Five things you probably didn't know about me

One of my favourite bloggers, Maggi Dawn, sent me a 'meme' yesterday. This was a new one on me. It appears to be a blogging form of chain letter, in which we all tag each other with a request, in this case that we post five surprising facts about ourselves. I always used to throw chain letters in the bin. However, at The Times we've just had a blogging workshop led by new communities editor Tom Whitwell, in which Tom emphasised the success-factor of lists. So he'll be one of the people I tag with this meme, along with India Knight, David Keen, Peter Ould and my friend Sylvan Mason, who loves this kind of thing. It seems fun to me, so I hope they keep it going. See below for my own list.

1. Before transferring to the religion beat in 1989, my specialist subject for The Times was zoology. The last story I wrote was about the mating habits of flamingos. Apparently, the breed found it hard to mate in captivity because they can only do it if they see lots of other flamingos doing it at the same time. So one zoo had put up a load of large mirrors, to convince them the poor lonely flamingos that they were in a flock of hundreds and to get them breeding.

2. My very, very first newspaper was the Uttoxeter Advertiser. There is part of me that could have happily stayed there for life. It was printed on hot metal with clanking linotype trays, smokey presses and molten lead in a former stable in the corner of the market square of Uttoxeter, near the town's memorial marking Dr Johnson's act of penance, when he stood in the rain without a hat for failing to help his father run his bookstall in the market. Editor Rosemary Davies and I - she recently died of cancer leaving a young son - would go out in her open-topped green Spyder, touring the countryside looking for stories. There was always something to be found, from the Bamford family's Uttoxeter factory in its death throes as the same family's Rocester JCB began on its astonishing dig to world domination, to the changes in prices of potatoes, sheep and cows at Wednesday markets, to farmers shooting themselves accidentally when out hunting rabbits or foxes. I had just left and was on the Birmingham Post when poor Suzy Maxwell's body was found in a layby in between Uttoxeter and our home in Gratwich six miles away, in a coppice where I regularly rode and picnicked. I returned to help Rosemary deal with the nationals, and that was how I made the contacts that led eventually to Fleet Street. 

3. My only brother, Owen, committed suicide in 1986, before completing his architecture degree at Trinity, Cambridge. A brilliant and gifted young man, his life deteriorated after he had joined and then left, possibly expelled, a religious sect called Emin. Our family will always mourn him. This time of year has always been particularly hard.

4. I have three more amazing siblings. One is a graduate of Selwyn, Cambridge where Rowan Williams was her tutor. She works in securing and managing massive amounts of finance for concerns in the public and voluntary sector. Like so many truly good people, she prefers anonymity so I won't name her here unless she says I can. Another, Sarah, was a "gifted" child, did vet science at Bristol, got endless more qualifications in science, business and accounting beyond that, went into research and is currently an adviser to the Scottish Executive. The youngest, Martha, pictured here, is another brilliant scientist, and works at Southampton University as a research fellow. Her area of expertise is global warming - in particular the mineral contents of the world's oceans and how they are changing.

5. Five hyperactive, workaholic and sometimes crazy children were not enough for my mother, who adores children and gave us one of the most enjoyable, if eccentric, childhoods of anyone I know. She and my father fostered countless more in our draugty, delapidated Queen Anne rectory in Gratwich. One, Christopher Johnson, who came to us for a brief period through family friends and not through social services, is now a foreign bureau chief for Reuters.

Peter Ould India Knight Tom Whitwell Sylvan Mason David Keen

Comments

[Robin Bather]

Now come on bloggers, Ruth has opened her heart and told us some pretty revealing things about herself and her family.
If you're shy I'll start the ball rolling and tell you about just one experience in my life that not so many know about.

When I emmigrated to Mexico back in 1972, my wife and I stayed at the large apartment of my in laws in Mexico City.
One day I was at work when I received a phone call saying that I should return at once to the apartment for something terrible had happened. I drove back wondering what awful thing could have happened and was greeted at the door by weeping family members who told me that my father in law was dead--he committed suicide.

The police and detectives arrived and my mother in law asked me to be present in the room of the deceased to ensure that nothing "disappeared".
I entered the room to witness Juan laid out on his bed with his automatic pistol in his hand and his brains splattered over the headboard and back wall of the bedroom.

Juan is buried in the French Cemetery in Mexico City as his parents were French.
Apparently Juan's shop had been going downhill and he ran himself into debt, borrowed more money and lost it, and then started drinking whisky each and every morning.

