Re: Seattle show - B. Nichols display

Sorry it took so long to reply....have been so busy cleaning up clients'
gardens, pruning roses, etc! Am CCing to the person who inquired, in case
s/he is no longer here!

The show was delightful.  Roy Dicks, the presenter, does not have a British
accent, and that was a bit startling to me at first, but the gentle humour
of his reading from the Nichols garden books soon distracted me from the
American accent.

Tea and crumpets were indeed served, and there were tables with white table
cloths set up around the small room, each table seating four members of the
audience.

Dicks read from a stage with an old oriental rug, an old chair, a podium,
and a screen backdrop that gave the feeling of it being a cosy livingroom.
Between each passage, he talked a little bit about the books: Down the
Garden Path, A Thatched Roof, A Village in a Valley (Beverley's first
garden) Green Grows the City (the London garden), the Merry Hall trilogy.
and Garden Open Today, Garden Open Tomorrow (Beverley's final garden).

The question and answer period was fascinating.  He revealed that Beverley
is not revered in the UK and in fact he met with ignorance or sarcasm and
eye rolling when looking for the books there. When he went to the different
houses where Beverley had lived, none even had a plaque on them, and when
photographing the outside of one, he was greeted by the owner who said "You
must be an American" at the very sight of him taking pictures!  Dicks'
feeling is that if one reads the biography of Nichols (Beverley Nichols: A
Life) one will not like the books as well because Beverely is revealed as
not such a nice person.  I disagree with that; Beverley had his flaws, but I
was just as fond of him after reading the bio.

Here, from BeverleyNichols.com, is a description of the show:

---- Roy C. Dicks

Beverley Nichols Performer and Contributor to:
Merry Hall Laughter on the Stairs, Sunlight on the Lawn and Garden Open
Today

Roy Dicks doesn't just lecture on Beverley Nichols, he becomes him. During
his dramatic readings of Nichols's work, Roy channels the tone of Nichols's
writing into his performance, often moving the audience to outbursts of
laughter and sometimes to tears. Roy's literary background as a professional
librarian allows him to appreciate Nichols's writing, while his dra-matic
side sees something of the theatrical in Nichols's personality. Roy himself
has worked as a book reviewer and theatre critic for various publications,
founded the Raleigh Ensemble Players, acted in 65 stage productions and
directed 34 more. He thanks the late J.C. Raulston, founder of the acclaimed
J.C. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, North Carolina, for his obsession with
Beverley Nichols. It was Raulston who first suggested that Roy read Down the
Garden Path. Roy was hooked, and went on to collect every one of the sixty
books Nichols wrote. He even visited the four Nichols home and garden sites
on a trip to England. Now it is safe to say that he is a world-class
Beverley Nichols expert. The North Carolina Herald Sun has called him, "a
one-man champion of Nichols." New fans can credit the current availability
of the Merry Hall trilogy largely to Roy's enthusiasm, for he helped
convince Timber Press to reprint the three books. He also contributed
updated indexes for the reprints of the Merry Hall trilogy, and penned the
forewords for both Laughter on the Stairs and Garden Open Today. Roy Dicks
lives, performs, and indulges in armchair garden-ing in Raleigh, North
Carolina.

TO ARRANGE FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH ROY DICKS, CONTACT :
Debby Garman Publicity Manager
debby@timberpress.com

- Original Message -----
From: <ECPep@aol.com>
To: <perennials@hort.net>
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 7:55 PM
Subject: Seattle show - B. Nichols display


> Whoever wrote regarding the Nichols display at the Seattle show and had
some
> tickets - could they please write and tell us about the show?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Claire Peplowski
> NYS z4
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
>

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