Hi Lister Friends, Like many of you I am a keen user of my local town Library facilities. I have always been so, but with increasing years and dwindling finances I have used them of necessity, too. This weekend I came home with my usual pile of reading matter, which included two copies of "This England", from the magazine section.To those of you who aren't familiar with this publication , I must enthusiastically recommend it. It is a potpourri of all that is England---scenically, historically, nostalgically---and oh so much more! Well, I was in for a real treat. Upon opening the Summer Quarterly 2009., I spied "Literary Landscapes of England." The author in question was Laurie Lee. ", Hmm, that name rings a bell," I thought! Then I got it---he wrote "Cider with Rosie", which I, and others, reviewed in Rosemary's Banburyshire website. An unforgettable book! The biographical article, by Stephen Garnett, fills four pages and is liberally supplied with interesting coloured photographs.. Reading this you get a better appreciation of his novel. He regarded himself as a poet, rather than a writer of prose, and that explains his lyrical and occasionally overblown style. His love for, the English countryside was surely gained during his very unusual circumstances and upbringing. Facts that weren't always explicit in his autobiographical novel are mentioned here. So that you gain an insight into his character ---a sensitive, poetic man who followed his own individual road---but who nevertheless was supportive of his local community. Having only just listened on my computer to Julian Bream, the classical guitarist, playing some of his works,, I was very interested to learn that Julian and Laurie were very good friends. This excellent article allows us to understand how health issues,family matters which resulted in a type of Bohemian upbringing , his sensitive nature and undoubted talent, brought to life books such as "Cider with Rosie", a book which forever changes you. Those of you who enjoyed that book, may be interested in following through by reading this article. Regards, Muriel (Wells). -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 7 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 665 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message