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The exciting news at the moment is that the first volume of Dick Etheridge Junior's long-awaited biography of his father has been published.
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The Len and Pattie Affair!
A Wonderful Night!
Many of you will have been astonished at the diverse quarters from which there has been interest in Len Lord’s life.
For example, those dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts in the Bentley Drivers’ Club have done him proud, not least, because of Len’s own enthusiasm for Bentleys.
But recently Martyn was able to persuade the BDC to give Len one more exposure when thanking the editor, in the correspondence columns of the Club’s excellent magazine, for including a highly complimentary review of Brick by Brick from the eminent motoring historian Michael Ware.
In the same letter Martyn passed the Review a titbit about Pattie Boyd. Nothing at all to do with Len, of course, but in a very roundabout way the great man’s profile with the broader audience was heightened just a little bit more.
For those of you more interested in Pattie than Len, she was a top model of the sixties who was married to Beatle George Harrison and then another notable musician, Eric Clapton.
Said snippit comes from Ms Boyd’s autobiography (Wonderful Tonight Three Rivers Press 2007) and describes how she spent her early life in the Kenya of the early fifties in the household of her great-grandfather. Ms Boyd writes: 'He drove around in a magnificent Bentley that he had had shipped out from England. For years it behaved beautifully in the heat and dust, but finally gave up the ghost. Undaunted, my great-grandfather hitched it up to a couple of oxen and continued to travel in the style to which he was accustomed.'
A Wonderful Night!
Many of you will have been astonished at the diverse quarters from which there has been interest in Len Lord’s life.
For example, those dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts in the Bentley Drivers’ Club have done him proud, not least, because of Len’s own enthusiasm for Bentleys.
But recently Martyn was able to persuade the BDC to give Len one more exposure when thanking the editor, in the correspondence columns of the Club’s excellent magazine, for including a highly complimentary review of Brick by Brick from the eminent motoring historian Michael Ware.
In the same letter Martyn passed the Review a titbit about Pattie Boyd. Nothing at all to do with Len, of course, but in a very roundabout way the great man’s profile with the broader audience was heightened just a little bit more.
For those of you more interested in Pattie than Len, she was a top model of the sixties who was married to Beatle George Harrison and then another notable musician, Eric Clapton.
Said snippit comes from Ms Boyd’s autobiography (Wonderful Tonight Three Rivers Press 2007) and describes how she spent her early life in the Kenya of the early fifties in the household of her great-grandfather. Ms Boyd writes: 'He drove around in a magnificent Bentley that he had had shipped out from England. For years it behaved beautifully in the heat and dust, but finally gave up the ghost. Undaunted, my great-grandfather hitched it up to a couple of oxen and continued to travel in the style to which he was accustomed.'
More on AROnline
You may remember, Martyn's book received an extremely objective and comprehensive review on AROnline, the impressive website that began as a comprehensive store-house for information on all matters Austin Rover and has now developed into the best sources available for material on most aspects of the motor industry.
Martyn has now been privileged to be interviewed by AROnline on a wide-ranging selection of topics relating to 'Len' that pose every question from, whether the Longbridge tycoon was a psychopath to could he see through Harriman's weaknesses.
The entertaining and informative script now has top billing on AROnline even at a time when there's much going on in what remains of the 'British motor industry'. Oh Len, are you up there chuckling? (Bloody right I am!). Catch the AROnline interview while you can and read the positive comments so far posted.
What an Experience
Brick by Brick gets a super plug from editor CRAIG WATSON, in the latest edition of the Australian journal The BMC Experience. This thriving magazine that developed from a website really is a splendid publication. Production values are extremely high, content varied, and the makes and models featured mouth-wateringly diverse - from an early Austin Ten-Four to a 'Healey' 3000 by way of a pre-War Morris Minor and an A40 Sports in this issue alone. Read this review, as well as all the others, here.
Digressing slightly, Craig was happy to stock my book in The BMC Experience's
on-line shop, but our helpful friends in the book trade wouldn't obtain it for him.
This is what authors everywhere face these days and it is a depressing picture. So...go to Amazon or, in Australia itself, BookWorld. Both can supply.
Swiss Classic British Car Show
Five Morris participants in the annual Swiss Classic British Car Show at Morges received copies of Brick by Brick as competition prizes. The event which is themed each year was dedicated in 2013 to Morris and Aston Martin, both celebrating their centenary. The Morris visitors were driving models that ranged from three Bullnose types driven from the UK, through a Minor, to a Mini.
Point of the exercise was to further Len's reputation in continental Europe and, of course, publicize Martyn's book. I am endebted to KEITH WYNN, who organizes this splendid show and is the proud owner of an Austin Light Twelve Four Ascot, for facilitating the promotion. I hope the five Morris devotees enjoy the read.
On Home Ground
Len's biography gets 'trailed', rather amusingly, just ahead of a story about a trailer, in the current issue of the Austin Ex-Apprentices Association e-magazine. If you are visiting Martyn's website having learned about it via the Association, a very warm welcome. All the details you need to order the book are here, of course, and if you want to talk about the content or comment please don't hesitate to contact me. (martynlnutland@gmail.com)
Len Makes it (at last) into the Dictionary of National Biography
Thanks to British Motor Industry Heritage Trust's Gillian Bardsley, Len finally made it into the Dictionary of National Biography.
Read what Gillian has to say, here
Meanwhile, news of this did not escape the notice of the Oxford Mail, who put it thus and gave Martyn a nice mention
The book will be on display with purchasing details at selected car shows, across Europe thanks to the good offices of Andy's Motorbooks of Zurich, a prestigious Swiss outlet that recognizes its importance.
Please support this organization, not only by buying 'Brick by Brick' if your at the relevant events but selecting other works from Andy's wide range of quality titles.
The UK's National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, at the instigation of Lord Montagu himself, and, unlike some other transport museums around the country, generously agreed to trial Brick by Brick in its shop. Lord Montagu has described the book as 'excellent'.
It is also to be honoured with a place in the museum's internationally famous library, so hopefully future generations and today's researchers will be able to make an accurate assessment of Lord's work and achievements.
As regular visitors to this site know, the leading British provincial newspaper, The Birmingham Post, has carried an excellent article by feature writer Enda Mullen on the great man.
Fully illustrated, it centres on an interview with Martyn and pays tribute to Lord's life and achievements in a highly readable style that promotes the biography to a highly important audience.
Read the online version here.
So at long last he’s reaching the parts others cannot reach. French multi-media chain Fnac have just started to offer the electronic version of Brick by Brick so the many anglophile French car enthusiasts now have access. Most specialist bookshops in his native land, and those high street names that survive, still refuse to stock the book; but that’s another story – what do they say… ‘a prophet is honoured everywhere except…’ (see Lenophobia!)
