This is South Shields born Eileen OShaughnessy, Ive just made a documentary about her very interesting life. As well as filming her birth town South Shields, the documentary took me to Newcastle, Teeside, Warwickshire, London and Barcelona. I interviewed people who lived in the houses she lived in who knew her history, also filmed a Professor of British History who wrote a book about St Hughs College where Eileen attended, I filmed in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona with Alan Warren who is a Historian living in Barcelona as Eileen followed Orwell into the Spanish Civil War fighting against the fascists, Sylvia Topp, author of Eileens biography came over from New York when researching for her book and finally meeting Richard Blair, Eileens son, who kindly shared some stories on camera which confirmed my belief that Eileen was a big influence in Orwells writing, especially Animal Farm. Eileen is one of histories forgotten people, an unsung heroine of the 20th Century and we would not know of the great books that Orwell wrote if it wasnt for Eileen.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 18:17:29 +0000