THE LONDON BOOK FAIR 2011

Everybody has an idea off what they would like the world to be. Mine is that it should be like the London Book Fair. And Tony Mulliken and Steve Williams, co-directors of Midas Public Relations, should run it. They run things around the Book Fair smooth as silk, so why not the world?

The Russians are here, in force. A Russian Orthodox priest comes over for discussion with a Russian-based rabbi. This must be a historical moment.

It was at the Book Fair, where I first encountered Winner, the university lecturer from China, here on a study course. Subsequently, we met Winner's friend May, and others of her colleagues from China who were frequent visitors to our home. May was getting her Master's Degree in Britain, and then, upon her return to China, a PhD in electronic journalism. You may recall having seen them on our web pages in earlier issues of the Journal.

It was here too that we encountered Natalie Williams, a West Indian journalist, and her friend Margaret Busby, now an OBE, and co-founder of the publishing house, Allison and Busby. We had the pleasure of entertaining Natalie and her Foreign-Office-employed husband in our home. I remain grateful to Natalie's husband, Terry, for the enthusiasm he expressed for our sevechi.

It was here where I first encountered Aaron Silverman, great hunting and fishing person, whom I saw again now, and who would soon be off to another hunting adventure.

The Book Fair is a good place to talk shooting and fishing, because they are such universal topics. When I show our Journal around, there is an amazing amount of interest, even from those who neither fish nor shoot. This is a place of open minds, even, I notice, from Left-wingers. Is this a misinterpretation on my part? The Left with open minds? Whom am I trying to mislead? Myself, I suppose. But yes, here in this magic place, the Left can exist and just be a part of the scenery

Which reminds me of the time I was picketing the American Embassy – yes, you read that right - it was during CND days, and the Americans had the idea that they could invalidate all of those with whom they disagreed, by giving them a Communist label. To the chap walking with me on the picket line, I made it apparent to him that I was a hunter. He stopped dead, replete with surprise. "Then you're not," he proclaimed, "a Communist after all!"

In his limited sphere, Communists did not go hunting. Just in case you happen to be reading this, my fellow American, from, I presume, the State Department, I shot a wild boar in Russia and another one in Bulgaria. This is obviously significant, providing an understanding as to why the State Department gets it wrong most of the time.

There was a big hug and kiss for Julie Sankey of the Crowood Press, whose firm publishes a big list of shooting and fishing books, which are frequently reviewed on our pages.

At the London Book Fair there's a lot of hugging and kissing, a manifestation of what this place is. Dorling-Kindersley had some books for us to review. When you see that logo DK, you know it has to be good. We came away with a goodly number of super books to tell you about, which we will review in the next issue. In the meantime let us thank all of those who do so much in the world of books, and who make the London Book Fair. No wonder everybody is hugging and kissing.

As General MacArthur once said: "I shall return."

© Sidney Du Broff 2011