I have just written an obituary for Adam Kerr (actually in real time this is two months later) but I have scheduled the two items to appear together. I collected the writings of Peter Dawlish in the 1980s, and once I had discovered (in the late 1990s) that his real name was James Lennox Kerr I went on to collect his other works. Many were in his own name but he also wrote as Gavin Douglas, crime thrillers to start with in the 1930s.
The one book which evaded me was A Tale of Pimlico by Gavin Douglas (Robert Hale, Publishers, 1948). To be sure I had read it. On my annual visit to Lamorna (I would guess about 2008) I begged to read Adam's copy before I left for home and took copious notes. A few months ago, as I was taking in the news of his death I looked again and secured a reasonably priced copy. It actually came from the library of my childhood, Kesteven in Lincolnshire. It was bought in 1948, rebound and re-guillotined in November 1953 and last lent out in November 1956. Where it has been from then till now is anyone's guess.
James Lennox Kerr started out as a socialist writer in the 1930s. One book I would pick out of the 1930s is The Woman of Glenshiels, a story of an enterprising but starving woman on Clydeside trying to make ends meet, but encountering the recalcitrance of the body distributing welfare, madeup of course by rich aristocrats. More on that later when I find my review.
A Tale of Pimlico has curious features. It is partly autobiographical in that Kerr left sailoring, and settled in Pimlico to write, where he produced a book a year. In this story, Captain Douglas had written a few articles in Blue Peter (I found this one and gave it to Adam) and Nautical Magazine (which I haven't found). In this story, as Captain Gavin Douglas, he rents a room in a seedy guest house, tries to write without success, and in the end goes back to sea. That's where the autobiography finishes, since in his real life he became a successful writer, found and married his wife and continued until war broke out.
In the story the author is also narrator. Captain Douglas arrives in Port Bellamy in South America (modelled on Belize/British Honduras) and discovered that he had known the Bellamy after whom the port was named. In his Pimlico guest house there is a resident called Bellamy. We hear his story told, which has two directions. When Douglas the narrator knew him, he was a bum, cadger, pimp and ponce (in the language of the book). That is, he was living on immoral earnings of a young woman who prostituted herself. One has to say she did so willingly. There was no love lost between the narrator and the bum Bellamy. This is where the socialism kicks in. Bellamy was from an aristocratic family, had a wife who expected him to make her rich and comfortable but he had the wanderlust and roamed free (and despite his popularity was cadging even then. He expected food on his table and had no way of providing for himself, and no incentive to do so. So he cadged. His room was a tip because there were no servants to clean it. His wife became an awful busybody chairwoman of some patronising society and his children became insufferable prigs
The second perspective is when Douglas arrives in South America in the republic of Porto Bellamy. Bellamy had encouraged the locals to develop the port themselves and not let the major powers develop it and take out the profits (although this colonialist project was exactly why he was sent out).. Bellamy was looked up to as a national hero with statues all over town. He had also seduced most of the women.
Douglas had a secret. I will not reveal it, even if the likelihood of you finding a copy is remote. The memory of Ballemy helps to solve some political issues of some sensitivity. Lots of insight into aristocratic attitudes and socialist responses. Jimmy Kerr died before ever I could have known him but we were very happy to have known Adam and Judith.
to be continued...
Saturday, 11 March 2017
Friday, 10 March 2017
Adam Kerr, chart maker, fisherman, sailor, watercolourist
Adam Kerr (1933-2016) died 8 August 2016 in his home in Lamorna, Cornwall after a heart attack. He described himself as a ’chart maker, fisherman and sailor’. He was a former director of the International Hydrographic Bureau. who wrote:
“We remember Adam as a most brilliant civil servant, one who could see very far - without being drawn into small matters, and a master at using his superior charisma and diplomatic skills to resolve conflicts that looked like unstoppable forest fires. We also like to celebrate Adam as a great example of how to enjoy life: the party at his home and his curriculum as a boater have always been a great inspiration for us.”
