JAGO - THE BIOGRAPHY - ARRIVING IN A BOOKSHOP NEAR YOU ON MARCH 5

I promised that I would share the contents of last week's Mailchimp newsletter about Jago in a blogpost this weekend - and here it is, with additional material and images: (And note the definitive date that I have picked up on Amazon for availability - Thursday, March 5, 2020)

FEBRUARY 2020 - UPDATES ON 'THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF JAGO STONE' - THE BIOGRAPHY
I am pleased to welcome Louise Campbell as the 67th subscriber to this newsletter. Louise is the Marketing and Publicity Manager for Unicorn PG, the publishers of 'The Remarkable Life of Jago Stone'. Louise and I spoke on the phone last Thursday, February 6, and I can update you with the news that March 1 is now the likely date for publication in the UK. I guess that might be moved to Monday March 2 - are books published on a Sunday these days? The world of publishing is revealing more of its workings as the months pass but I still have much to learn.

As Louise Campbell explained, Unicorn need to allow time to move the hard copies of the first print-run to book distributors and retailers. And the American and Australian wholesalers and retailers are likely to get their copies for sale a couple of months after the UK market - say early May - for the same reason. That seems to be how things are done.

All very exciting - and patience was ever a virtue of the first order.

The biography of Jago Stone, available online and in bookshops from March 5. You can pre-order.

I wanted to update my loyal subscribers as soon as I could - (although I did squeeze in the publication of the fourth and last part in my blogpost series on the Labour Party 2019 Manifesto yesterday!). And I also wanted to make this Mailchimp edition of the Newsletter a celebration of a definitive date for
publication. So what shape might such a thanksgiving take?
One of the issues I explore in my biography is the double-sided nature of Jago's talent as an artist.
He gave and gives aesthetic pleasure to hundreds, perhaps a thousand or more, of those who have his paintings of their homes or other scenes on their walls.

But then there is the unconventional, wilder palette-knife paintings that brought Jago national recognition in prison through the award of the Arthur Koestler Prize for National Prison Art in the early 60s. That story is told in the biography as are the tales of other palette-knife paintings that Jago produced after his release in 1967 and represent what I term 'prison-shaped expressionism'. They comprise the work that art critics consider his most creative, exciting and important. 

An image of the artist himself - in 1975 - would not come amiss. He is celebrating the publication of his autobiography. 45 years later, we will be celebrating the publication of his biography.  

I thought the need to exorcise the memories of his eighteen years behind bars had gone by 1971; I had not found any evidence of such painting after that date. Then came the emails and images from the Goodenoughs in the States - the full story is in the book.


What better than to use this edition of the Newsletter to show not only the Goodenough's marvellous palette-knife from 1976 but also a couple of other mid-70s palette-knife paintings that have emerged from cyber-space during the last couple of years, too late to include within the pages of the biography.

Here is Keith and Joan Goodenough's splendid contribution to our deeper understanding of Jago's story and talent:

Untitled palette-knife - Jago Stone (1976) - from the collection of Keith and Joan Goodenough

And here are two more wonderful images that winged their way to me. They came - via Facebook - in October, 2018 from Dianna DAiella who is now resident in California:    

Untitled palette-knife - Jago Stone (c.1976)

Untitled palette-knife - Jago Stone (1976)

One was certainly painted in 1976 (see the inscription on the painting); the other most likely produced in that year. Dianna wrote: 'My dad has 2 pictures from Jago Stone, one has my name in it. He painted them in our living room. I remember he was a very interesting man. I will send pictures to you today, I'm at my dad's now.' I replied: 'Wow! cool palette-knife pieces!'.  
Please, please let me know if you know of any more such fine works of art. Jago's reputation as an artist deserves to flourish. 

Always interesting to see paintings 'in situ'.

You can of course still pre-order a copy of the biography, here in the UK and in the United States and Australia . Below, there are links to Waterstones and Amazon and Unicorn PG.

Waterstones:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-remarkable-life-of-jago-stone/rob-donovan/9781912690428

Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Remarkable-Life-Jago-Stone-Burglar/dp/191269042X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Remarkable+Life+of+Jago+Stone+-+by+Rob+Donovan&qid=1574242062&sr=8-1
Unicorn:

www.unicornpublishing.org/page/detail/The-Remarkable-Life-of-Jago-Stone/?K=9781912690428

If you know anyone you think might be interested in these mailings about 'Jago' please encourage them to follow the link to my website. Here it is: http://www.robdonovan-author.co.uk/JagoStone-Biography.html They can join you as subscribers - 67 to date. 
You can also use this page to access all my Jago Stone blogs. The blog-posts are also there for your enjoyment - and comments. Press this link here to start accessing these posts:  https://robdonovan.blogspot.com/2019/01/jago-stone-american-connection-part.html

And here is the additional material I promised.

First, a Jago palette-knife that Louise and I bought from a young woman, Helen Drake, who became interested in the Jago detective story after discovering this painting in a random bundle in a second-hand shop. We think the likely date is 1969. What a find! I'm not sure I've shown this before.

Untitled palette-knife - Jago Stone (c.1969)

And here is one that I have definitely posted in the past - and it's in the book. This study in blue is one of my favourites from Jago's prison-shaped expressionism period.  

Bardon - Jago Stone (1968)

Long may the Jago story unfold!

And as a final postscript, a request: would you consider ticking the follower box that now appears on the top right-hand-side of my blogpost? My Blogger website now provide these and I thought I would go with the flow and add it. I know there are around 50 followers on my Facebook 'Road to Justice' page and around 100 following my Facebook 'Jago' page. It will be interesting to see whether I can develop a following here. It all helps the author profile - and remember this is an advertising-free zone by choice.