JEREMY CORBYN'S SOCIALIST VISION VERSUS THE THIRD WAY OF MR BLAIR

In the last few weeks, I have been indebted to Koser Saeed, a Labour party activist who has established an online news source called Spotlight Newspaper Public - here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/737462606444000/?multi_permalinks=889563267900599&notif_id=1532123084596195&notif_t=group_highlights.

Koser's aim is to disseminate the fruits of her experiences and readings as widely as possible to help her campaign to achieve democracy within the Labour movement, not least in her own location in the West Midlands. This blog-post is in support of Koser - and it also catalogues my search to understand what is happening within the Labour movement and why. 

I rejoined the Labour Party in 2015 almost as soon as Jeremy Corbyn (JC) was elected leader on the back of rule changes that in effect allowed ordinary members to determine who would lead the Party. The prospect of a socialist vision for 21st century Britain becoming a reality through the ballot box in a General Election was awesome. I had just completed the writing of 

JAGO IN FLIGHT

The Penzance Literary Festival Fringe invited me to give a talk that linked to their theme this year of 'Flight'. Since Jago Stone's life had been touched by this idea of 'flight' in a variety of ways, I did not hesitate in accepting their kind offer. The following blog-post gives my readers the chance to follow my thinking as I teased out how Jago's life had been a story of flight in my talk at the Redwing Gallery on Monday evening, July 9, 2018:

Jago Stone was born in 1928. He lived for 60 years, dying in 1988 - 30 years ago. There are ways in which he spent his whole life in flight. Let's explore first:

THE CHILDHOOD FLIGHT

James Henry Galilee entered this world as a bastard, the standard legal and non-legal term used at that time to describe an illegitimate child. He remained one for 11 years, six years longer than he needed to. When his mother married Wilfred Leonard Stone in 1932, Jago now had a father and by the terms of the Legitimacy Act of 1926 the young boy was entitled to be registered as legitimate. The family did not get round to filling in the paperwork until Jago was aged 11.

Detail from 'The Maker of Sweet Smells' - Jago Stone - 1969

Jago's mother was 18 years old when he was conceived. Who his genetic father was, Jago never discovered. But his genetic grandmother certainly made a tangible impact on his life. Her daughter, Louisa, had brought shame on their respectable and aspiring Quaker household in the Birmingham suburb of Aldridge. Louisa was banished to a nursing home in Surrey to have her child, away from

JAGO STONE - THE AMERICAN CONNECTION - PART EIGHT

The post that follows first appeared - for the most part - as my July Mailchimp Newsletter. Some readers will have already seen it there, but many won't. Just out of interest, you might like to know that 34 subscribers so far have read the Newsletter this month. By comparison, a typical Jago - American Connection blog will have picked up around 250 views in the first three months. For those who are now familiar with this eighth American Connection I hope you enjoy it a second time - and for those who are coming to the story for the first time, I hope you share my sense of wonder at the ways and means of cyberspace detection. Here's the post: 

 

'The Residency at the Redwing Gallery in Penzance during June was very enjoyable for me and I hope interesting for the handfuls of people who attended the seven talks I gave. I have produced seven blog-posts in June to tell the stories of these Redwing gatherings in words and images.

If you know anyone you think might be interested in these mailings about 'Jago' do encourage them to follow the link to my website. Here it is:  www.robdonovan-author.co.uk/JagoStone-Biography.html

You can also use this page to access my Jago Stone blogs.

Copies of 'The Road to Corbyn' can be purchased at a discount using this link: www.robdonovan-author.co.uk/TheRoadToCorbyn.html.

Here are some details for Redwing:
 

1pm until 3pm

Opening Hours:

                       Monday 10:30 am - 4.30 pm

                       Tuesday 10:30 am - 4.30 pm

                       Wednesday 10:30 am - 4.30 pm

                       Thursday 10:30 am - 4.30 pm

                       Friday 10:30 am - 4:30 pm

                       Saturday 10:30 am - 4.30 pm

Looking back down the side-street to Market Jew Street

In the last couple of Newsletters, I have outlined my searches for a literary agent who could secure publication for 'Jago'. That activity still continues - but by now it is not difficult to read the runes. There are tens of thousands of authors out there chasing the dragon of mainstream publication and we are all 'commercial risks' until someone inside the system decides to take a chance. I expect to be 

THE DONOVAN-SIGGERS DETECTIVE AGENCY - SHINING THE LIGHT ON JAGO

My friend, David Siggers, lives in London and has already been the subject of one of my blogs: 'MY FRIEND, DAVID SIGGERS' in November 2017 - press this link to read that story. He has also been the impetus behind a more recent blog-post: 'THE PRISON WISDOM OF JAGO STONE AND BARON GIDDENS' in April this year - press this link to read how David kick-started that story. I visited him at home in Willesden in May and we discussed the excitement and the novelty of creating a biography that is dependent in significant part on the contributions of other people, some known, some unknown. Here's a picture of David with family from around that time, a couple of months ago:

Auntie, Belinda, Aba, and David

David in April had discovered the Guardian letter that Jago had had published in 1975 and alerted me to that source in my self-styled Donovan detective agency. Now, as June gives way to July, David is back in awesome research form. He has been so good I have incorporated him into the agency as a full partner. We are now the Donovan-Siggers Detective Agency. Here is the story, but first another