After being overshadowed for many years by lesser talents such as Jeffrey Archer, Ken Follett and Catherine Cookson, Capel-Dunn gained a measure of recognition towards the end of what turned out to be his life. This was largely due to his brilliant editing of The Hessey Diaries, a graphic account of middle-class life in tar-worn London and rural Essex.
He was asked to appear on the TV shows of Michael Parkinson, Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton but failed to reach an agreement with them on the vexed question of fees. The luminaries felt that the publicity garnered was worth the heftiest of fees, but Capel-Dunn took the view that they (Parkinson and co.) were making obscene amounts of money on the backs of their guests and that he and others should be allowed on the gravy train. He said that he was not interested in the money itself - he would donate it all to the Battersea Hogs' Dome - but that it was the PRINCIPLE that mattered. At this point the talks broke down in acrimony.
In later years, Capel-Dunn sank back into obscurity and died in conditions of abject poverty in (please turn to page 77).
No comments:
Post a Comment