This tome has been on-going since January 1st 1977 & occupies much shelf space in its printed form. A copy resides in the Islington Archive & is updated regularly, as new volumes are written. There are also photo-albums, an autobiography of the 33 1/2 years before the daily diary starts & a couple of unpublishable novels. Later volumes contain our company tax returns & our domestic accounts, which are in the same format as the company ones (i.e. cash books & a nominal ledger).
The second copy needed a home & to Ken’s astonishment, the British Library was not interested. How many ordinary peoples’ diaries do they have? However, the London Metropolitan Archive suggested that the Bishopsgate Institute would tear Ken’s arm off, if offered the diary & they have agreed to keep a copy. Result!

The Claremont Project We went to the Friday afternoon concerts as before. Ken has offered our Lecture programmes & are awaiting a verdict from the new organiser Kyri, Amanda having left.

The U3A in London

The attendance at the U3a continues to pick up after the pandemic drop-off. Ken’s European History class attendance has increased somewhat. About 20 people attend but never more than 14 maximum at any one time, so they nearly all miss the great panorama of events. Work continues on more talks. 243 have been completed, taking them to the messes after the First World War but there is always revision to do on earlier talks & more art & music talks have been included after the rapturous receipt of a talk on Purcell, the Greatest English composer.

In the U3A Summer Programme Ken gave four talks leading up to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, somewhat revised from some years ago, as new facts are always coming out, History being dynamic. To make these work on Zoom, he had to have two laptops open & keep them in synchronisation. Zoom is a truly dreadful system but what else is there?

Ken continues to trundle Avis round art shows in the gallery wheelchairs.

All Ken & Avis' talks are available to any club in London that wants them.

Ken's reading list of books for the year

“The Mortal Storm” by Phyllis Bottome. Set between Hitler’s accession to power & the Röhm Purge & presumably written then but published in 1937, it is still a creepy account of Hitler’s Germany by a writer who knew Germany & spoke the language. It is a Penguin Special, this edition was printed in December 1939 & found in Caffé Nero!
“Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Sad tale about the Biafra War, brilliantly written. Given me by Denise to ‘improve’ me but unlike the yet-to-be-born Denise, I remember this war well. Jane & I made a car sticker, saying “Good luck, Biafra”. People asked what it was all about?
“Sad Little Men” by Richard Beard. Lists the personal damage Public Schools do to boys.
“Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo. Amazing, like a history, comedy & tear-jerker together.
“Grunts” by Mary Roach. Scientist looks at how the US military work to keep soldiers (grunts) alive.
“Billy Wilder and Me” by Jonathan Coe. Enchanting story of a young woman’s fictional encounter.
“The Secret Barrister” by ? 2018 alarming report on the legal system being mucked up like all our infrastructure by this government.
“Beyond Black” by Hilary Mantel. Weird story about a Medium. How did she think this up?
“Snow Country” by Sebastian Faulkes. A beautiful love story, nearly made me cry.
“Immortal Thoughts” by Christopher Neve. About great artists’ last works by an artist. A masterpiece itself.
“The Escape Artist” by Jonathan Freedland. About Rudolf Vrba, the 1st Jew to escape from Auschwitz & contains a worrying message about today.
“The Last Colony” by Philippe Sands. A very moving account of the struggle of the Chagos Islanders to return home. They are not quite there yet.

Similar limited reading list as last year, owing to much historical research again. Avis usually reads the same books after me.