After fleeing public school I became a gaucho, teacher, art agent, filmmaker, war crime witness, aid worker and playwright. As co-founder of War Child, I helped set up a mobile bakery that fed the starving people of Mostar.
My connection with the Balkans had started with a tempestuous marriage to a Croatian, and ended with my becoming first director of the Pavarotti Music Centre in Bosnia, helping those traumatised by war through its music therapy programmes. Patrons included Luciano Pavarotti, David Bowie, Brian Eno and Tom Stoppard.
During my time at the Centre I blew the whistle on financial misconduct in War Child, which was exposed by The Guardian and Channel 4 TV.
After four years working for a Japanese audio speaker company I was Press Officer at the Stop the War Coalition in London.
I have written three plays and a published memoir. I write for political social media, including the London Economic Review, The Peoples News, Counterpunch, Antiwar.com and Guardian 'Comment'.
I am married to the novelist Anne Aylor, who doubles as my 'Editor-in-Chief'. In recent years I have had threee 'scrapes' with my mortality and owe my life to her as well as to the NHS.
I have two sons. The eldest, Ben, is a strong influence on my life. The youngest, Jonny, has excluded himself from my life, along with my grandson. Hopefully a temporary departure.
To hear that one of your sons has excluded himself from your life is very hurtful. I have a son like that too, and what is worse, he has also excluded his only child, a daughter. I too hope it will be temporary, both for you and me. Thank you David for introducing me to your interesting website.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting story about Ben & Jonny, why has Jonny excluded himself and how does he get on with his brother Ben? Does he still communicate with his mother?
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