Blog
John le Carré (9 October 1931 – 12 December 2020)
David Cornwell, better known by his pen name John le Carré, was a passionate supporter and friend of Morrab Library for many years. As well as holding the role of President from 1997-2002, he later continued for many years as our Patron. His relationship with the Library stretched even further back to the 1970’s.
Mr Cornwell supported the library in a number of ways. Perhaps the most special was his establishment of the Morrab Fellowship, which for a number of years provided a bursary to local sixth-formers to purchase books for their studies. He will be remembered for his vision for the library’s future, and his aim of encouraging young people to join and be inspired by this special place.
His tremendous generosity was evident through his commissioning of the construction of a number of the beautiful Victorian-style mahogany reading tables located in our rooms upstairs, and paying the insurance premium on our book collection throughout his tenure as President. Mr Cornwell also donated copies of all of his books to the library throughout the years.
He also gave his time to many events and meetings to support the library. One very successful fundraiser was a televised event from the Acorn Theatre in 2000, when he was interviewed about his life and writings by Radio Cornwall’s Tim Hubbard in front of a packed audience. Another was an evening in the library, when Radio 4’s James Naughtie interviewed Mr Cornwell for his popular Bookclub show in 1998. The interview was aired the following year and you can listen to it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fptty
Morrab Library was incredibly fortunate to have Mr Cornwell as a friend, supporter, life member, President and Patron. He wrote of the Morrab Library….”whether you’re an impassioned bibliophile or just someone who loves a good read, the Morrab is for you: a Cornish treasure house, a meeting place for like-minded souls, and a vibrant forum for contemporary writing.” His legacy will endure.
Lisa Di Tommaso
Holy Macaroni! by Maureen Sleeman
In this blog piece, library volunteer and member, David Sleeman, speaks about the latest addition to our children’s collection – Holy Macaroni! written by the brilliant and much missed Maureen Sleeman.
Holy Macaroni! by Maureen Sleeman
A wonderful new addition to the shelves of the Morrab Library will shortly be arriving. Holy Macaroni a children’s story written by Maureen Sleeman who was a member of the library for many years will be published early in November by AH Stockwell.
Macaroni, an Italian mongrel lives with the Fettuccini family in a pizzeria near the ancient town of Pompeii. Macaroni finds himself carried back 2000 years to the reign of Caligula. Plunged into a madcap world of slaves, gladiators and a lunatic emperor Macaroni becomes a dog with a cause, sniffing out treachery, pitting his wits against villains and saving Pompeii from the Emperors wrath.
Children in the family have read Macaroni and Maureen took him to a local primary school and read to the children who loved it. The inspiration came from her love of Italy and a holiday where we visited Pompeii.
It was against this background that I chose to try and get Macaroni published.
Sadly, Maureen passed away in April 2019 aged 58 and Macaroni just lay there asking to be let out. He has travelled to London, twice to Wales, before finally finding a friendly publisher in North Devon.
Maureen loved to write and was known locally in various writing groups. It seemed as if Maureen always had a pen in her hand making notes about characters and places for the next story. Over time, she has produced many articles and novels, one with a film script which got as far as Working Title in London but alas not taken up. Her last novel set in Rhodes, crime fiction was all but complete prior to her illness. Maureen had planned to go back to her writing in January 2020 and work on getting her writing published but it was not to be.
My tribute to Maureen was to get Macaroni published and let children enjoy the benefit of her wonderful imagination.
David Sleeman
Delivering The Goods – a short story by Julia Grigg
