To Steve Barron

Dear Steve,

I can’t thank you enough for having given me such joy whilst submerging in the life of «The Durell’s». I had so enjoyed «My family and other animals» as a child and I think I now not only relished in your adaptation of the book because of the amazing actors, styling and wardrobe but perhaps also being an ex pat myself for over 26 years in Spain with my 3 children I kind of identified with them.

The funny coincidence is that when I saw your name as the Director other memories flooded back  (I’m not exactly sure how many years ago but I know it was before my last son was born and he’s 21 now so, a little while back!).

I used to work in Production for commercials, first in London for Barry Kinsman,  then in Spain and on this particular shoot I was the Production Assistant for a Barcelona Production Company who shot one of the biggest nightmare commercials I have ever worked on for Schweppes. The Director was a Scandinavian guy called August (no longer remember his surname) that Limelight represented. We first went to shoot in Cape Town and we couldn’t finish the commercial as we got rained down. So the shoot was put on hold and we went back to Spain and then the clients requested that we re-budget the weather day both in Cape Town again and in Marbella and that they would decide at the last minute depending on the weather forecast. Marbella was chosen and after having a drought in that region for quite a while, the skies opened and it poured with rain for days, so we once again had to postpone!!!

The other story that came up in that little hidden drawer of my mind was that of your sister Siobhan telling me about when she was going out with an actor and how she had sent a runner to buy an animal heart at the butchers and then had it gift wrapped in some fancy jewellers box and courried to him. He was apparently in make-up when he received the package!!! It still makes me laugh.

Anyway one of the many things I do now is a podcast and I wondered if you would meet up with me one day and let me interview you. I have already interviewed a couple of well known friends such as Irvine Welsh and Annie Nightingale. Although the idea was to interview people that have crossed my path, in a sort of round about way, you have.

As I said earlier I live in Spain, however my daughter lives in London and is pregnant with my first grand-child so I will be popping over more often. If you would be interested in meeting.