“We remember Adam as a most brilliant civil servant, one who could see very far - without being drawn into small matters, and a master at using his superior charisma and diplomatic skills to resolve conflicts that looked like unstoppable forest fires. We also like to celebrate Adam as a great example of how to enjoy life: the party at his home and his curriculum as a boater have always been a great inspiration for us.”
He leaves his wife Judith and his sons Andrew and Timothy.
My wife and I last met Adam and Judith in June 2016 at his home and in the Lamorna Wink, the refurbished pub in the valley. We have meet up every June since the year 2000, which is itself an interesting story. We had been interested in the writings for children of peter Dawlish. Though written for boys, my wife Jean remembered reading them as a young girl with great affection. We collected the Dauntless series, not knowing who the author was, until in 2000 reading a short book on Lamorna purchased from the watermill shop, written by Keith Gardiner whose artist father Stanley was once painted by Richard Copeland Weatherby. Keith by good fortune was with us last June. In his little book was the story of how Peter Dawlish was a pseudonym for James Lennox Kerr, who happened to be Adam's father. A notice said that the Kerrs, artists, still lived in the valley so we knocked on the door. The rest is history. We had literally walked past his house unknowing for over twenty years The internet makes book finding much simpler today so before long I had accumulated most titles, and had many a chat with Adam about his father. We even managed to find and bring home an unpublished manuscript, languishing in a Wirrel Record Office on the history of Cunard in Birkenhead. He was pleased with this, because most other people wanted to talk about his grandfather, the artist Lamorna Birch. He decided to follow in his father's footsteps and write his own autobiography. I read early proofs and was delighted to be given the published book, equally as good as his father's adult writings.
We were fortunate that our annual visit coincided with his 80th birthday party, held in the Millennium Garden that he worked so hard to establish. The whole community turned out to partake of fish hotpot and wine. We were staying just up the hill, in the cottage, he told us once somewhat mischievously, in which he had been conceived We spotted him too sailing his beloved lugger Barnabas in the Thames at the Queen's regatta. Adam was also an enthusiastic watercolour painter of marine life and used to send watercolour Christmas cards which of course we keep.
My wife and I last met Adam and Judith in June 2016 at his home and in the Lamorna Wink, the refurbished pub in the valley. We have meet up every June since the year 2000, which is itself an interesting story. We had been interested in the writings for children of peter Dawlish. Though written for boys, my wife Jean remembered reading them as a young girl with great affection. We collected the Dauntless series, not knowing who the author was, until in 2000 reading a short book on Lamorna purchased from the watermill shop, written by Keith Gardiner whose artist father Stanley was once painted by Richard Copeland Weatherby. Keith by good fortune was with us last June. In his little book was the story of how Peter Dawlish was a pseudonym for James Lennox Kerr, who happened to be Adam's father. A notice said that the Kerrs, artists, still lived in the valley so we knocked on the door. The rest is history. We had literally walked past his house unknowing for over twenty years The internet makes book finding much simpler today so before long I had accumulated most titles, and had many a chat with Adam about his father. We even managed to find and bring home an unpublished manuscript, languishing in a Wirrel Record Office on the history of Cunard in Birkenhead. He was pleased with this, because most other people wanted to talk about his grandfather, the artist Lamorna Birch. He decided to follow in his father's footsteps and write his own autobiography. I read early proofs and was delighted to be given the published book, equally as good as his father's adult writings.
We were fortunate that our annual visit coincided with his 80th birthday party, held in the Millennium Garden that he worked so hard to establish. The whole community turned out to partake of fish hotpot and wine. We were staying just up the hill, in the cottage, he told us once somewhat mischievously, in which he had been conceived We spotted him too sailing his beloved lugger Barnabas in the Thames at the Queen's regatta. Adam was also an enthusiastic watercolour painter of marine life and used to send watercolour Christmas cards which of course we keep.
