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I should
tell you first of all that I've been asked
to write this. Without this urging I would
be a trifle reluctant to do such a thing,
but I bent under pressure. If you find
yourself without a dry eye at the end of
reading this, please remember you have
been duly warned.
I'm
English as anyone can tell within 10
seconds of meeting me. They say we are two
nations separated by a common language. In
1981 I edited a quarterly media newsletter
featuring one of those 60's British tv
series. In fact it was one of the longest
tasks I've ever been involved in, as I
published it for 19 years. Marsha
subscribed to our magazine and later
became it's U.S representative replying to
new membership applications. She enabled
U.S. enquiries to subscribe to the
magazine without them having to write away
to an address in the UK. The tv series was
called The Prisoner and was filmed at a
private estate in Wales called
Portmeirion, instead of the usual film
set. There was a time difference of 5
hours between us so when we used to talk
on the phone it was usually at the ungodly
hour of 3.30 in the morning.
The
newsletter planned a 'special' publication
comprising a collection of short stories
with authors on both sides of the
Atlantic. Somehow a plan evolved whereby I
should have the covers printed in England
and fly over with the covers to Georgia
and visit Marsha where we would jointly
prepare the text originals for the
interior pages and then get these printed
in the U.S. It was a curious plan but it
seemed to satisfy what was needed. As I
landed at Augusta in September 1981 Marsha
was 29, I was 54. But whilst the eyebrows
you are now raising would be something
that others might consider inappropriate,
it never entered into any of our
reckoning. Marsha's parents, who lived a
mile away, were justifiably worried, but
they probably soon realized that they were
too late.
The story
book progressed in fits and starts and
finally got printed and completed. It's
all in the past now but publication work
turned into romance and then to marriage
plans so when I eventually returned to
England - about 5 months later - it was
with Marsha at my side, having been
married in Aiken, SC. I was never really
sure whether this fact reassured her
parents or whether it caused them even
greater anxiety. I would like to believe
that as the years rolled by, it became the
former. Anyway, for those single folk
looking for a partner this story surely
shows, that if there's someone right for
you out there, it doesn't really matter
where you are, or where they are, just
start publishing a book and things will
start to happen!
Not long
after arriving in England we made a trip
to Portmeirion and Marsha became enchanted
with the place and started gathering
material for her eventual Virtual
Portmeirion website . We went back to
Portmeirion most years for our vacation
and never tired of it.
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