Requiescat in Pascoe

I've been busy (what an excuse -- I've been idle) but I do have to stop by an blog the death of Reginald Hill. When I heard on Sunday, I went and count how many of his books I have on my shelf (twenty two, came the answer). I had a wee phase of trying to collect all the Dalziel and Pascoe novels. I had stopped because they were taking up too much space (especially as I was buying the hardback of each new one as they came out -- Hill was one of the handful of authors whose books I do buy the first available imprint of).

Reading his books was a physical pleasure. Could feel the enjoyment flowing through me: the mixture of mirth, dread and anticipation. He plotted to perfection (especially Midnight Fugue). He managed to combine high literature and low genre effortlessly. He was able to move from police procedural, to locked room and English country manor mysteries without breaking his fictional world. He also managed to keep the series alive, fresh and changing without ever 'jumping the shark' and being ridiculous or making silly changes. Unlike Christie, he seemed to actually like his bread and butter characters.

Throughout, he managed to inject a liberal and progressive sensibility into what is often a bastion of reaction. "It's a war on the streets" and all that. Dalziel was a reactionary pig, and Hill knew it, but humanised such a man.

I'll also throw in a mention of the perfectly villainous but also utterly ambiguous Franny Roote who was "persecuted" by Pascoe. I guess we'll never find out the truth about him now.

Another one bites the dust...

I weep for McGoohan, he is dead. Coincidentally, I've been watching quiter a few episodes of Danger Man recently - half hour episodes of quality spy stories, in which, interestingly, the hero wins through wit and guile, rather than shooting out the bad guys (apparently McGoohan had moral issues with a lot of spy fiction, note the absence of girlie kissing and philandering). His role is Scanners was superb, and as well as Longshanks in Braveheart.

p.s. unrelated, but a text of mine has been posted over on the party's blog - on the Gaza question/issue/thing.

Shadow (1991-2007)

That was her about a year ago, when she was already frail, deaf, blind and arthritic.

She was originally bought by my Sister, who named her Susie; however, by various means she fell into my hands, and I wasn't having a bloody dog called Susie (and I'm sure the dog wouldn't have tolerated that name neither). So, because she was black - almost never comes out except as a black blob on photos - and because she was always hanging round our feet, she became Shadow.

We got her from a rescue centre, and someone had presumably once tried to drown her, so she had a lifelong fear of water, and would, when it had rained, try to walk without putting her feat on the wet ground.

RIP - but her spirit will continue her vendetta against all known cats or agents of cats.

...bear it onward till we fall.

Pieter Lawrence, member of the SPGB for over fifty years (part of a family of members) has died after a long battle with cancer.

It's always a choker when old comrades pass.

I was in the same branch as Pieter, and despite fundamental disagreements on policy and theory, he was a solid comrade who could put his case together with cogency and aplomb.

His battle cry was for practical socialism - using making concrete proposals based on observation of contemporary society - such as the food and agriculture organisation being the the basis for a future world information clearing agency for food production. He was proud to have been instrumental in the authorship of the SPGB Pamphlet Socialism as a Practical Alternative(PDF).

On one occassion he and me had a screaming argument - or bellowing argument, I should say. Members on the fourth floor of SPGB HO could hear us raising our voices ever louder - it seemed to me, at the time, that in some way he enjoyed that sort of encounter. He certainly could bellow.

He was the author of the socialist novel The Last Conflict, as well as a book on Practical socialism. In the mid 90's he was instrumental in the debate on sexuality in the party that saw homophobes routed. Later he was central to ongoing debates on the existence of law in socialism.

If anything, somewhere down the line, his arguments for practical socialism played a part in my leaving the SPGB - afterall, if we're going to engage in practical politics then the SPGB isn't really the vehicle for it.

Ave Atque Vale.