Thursday, 9 March 2017
Vivian Bartlett, Nurturing a Healthy Spirit in the Young
I was very pleased to be invited to write a foreword to Vivian
Bartlett’s book. I was then the Director of the Research Centre for Motivating
Learning at the University of Worcester. Though not a Baha'i , I have been a
friend of Baha'is for many years and keen reader of Baha'i writings. One of my keen interests was to
find positive ways for teachers and other adults to interact with pupils in
ways which encouraged motivation rather than compliance with behavioral
diktats. Motivated teachers and motivated pupils tend to go together, but
authoritarian teachers are more likely to produce either timid or rebellious
charges. The objective of schooling has been long discussed, and when I was
beginning teaching in the 1970s, it was described as “autonomy”,
that is pupils making up their own minds about things. We encouraged open minds
and discussion. It may be true that the loudest voices were from closed minds,
but we teachers were skilled at helping even these to be thoughtful. Autonomy
(following rules you think out for yourself) contrasts with heteronomy, obeying
rules given by others. Our education system follows the latter, with schooling informing and filling up empty vessels.
For two years we worked closely with disturbed and disengaged young people on ‘Tranquility Zone’ and ‘Discovery Zone’ activities. The first group of 11-13 year olds was chosen by secondary schools as needing particular support. I interviewed several after the project as part of my work as project evaluator. At that point the young men and women were of an age to go to College and University. They described their early lack of aspirations and expectations, which starkly contrasted with what they had managed to achieve. As one young woman said, ‘If I hadn’t come across the Tranquility Zone, I would have committed suicide long ago. I would not be here now’. She progressed to College, another to university where he did very well.
It is important to say that this work was an act of service of the Baha'i Community seeking to be of help to troubled and vulnerable youngsters. Readers with little knowledge of Baha'is are invited to find out more through books like The Baha'i Faith: A Beginner's Guide by Moojan Momen. The teachers and other champions in school who enthusiastically facilitated the Programme were not Baha'is, but professionals in tune with the (Baha'i inspired) approach to the spiritual empowerment of young people, and concerned about the well-being, potential and future aspirations of their students, especially those who for various personal and family reasons were most needy. As evaluator, I also am not a Baha'i, though fully sympathetic to its history and social values. The Project did not promote the Baha'i Faith focused on classroom pedagogy.
The project has simplified over the years and two key themes have stood the test of time – that the individual is full of potential, a ‘mine rich in gems of inestimable value’; and that the best way these gems (inner positive qualities and capacities) can be developed is in service to others. These are two sides of the same coin: we need to recognize that we have something to offer, and then understand that we can make a huge difference to the community. We might express this as being contributors rather than consumers.
For two years we worked closely with disturbed and disengaged young people on ‘Tranquility Zone’ and ‘Discovery Zone’ activities. The first group of 11-13 year olds was chosen by secondary schools as needing particular support. I interviewed several after the project as part of my work as project evaluator. At that point the young men and women were of an age to go to College and University. They described their early lack of aspirations and expectations, which starkly contrasted with what they had managed to achieve. As one young woman said, ‘If I hadn’t come across the Tranquility Zone, I would have committed suicide long ago. I would not be here now’. She progressed to College, another to university where he did very well.
It is important to say that this work was an act of service of the Baha'i Community seeking to be of help to troubled and vulnerable youngsters. Readers with little knowledge of Baha'is are invited to find out more through books like The Baha'i Faith: A Beginner's Guide by Moojan Momen. The teachers and other champions in school who enthusiastically facilitated the Programme were not Baha'is, but professionals in tune with the (Baha'i inspired) approach to the spiritual empowerment of young people, and concerned about the well-being, potential and future aspirations of their students, especially those who for various personal and family reasons were most needy. As evaluator, I also am not a Baha'i, though fully sympathetic to its history and social values. The Project did not promote the Baha'i Faith focused on classroom pedagogy.
The project has simplified over the years and two key themes have stood the test of time – that the individual is full of potential, a ‘mine rich in gems of inestimable value’; and that the best way these gems (inner positive qualities and capacities) can be developed is in service to others. These are two sides of the same coin: we need to recognize that we have something to offer, and then understand that we can make a huge difference to the community. We might express this as being contributors rather than consumers.
