tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post7432458357245670213..comments2024-03-13T07:34:24.149+00:00Comments on The Age of Uncertainty: Diaries of a NobodySteerforthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-36292110342938568682011-02-14T14:48:37.879+00:002011-02-14T14:48:37.879+00:00The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints en...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encourages members to preserve their own and Church history by keeping a journal and/or writing their personal history.<br />The ultimate preservation location is the archives of the Church where, along with documents created by or about the most prominent leaders of the Church, a glimpse of of the lives of those of us who are, "nobodies", at least in the eyes of the world, are saved together in perpetuity!<br />We would be pleased to receive Derek's journal; he has a loving Father in Heaven who knows he is not a, "nobody". The address is:<br />Church History Library<br />15 E. North Temple St.<br />Salt Lake City, UT 84150-1600<br />Attn: Elder Vern Lockhart, 2nd floor.<br />We are in the business of preserving history and look forward to receiving your donation of Derek's diary.<br />Elder Vern Lockhart<br />Member, Acquisitions Team<br />Church History Department<br />801-240-7801Elder Vern Lockhartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-46611445330133941662010-09-25T16:24:34.758+00:002010-09-25T16:24:34.758+00:00I'll probably end up doing that, as I expect t...I'll probably end up doing that, as I expect that's what Derek would have wanted. <br /><br />I certainly won't throw them away, under any circumstances.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-31187332598377484972010-09-24T22:46:59.694+00:002010-09-24T22:46:59.694+00:00Why not donate these journals to the LDS History L...Why not donate these journals to the LDS History Library? As a historian, I see these journals as PRICELESS. Don't bin them. Send them to Utah for historians like myself to use in projects that celebrate the international diversity that exsists within the church. Please email me at smorreall@yahoo.com if you need ifnormation on where to ship everything (hoping you want to part with these for a greater cause). Derek isn't a nobody- he is a piece of history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-57828263743692276632010-09-23T23:27:46.836+00:002010-09-23T23:27:46.836+00:00I'm afraid I've no idea who Derek himself ...I'm afraid I've no idea who Derek himself was. I think if you write to Warwick Kear c/o the LDS Church head office in Solihull, you might have some luck, though.Alinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-77039832590792878762010-09-23T21:03:44.102+00:002010-09-23T21:03:44.102+00:00Please tell me more. I'm haunted by Derek. I s...Please tell me more. I'm haunted by Derek. I started out thinking how funny his diaries were. Then, as I read more, I felt a growing affection and respect. <br /><br />I'd love to know more about the background to Derek's life.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-48816607639371023992010-09-23T18:47:01.453+00:002010-09-23T18:47:01.453+00:00I think I know at least one of the people mentione...I think I know at least one of the people mentioned in Derek's journals.Alinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-41512388289711370022010-02-05T23:24:51.201+00:002010-02-05T23:24:51.201+00:00Thanks for the link. I'll try Sussex Universit...Thanks for the link. I'll try Sussex University next week - they're only just down the road.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-24244751113826963222010-02-05T18:15:50.531+00:002010-02-05T18:15:50.531+00:00If Sussex can't help you then you might contac...If Sussex can't help you then you might contact Irving Finkel at the British Library, who was on R4's Midweek a couple of weeks ago, talking about his embryonic plans for a national archive of diaries.Tanya Izzardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05229305256800572696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-71248444236848890202010-02-05T14:54:56.887+00:002010-02-05T14:54:56.887+00:00Why not ask the British Library if they or any ins...Why not ask the British Library if they or any institution they know is collecting late 20th century memoirs? The man can obviously write and is engaging enough to deserve that his diaries should survive him.<br /><br />It is both touching and rare to find a diarist prepared to be so honest about themselves too. Not unlike your own blog postings in that sense Steerforth.The Poet Laura-eatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-25659350954380239512010-02-05T09:01:46.844+00:002010-02-05T09:01:46.844+00:00I was also going to mention the modern version of ...I was also going to mention the modern version of Mass Observation at Sussex - these diaries are of immense value in social, academic and historical terms.<br /><br />I have a very bad habit of buying up old photo albums and diaries in junk shops because I can't bear the thought of someone's life being so worthless as to be discarded and forgotten - they are all fascinating and have value. I also pick up scrapbooks because they tell you so much about people - I have one I bought locally which, I have divined, belonged to someone who seems to have been born on the wrong side of the blanket and has obsessively followed the 'better' half of their family through the 1940-60's through local newspaper articles, social pages etc, it's all amazing stuff. Many yeas ago when my mother was still alive and starting to lose her marbles, she destroyed boxes of ephemera she had kept for decades that included dozens of formal invitations to cocktail parties in New York when she was with the USAF in the 1950's - I was heartbroken, and had to remove a lot of stuff from the house in case she did it again.Richard de Pesando MA(RCA)https://www.blogger.com/profile/15312094372100026072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-69297691336924455042010-02-04T22:40:31.914+00:002010-02-04T22:40:31.914+00:00What an excellent idea. Please let us know what th...What an excellent idea. Please let us know what the University says. Really, it's fortunate that you are the person who discovered them as others have so casually tossed them away.