A remarkable memorial celebration (not a service) today for a legendary man and editor. Many 100s of us gathered for a show as Paul himself described it, planned to the last detail by him before he died. Glorious and moving. There arent many events where youd listen to Groucho Marx songs, Donne poetry, The Traveling Wilburys, Matthew Arnold, Elvis, Byron, Pinter, Catalanis La Wally, and Bruce Springsteen. Wonderful speakers: Eleo Gordon told fabulous stories, Will Sulkin read the Donne, John Lahr was humble in the face of Pauls editing of Prick Up Your Ears and was amazed when he later discovered it was the first book Paul ever edited, so sure was his advice. Mark Booth read the Byron so beautifully. Tony Lacey admitted Paul had implored him to read Dover Beach rather than try to recite it (Tony had been inspired to learn it after Paul had recited it beautifully, years ago, on a shared holiday) and there was a moment when I thought that Caradoc King, waiting on the stage for Springsteens Dancing in the Dark to finish, might actually start dancing. Ruth Rendell was remembered and missed but her last-minute stand in was Sir Anthony Sher who had been asked by Marianne to read from his letter to her after Paul had died. The reason that this was so remarkable, was that Paul had chosen the music, chosen the speakers, told them what topics to speak about and - of course - edited it with his usual style. It was beautifully done and the only moment when i nearly lost it was when Pauls reading of one of his poems was played near the end. we are lucky with our friends in the book business. Pictures are first and last pages from the programme we were all given, generously interspersed with photographs and extracts from emails sent by Paul in the last 3 months of his life.Stylish to the very end. Cheers Paul!
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 19:45:47 +0000
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