The journey towards this is however not simple. The young people
enter the process with various life experiences, including in some cases
dysfunctional and destructive relationships which can damage self esteem and
cause emotional pain. Such personal burdens can be left behind once they are
recognized and dealt with, and you will see in this book how The Discovery Zone
(a period of activities and discussion) begins this process of personal
reflection. We may be drawn to bad
habits and negative behaviour, experiencing their pull which needs to be
resisted. Other activities identify and
celebrate the gems and positive attributes we see in each other, increasing self worth and developing positive
and empowering relationships.
The Tranquility Zone is however something else. An ambient space
is created with drapes, candles, soft furnishings, flowers and gentle music.
Participants sit on cushions and enter into a contemplative state. The voice of
the facilitator takes the group on an imaginary journey to an island where each
are met by a personal guide, a wise-person constructed from their own
imagination. A number of storylines
speak of the mine of gems, fruit on a tree and similar metaphors of fruitful
lives. Outsiders would see the group
in a very relaxed state, to be discussed later.
Troubled youth seemed to benefit most and the general feedback was
positive.
Going alongside these activities were a group of people, in the
project and in schools, who cared and made it clear to these youngsters that
they are valued and valuable; that friendship among the team of people survives
the project as lives changed direction and new aspirations became possible. Vivian’s
book charts the programme over the years and explains its spiritual basis, demonstrating
that lives ‘lit up’ have a chance to overcome obstacles. This is not an easy
time for children and young people to grow up, maybe with little hope of a
career and the too tempting availability of drink and drugs leading too often
to criminality. Schools would rather have winners than losers, so a too sizable
proportion of school students are left to founder.
I once worked with city
comprehensive schools in Birmingham to raise the achievement of all pupils – a
project called Birmingham Compact. Its results over the whole cohort were
dramatic, raising achievement levels from 30% to 70%. But the arrival of school league tables, and
Ofsted, meant that it was more profitable to coach a small group of borderline
pupils to obtain a grade C rather than a D. The league tables were the tail
that wagged the dog. The work with all pupils was degraded to service the league tables. What happens to
the lowest achieving 20% of a school is a matter of huge concern. Instead of
writing them off, or even expelling them so they don’t spoil a school’s league
table returns, these troubled lives can be turned around. Of course we might
add, should be turned around.
I am reminded of some comments by my great mentor in education,
John Dewey. Writing long ago, he set out his ‘Pedagogic Creed’ (1897, in
McDermott, 1981: 442-454). In it, pupils participate in the social
consciousness of the human race, so learning has to be embedded in society and
promote the welfare of the group. The individual is a social being with
responsibilities. An effective school will encapsulate positive social
relationships and the well-being of the group. Far from education being a
preparation for future life, it has to be relevant to the present lives of the
pupils, addressing their issues and experiences, confident young people will
adapt to whatever the future throws at them. The curriculum needs to focus on
social activities, to build a foundation for the ethical study of school
subjects. “Examinations are of use only so far as they test the child’s fitness
for social life and reveal the place in which he can be of the most service and
where he can receive the most help” (p.447).
Dewey’s educational philosophy dominated school thinking in the
1970s and 1980s, but has been supplemented by a subject-based national
curriculum which teaches content and builds no ethical foundations. Nor does
much school study encourage pupils to reflect upon life. Dewey ends: “the teacher is engaged, not simply in the training of individuals,
but in the formation of the proper social life... every teacher should realise
the dignity of his calling; that he is a social servant set apart ...for
securing the right social growth ... in this way the teacher always is the prophet
of the true God and the usherer in of the true kingdom of God. (p.454).
In other words, using the language of his time, teaching is a
spiritual calling, the prime purpose of which is to promote personal well-being
and intellectual curiosity about life itself.