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00597852661913928616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-39935346931150209012010-02-04T21:54:14.829+00:002010-02-04T21:54:14.829+00:00That's a very good idea - I think Derek would ...That's a very good idea - I think Derek would approve of that. <br /><br />I found three new folders today - all from the late 80s - and beyond the humorous elements, what struck me was how brutally honest he was about what it was like to be a man of a certain age and class, living in an age of changing values, with a strong religious faith that was continually tested by experience.<br /><br />The more I read, the closer I feel to Derek and the idea of throwing his diaries becomes abhorent. But I don't want to keep them in a cupboard. I think the diaries deserve a wider audience.<br /><br />I'll contact Sussex University. Perhaps the fact that I'm not a relative or friend will add weight to the case for preserving the diaries.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-80545108079049783002010-02-04T19:37:53.039+00:002010-02-04T19:37:53.039+00:00Sussex University has a Centre for Life History an...Sussex University has a Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/clhlwr/) - they may be interested in taking these, or know of an archive that could give them a home. If you want to get rid of them, of course.Tanya Izzardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05229305256800572696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-438529834957188842010-02-04T15:23:47.622+00:002010-02-04T15:23:47.622+00:00I must echo Ms. Baroque above: please don't th...I must echo Ms. Baroque above: please don't throw them away! As an archivist-in-training, I realize we face the tough decisions about cost for preservation vs. historical value, but I feel that a narrative personal diary such as this is just too valuable for social, cultural, political historians to destroy. If you cannot keep them, find an institution that collects such personal papers and see about donating them.annajcookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17573723390785613915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-90859033756328132462010-02-04T12:23:48.015+00:002010-02-04T12:23:48.015+00:00Don't do it, don't do it! God put you on e...Don't do it, don't do it! God put you on earth to save these books, you know. You're doing wonderful work. Love it.Ms Baroquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01836227454899083962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-67060016177027006982010-02-04T11:23:08.388+00:002010-02-04T11:23:08.388+00:00I did consider the ethics of publishing extracts f...I did consider the ethics of publishing extracts from someone's journal and asked myself how I'd feel if someone did it to me. My diaries – particularly the earlier ones – are hideously embarrassing. <br /><br />However I don’t think I’d mind as long as nobody mentioned my full name. I don’t care what happens after my death. I’d rather give someone a giggle than vanish completely.<br /><br />I hope that Derek doesn’t just come across as a person to be ridiculed. I found his diaries touching and poignant. As I said, he emerges as a good man trying to do good things, but the Pooterish elements were too good not to share.<br /><br />And yes, burn your diaries!Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-56293834167882272762010-02-04T10:56:54.154+00:002010-02-04T10:56:54.154+00:00I can't help but feel sorry for this poor man....I can't help but feel sorry for this poor man. His life is now available to ridicule from strangers. Ugh. However, it does seem from the snippets you have shared almost impossible to believe that this is real and not a fictionalised Diary of Another Nobody.<br /><br />*Makes mental note to destroy own diaries as soon as possible*Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00597852661913928616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-85069698654567495322010-02-04T10:54:04.194+00:002010-02-04T10:54:04.194+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00597852661913928616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-21854683727777030912010-02-04T09:24:57.206+00:002010-02-04T09:24:57.206+00:00Please don't throw them away - I am now hooked...Please don't throw them away - I am now hooked. Derek should, I feel, live on somehow. Surely there is a Radio 4 comedy drama in here - particularly with the Hamsters (who I feel should have a talking role)? Also, I'm desperate to know more about Oliver Dewsnupp, Gerald Ramsbottom and Mrs Moncrieff.LittleGreenFingershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16993886086382843621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-12272803701845045112010-02-04T09:09:12.283+00:002010-02-04T09:09:12.283+00:00Brilliant. I think I'd like a job that meant I...Brilliant. I think I'd like a job that meant I was in touch with death and all that perspective. Please sign up to Twitter, then more of us would more easily know when there's a new post.Mark Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04203230703954814159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-2579580209742099162010-02-04T06:01:56.025+00:002010-02-04T06:01:56.025+00:00Pooterish indeed. I'm not sure. If I had your ...Pooterish indeed. I'm not sure. If I had your job I would find the photos hard to toss but I'm not sure about a diary. Hang onto it and when you die and someone has to wade through your stuff they can decide.<br /><br />I was looking at my library only last night, not just the books but the thousands of CDs and tapes (literally) and wondering what my daughter will end up doing with them. So much good stuff but much of it not to her taste. And even if she flogged it she'd get nothing for it. <br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com