Lately, the paper has been full of misery (government - hopeless; NHS - knackered; celebrities - idiots; general public - skint), ruining my daily treat (apart from anything written by Charlie Brooker, the wag, cos he's hilarious). Is good news not news? Is there a saying about this? Anyways, last week, I read that Alan Bennett (small, speccy Yorkshireman, author, playwright, oft-called "National Treasure) was donating his entire back catalogue to the Bodleian Library (based in Oxford University).
Normally, authors sell their back catalogue to make even more money. Mr B is a socialist of the nicest kind. He wants the library and anyone who chooses to use it to benefit from his donation. He doesn't want to make money out of his incredibly valuable drafts, manuscripts, scribblings. He thinks he's made enough. He also stated that as he was fortunate to have enjoyed a completely state-funded education (no top-up fees and student loans in those days), that he should give something back.
This cheered me up no end. I'm a big fan of the grand gesture (important in romance, but pretty cool in everyday life too), although I'm sure Mr Bennett would be mortified if anyone thought he was being grand. Apparently, two blokes from the Bodleian drove over to his house, had a nice cup of tea, he dug out a few cardboard boxes stuffed with papers, put them in the boot of their car, and said 'I'll be glad to see the back of it, to be honest". Total dude.