There are many more recent books on well-being, emotional
intelligence, happiness, spirituality, resilience and similar themes to do with
the education of the whole child. Society today has many problems and pressures
which impact on young people. Knowing old-fashioned knowledge will not help
them to become effective members of their social group. When faced with the
question, what do we want our education
system to do for our children, having good qualifications is not at the top
of my list. Rather it is to encourage young people to be well-rounded,
personally confident, helpful and responsible members of the group,
unprejudiced, intellectually curious, critical of authoritarianism, and
champions of the less fortunate.
Such young people are likely also to achieve well in reasonably
constructed qualifications. This needs
to apply to the whole school population in the spirit of ‘no youngster left
behind’ – with no pupil being written off as being beyond teaching and
learning. This is still a challenging agenda; and unfortunately it is the
opposite of the aspirations of successive governments, resulting inan increase
in punishment systems and exclusions.
Vivian’s book offers a straightforward way of bringing more light into
the lives of not only challenged and challenging pupils, but all pupils. Every
young person needs help and support as they build up resilience in the face of
the many burdens with which modern life encumbers them.
Sunday, 5 March 2017
Meditation and Tranquility in School
Meditation in school
Viruses are unpleasant things but viral posts on the internet sometimes have an interest. That goes for this post from an American school which used simple meditation techniques to give pupils calmness and emotional control. They report fewer discipline problems, detentions and exclusions. This is reported at http://www.womansday.com/life/a56446/school-replaces-detention-with-meditation/.
Tranquility
We did something very similar in England a decade ago. We called it Tranquility to avoid the religious connotations of meditation. Like all projects, it took some thinking through in the early states. Its purpose partly was to encourage calm minds which could come to terms positively with emotions like anger, temper, jealousy and envy. It did this through story, listened to in an ambient tranquil setting, with flowers, gentle lights and quiet music. The story encouraged thinking, reflection. Discussion afterwards surrounded topics of hurtful behaviour, selfishness, helping others, cooperation and such like. Vivian Bartlett, one of the designers, wrote it up here where you can read a sample - Nurturing a Healthy Spirit in the Young. I interviewed all of the early cohort, all troubled youngsters turned off from learning who said it had drawn them back from suicide, put them on the route to training and careers, and even moved them into a university course, All had once been written off as no hopers. One ten year old had been very disruptive, liable to savage outbursts, but the story she got something from offered her a mentor in the head, a wise aunty as it were. When trouble brewed, she took herself off to a quiet corner to talk things through and calm down. She received a best behaviour prize the following year. The mindset encouraged was to be contributors not consumers - to contribute to the community around rather than just hoarding stuff. The project took youngsters into care homes and set up a drop in cafe for those who wanted to chat. Funded with almost nothing, it succeeded with these disturbed youngsters where highly funded institutions had failed.
For a list of my writings, see further https://stephenbigger.blogspot.com.
Viruses are unpleasant things but viral posts on the internet sometimes have an interest. That goes for this post from an American school which used simple meditation techniques to give pupils calmness and emotional control. They report fewer discipline problems, detentions and exclusions. This is reported at http://www.womansday.com/life/a56446/school-replaces-detention-with-meditation/.
Tranquility
We did something very similar in England a decade ago. We called it Tranquility to avoid the religious connotations of meditation. Like all projects, it took some thinking through in the early states. Its purpose partly was to encourage calm minds which could come to terms positively with emotions like anger, temper, jealousy and envy. It did this through story, listened to in an ambient tranquil setting, with flowers, gentle lights and quiet music. The story encouraged thinking, reflection. Discussion afterwards surrounded topics of hurtful behaviour, selfishness, helping others, cooperation and such like. Vivian Bartlett, one of the designers, wrote it up here where you can read a sample - Nurturing a Healthy Spirit in the Young. I interviewed all of the early cohort, all troubled youngsters turned off from learning who said it had drawn them back from suicide, put them on the route to training and careers, and even moved them into a university course, All had once been written off as no hopers. One ten year old had been very disruptive, liable to savage outbursts, but the story she got something from offered her a mentor in the head, a wise aunty as it were. When trouble brewed, she took herself off to a quiet corner to talk things through and calm down. She received a best behaviour prize the following year. The mindset encouraged was to be contributors not consumers - to contribute to the community around rather than just hoarding stuff. The project took youngsters into care homes and set up a drop in cafe for those who wanted to chat. Funded with almost nothing, it succeeded with these disturbed youngsters where highly funded institutions had failed.
