Terry ‘dreary’ Deary is in the news at the
moment having made a number of remarkably stupid comments about libraries.
He’s now in a sulk because he’s been called
on them and seems to be backtracking a bit.
I’ve had my eye on that one for a while,
ever since I discovered that he’s a Shakespeare sceptic – he reckons Will was
too lower class to be a good playwright and thinks the plays were written by
Christopher Marlowe after faking his own murder because that is so much more probable. It’s all there in The Slimy Stuarts volume of the Horrible Histories. My distaste for him deepened when I found out
that when he was invited to open a local museum, he gracelessly gave a speech
about how boring museums are.
It is of course because of the Horrible Histories that Deary’s pathetic
pronouncements are news. I have read a
good few of them and, apart from the Shakespeare scepticism, liked them. I enjoy the TV series as well – not least
because Deary’s involvement is restricted to an occasional cameo. However, there is a forgotten figure in all
this. One who I think is a major factor
in the success of the books. That is the
illustrator. He’s called Martin Brown
and the books would not work nearly as well without his contributions.
I do hope he gets a percentage of the
royalties.
So, boo to Deary who stands revealed as the
little bore we all avoid in the pub and here’s to Martin Brown and the makers,
writers and performers of the TV series.
Let’s finish on a song:
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