1) Both Of Us in the Mail on Sunday
Ryan O’Neal’s Both of Us: My Life With Farrah, to be published in May, was serialised in the Mail on Sunday, with Ryan speaking of his journey ‘To hell and back with a Charlie's Angel’. He speaks of the moment he asked Farrah to marry him, their tumultuous relationship, his difficult relationship with his children, and Farrah’s eventual death from cancer. Written with candour and honesty it’s a must read look at the couple behind the headlines.
2) Peter Hain: lessons in building democracy
Peter Hain, author of Outside In, delivered the 2012 Lord Merlyn Rees lecture at the University of Glamorgan, on the lessons he has learnt on building democracy in Northern Ireland and South Africa. For the man who started his political career as a militant anti-apartheid protester in South Africa and then proceeded on a journey to the heart of British establishment, there is none better placed. You can read the text of the lecture here.
3) James Delingpole on Australian state broadcasting
Continuing his trip to Australia, James Delingpole, author of Watermelons: How Environmentalists are Killing the Planet, Destroying the Economy and Stealing your Children’s Future, is not impressed with Australian government-owned broadcaster, ABC’s, documentary on climate change. ‘It reminded me so much of the BBC's nuanced approach to the climate change issue it was almost as if I'd flown home 15 days early.’
4) James Sherwood on re-launching the Orient-Express
‘James Sherwood has been chasing faded beauties all his life. Sometimes they are hotels that have seen better days, and sometimes they are old railway carriages.’ A really fantastic interview with James Sherwood, author of Orient-Express: A Personal Journey, over at the Telegraph. It’s even suggested that the book’s launch, aboard the train, could be ‘the classiest book launch of the decade’.Well, we think so.
5) Bram Stoker remembered
When you write a novel as iconic as Dracula, you can bet that the 100th anniversary of your death will be quite an event. It’s been over a week since the day that marked the centenary of Bram Stoker’s death, but the celebrations continue, as Dacre Stoker and Professor Elizabeth Miller, co-editors of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker, took part in a discussion on Stoker’s literary legacy. Elsewhere the Whitby Goth Weekend was celebrated, with the venue chosen because it’s where Bram Stoker wrote Dracula.
6) Greta Garbo, actress and spy
‘Who serves as a spy?... Stories of celebrities who spied on the side are titillating — but can you really credit Greta Garbo or Noel Coward with cloak-and-daggery?’ The inaugural conference at the Long Island Spy Museum investigates the question. The details of Hollywood star, Greta Garbo’s years as a spy are examined in David Bret’s forthcoming Greta Garbo: Divine Star, the first biography of the star to fully investigate that period of her life.
7) Guy Lodge on Brown and Murdoch
Not strictly from the weekend but this blog at the New Statesman, from Guy Lodge, co-author of Brown at 10, is well worth a read. At Rupert Murdoch’s appearance at the Leveson inquiry last week, a phone call between Gordon Brown and Rupert Murdoch was the subject of discussion. An extract from the call was published in Brown at 10, and Guy Lodge recalls what was really said.