For a list of my writings, see further https://stephenbigger.blogspot.com.
A relaunch
My first blog here for four years though I haven't stopped writing. Now it i time for a new title and a catch-up. Barack Obama is gone and we are now in a world of fake news, mostly on twitter, and 'alternative facts'. It is time to commend and support responsible journalists who are able to show an 'alternative fact' to be a lie. I refer to both sides of the Atlantic.
I remind new readers of my areas of interest.
Seven articles for the Malcolm Saville Society discuss the seven books, based loosely on James Bond, of thrillers for teenagers. I will gather these together in time into a self-complete volume. I am currently writing the Introduction to the Girls Gone By edition of the second of these, The Purple Valley (1964) out later this year.
My approach to literature is sociohistorical, setting the stories in their historical context. The blog http://1930-1960.blogspot.co.uk covers miscellaneous things relevant to these years, and http://fiction4children.blogspot.co.uk goes beyond these years.
On gardening, see my photo blogs on our own garden throughout the year, and the Kelmscott Manor Garden (March to November).
My most recent religious studies reflections are on the blog 4004BCE? (http://4004BCE.blogspot.co.uk). The title is a humorous comment on Archbishop Ussher's insistence that earth was created in September of this year. More elderly are introductions to Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.
I remind new readers of my areas of interest.
- education and motivation to learn
- children's literature
- gardening
- religious studies.
Links to my various writings can be found on http://stephenbigger.blogspot.co.uk .
I have a new Amazon page, for which open the Amazon home page and enter Stephen Bigger. There are details there of a new book coming out over the summer, title Living Contradiction (Crown House Publishers) written with my PhD graduate Sean Warren. There will be a detailed blogpost later, but enough to say here that it is the story of his journey from being an authoritarian teacher to becoming an empowering and motivating teacher.
I have a new Amazon page, for which open the Amazon home page and enter Stephen Bigger. There are details there of a new book coming out over the summer, title Living Contradiction (Crown House Publishers) written with my PhD graduate Sean Warren. There will be a detailed blogpost later, but enough to say here that it is the story of his journey from being an authoritarian teacher to becoming an empowering and motivating teacher.
Also on my Amazon page are details of my collaboration with Vivian Bartlett titled Nurturing a Healthy Human Spirit in the Young (George Ronald Publishers) describing a project called Tranquility, a meditative approach to working with pupils aged 8-14. Again I will blog on this later.
On children's literature, my paper of Rupert Bear in World War 2 is being serialised in Nutwood News by the Followers of Rupert society. It tracks through newspaper serialisation in the Daily Express between September 1939 and summer 1945 with an epilogue on the Cuban missile crisis. It was fun to write and episode 3 (out of 4) is about to come out. Google Stephen Bigger Rupert to find it.
Seven articles for the Malcolm Saville Society discuss the seven books, based loosely on James Bond, of thrillers for teenagers. I will gather these together in time into a self-complete volume. I am currently writing the Introduction to the Girls Gone By edition of the second of these, The Purple Valley (1964) out later this year.
My approach to literature is sociohistorical, setting the stories in their historical context. The blog http://1930-1960.blogspot.co.uk covers miscellaneous things relevant to these years, and http://fiction4children.blogspot.co.uk goes beyond these years.
On gardening, see my photo blogs on our own garden throughout the year, and the Kelmscott Manor Garden (March to November).
My most recent religious studies reflections are on the blog 4004BCE? (http://4004BCE.blogspot.co.uk). The title is a humorous comment on Archbishop Ussher's insistence that earth was created in September of this year. More elderly are introductions to Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.
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