An excerpt from pamphlet 45 of the 52 Pamphlets. The full version will be included in the third and final GANTOB book.
At the age of 84 I am asked whether I should be winding down – whether I should be committing to another grand project. I pretend not to hear them. I think back to James Gowans, the Edinburgh architect about whom I wrote in the second GANTOB book, in my thwarted Curt Finks forgery.
Urs and I had a couple of nights away recently, taking in the sights of the North East of England. We had debated the usual spots – Bamburgh Castle, Hexham, Beamish – but seeing the weather (it was pouring as usual) and reading about alternative destinations landed instead on Sunderland. We hot-footed it from the station to the shopping centre and topped up on waterproofs at an outdoor store. A few minutes later we arrived warm and dry at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens and plunged into their excellent pottery and mining exhibits.
However, my eye was drawn to one of their curios, tucked away at the back of a cabinet dominated by lions. It was the head of a walrus, not a sea lion, though both are pinnipeds. I read the following description on the museum label:
‘There is a popular legend that this walrus inspired Lewis Carroll to write “The Walrus and the Carpenter” on one of his visits to Sunderland. However, the poem was published three years before the walrus was given to the Museum.’
Which got me thinking…
THE BENEFAKTOR 30 MAY 2024
To read more you’ll need to wait for the third book. To earn a copy you will need to answer one of the 23 Questions and/or make a written or artistic contribution to the 52 Pamphlets.
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