richard in 1944. Ten months later, Eileen died on the operating table. Some of the friends of the tuberculous-stricken writer suggested that he give up custody of the child but he ruled out the possibility. The relationship between Orwell and his adopted son became closer when the two of them moved to the Scottish island of Jura, chosen because it was a healthier location for Orwell to overcome his illness and where it was so cold that “if you move six feet away from the fireplace, you freeze.”
Blair’s memories from those days are of a loving father who made wooden toys, who had a strange sense of humor, and whose parenting style had none of the political correctness of modern upbringings. On one occasion he allowed the three-year-old Richard to smoke from a pipe filled with tobacco collected from his cigarette butts. The result, aside from a vomiting fit, was that the child saw himself temporarily vaccinated against the vice of smoking.
It was on Jura that Orwell finished 1984, writing in his room during the day and spending the evenings with the child. One of their favorite activities was fishing, especially for the lobsters that filled out a diet otherwise made frugal by post-war rationing. One weekend in August 1947, however, on a journey back from a weekend of relaxation on the west side of Jura, their boat sank and they almost drowned. Blair says Orwell’s health suffered as a result. David Astor, owner of The Observer newspaper, which published the writer’s work, asked to be allowed import the newly discovered antibiotic streptomycin from the United States, with which he was treated between December 1947 and July 1948 in a hospital near Glasgow. But his efforts were in vain: Orwell developed an allergy to the medication. “His nails fell out and blisters appeared on his lips,” Richard recalls. The writer died in January 1950 at age of 46, when his son was about to celebrate his sixth birthday.
What is the most important lesson that Orwell taught us? For journalists, says Blair, there are many. “To be honest. The most important things are facts which can be corroborated, not reality as you want it to be. Journalists today do not have time to check facts, and errors are perpetuated and multiplied on the internet until they become true.” The writer’s son also recalls Orwell’s six rules for clear writing from his 1946 essay Politics and the English Language. “Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print; Never use a long word where a short one will do; If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out; Never use the passive where you can use the active; Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.”
Blair finished up with his father’s definition of liberty: “If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
Blair is particularly concerned about the lack of dialogue in contemporary society. “All people do is shout at one another, without actually listening.” And he is surprised to see young people who, instead of speaking face to face, spend all day staring into their smartphones. “Even couples in restaurants! Are they communicating with each other via text messages?!” he jokes. And what would Orwell make of the 21st century, the era of the internet, great scientific advances and post-truth?
“Ah, now that’s the million-dollar question. But it’s impossible to get into anyone’s head. Nor to come up with the answer by reading his books. If he were still alive he would be 113, and would have had a lot of new influences… There’s no point in speculating.” As such, we don’t know, and we can’t know. But he does go as far as to assume one thing: whatever his thoughts, they would be characterized by common sense.