MM, the discussion of facial hair in the thread noted above reminds me of something you said a long time ago about how rock'n'roll and sf were attractive in their/your early years because adults hadn't really managed to get their hands on either form (I paraphrase, probably badly). I remember having my own very particular ideas about how authors probably looked and indeed conducted their lives; in my mind's eye they were all terribly grown-up and all looked more-or-less like Brian Aldiss. Then suddenly there's this chap whose books you've read and he's got this hat and that jacket and a serious beard and hey, that's not just a guitar, it's a sodding Rickenbacker 12-string! It sounds trivial, but I wonder if you were aware just how different you seemed? Your jacket photos (the one on the Hart-Davis edition of The End of All Songs is perhaps the best case in point) seemed to offer the surprisingly radical contention that it was possible to be a cool (hey, this was 1976), guitar-playing beardie in a big hat while also operating in a profession which demanded intellect, imagination and old-fashioned hard work.
Speaking of jacket photos, do you still have that leather patchwork jacket which seemed to be your trademark during that period? I seem to recall it finding its way into Jerry's wardrobe at one point. Or maybe it should go down the charity auction route? I recall reading that JK Rowling was going to auction a pair of her shoes for a women's charity, which is both commendable and vaguely pervy. They were expected to fetch آ£3,500. I'm holding out for her knickers.
Speaking of jacket photos, do you still have that leather patchwork jacket which seemed to be your trademark during that period? I seem to recall it finding its way into Jerry's wardrobe at one point. Or maybe it should go down the charity auction route? I recall reading that JK Rowling was going to auction a pair of her shoes for a women's charity, which is both commendable and vaguely pervy. They were expected to fetch آ£3,500. I'm holding out for her knickers.
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