Beryl Bainbridge

[tarzanontarmazepam]

Fascinating docu on BBCi player about the 71 year old author. She is convinced she is about to die and this hour long programme reveals her troubled past and her relationship with her family.

I met her in 1981. Her second eldest daughter Rudi ( I knew her as Ruth) attended the Italia Conti school when I was there. Beryl was in attendance when we did an end of term production (The Butterfly Ball) and she came back stage.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007mw91/Beryls_Last_Year/

She's a fascinating lady, and what does surprise me for a writer is that she doesn't even own a modern pc. She still uses an ancient computer she acquired in 1986.

A very poignant restrospective of her life. The film was made by her Grandson Charlie Russell.

[housesparrow]

An interesting writer - but I remember seeing a photo of her on a dustjackt of the Bottle Factory Outing and she looked really ill then. That must have been about 30 years ago.

[tarzanontarmazepam]

Mar 29, 2010 21:11:37 GMT housesparrow said:

An interesting writer - but I remember seeing a photo of her on a dustjackt of the Bottle Factory Outing and she looked really ill then. That must have been about 30 years ago.

She looked very thin and worn when I met her in about 81 (30 years agoish). The bottle factory where she worked is mentioned in the film.

Pehaps the angst of the writer and the fact that she was a chainsmoker up until recently. I did overhear her say all those years ago in South London that writer's block troubled her greatly.

I was only very young at the time (15) and didn't know who she was.

[betty]

i remember Master Georgie - it was good.

and Sweet William.