I think about Juan now and again. He was a good kind man with a subtle sense of humour and enjoyed jogging and going out on his Triumph motor bike on Sundays.

[Jill]

Ruth, this is not in the spirit of this blog, but I was so amazed that I had to comment. I was very sad to learn about your brother (I will not say more than that to keep this post short) but what caught my breath was his connection to the Emin sect. My sister-in-law has belonged to this sect for 35 years or so, I believe, and still does. The great Leo died two or three years ago but I think it's still going. This is the first time I have encountered any information about it, or even anyone else who has heard of it.

She has never married and has no job or money, she seems to work entirely for them and has no life or friends at all outside of the Emin.

This broke her mother's heart; as a Christian she did everything in her power to get her daughter from its grip but it was useless, she was an adult.

[Christopher]

Ruth, so sorry to hear that your only brother committed suicide. It happened to my cousin - two of her sons committed suicide, one in Switzerland when he was 21 and the other when he was much older and married, shot himself in Washington DC.

I had thought Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lincoln was your brother. Is he related to you in any way? Gledhill is rather an unusual name.

rg responds: No the Bishop of Lichfield is no relation, although there is in photographs a definite family resemblance, so there might well be a common Gledhill gene from the past in there somewhere. We all come from Yorkshire originally.

[Newman]

Dear Me! Whatever happened to the English upper middle classes?? I thought that "stiff upper lip" and "carry on" still meant a few things but the multi married Mrs Gledhill has (unfortunately) given me proof of the total meltdown that we have seen during the last 10-15 years (call it "the Blair effect" if you will). Sigh...a very big sigh...

[India Knight]

How awful about your brother - had no idea. Weirdly, we must have overlapped at Trinity - I was there 84-87.

Thanks for tagging me... x x

[Andrew]

How about 'Happy Birthday, Ruth' ?
Hope it picks up from the dreary world of taxonomies of world Anglicanism.

[David]

Best thing I ever did was marry, Jayne, my wife. We first met in a local factory up here in Carlisle. Six weeks later we got married and nineteen years later we are still happily married and very much in love.

Way before that I fell madly in love with a girl who lived close by. I put down on paper my feelings for this girl. Somehow I could never pluck up sufficient courage to tell her how I felt. Anyways I wrote a short play "Pam" which was performed before sixteen people; loads of poems, one of which "Remember Me" was used by the queen for her mother's funeral under the title "She Is Gone." - If I had a pound for every time someone contacted me to use this poem for a funeral or memorial service I'd be a millionaire.

My brother was a window cleaner. One day he decided to put his mathematical skills to good use. He got himself an Open University degree, a Masters degree and then while still doing his window cleaning round he travelled backwards and forwards to Newcastle where he successfully completed his PHD. Andrew has taught maths at Trinity Hall, Cambridge & Imperial College in London.

My wife and I have one son, Jonathan, who is autistic and has severe learning difficulties and a compulsive behavioural disorder. My wife herself suffers from psychosis. We have no friends and no member of either of our families have visited us at our home in the past 8 years.

No one knows more about loneliness then I. I know what it's like to have to endure, day in day out, the miles and miles of loneliness.

rg writes: David, thank you for this moving post. I am sorry for your loneliness. I hope you survive Christmas ok.

[Peter O]

This means I now have to respond? Give me a few minutes.....

[Robin Bather]

David, you moved me to tears with your posting.
Please join our little family of posters here at Ruth's blog. I'm sure we all would like to hear more from you.
Chin up!

[joe]

That'll be a whole other category of email to add to my trash folder without reading, then.

[The Revd Lane Denson]

Like your work, especilly your note about meme-ing.

I write a daily short essay (I hate the word blog) called OoN (aka Out of Nowhere) that's often rather good. It's archived on the URL address. I'd add you to it if I had your eail address.

rg writes: thank you, email is ruth.gledhill@thetimes.co.uk. thank you, a couple of the people I memed aren't too keen so can I do you instead? Ruth

[David Keen]

Ruth: thankyou for tagging me and my little blog, and for taking up the '5 things' challenge. It's a great way to get behind just trading information and opinions on the net, and actually communicating as real people with a real life story.

I'm very sorry to hear about your brother - I was at Oxford in the late 80's and found it a very intense place which did funny things to people, several people I knew ended up with serious mental problems, though nobody realised that's what they were until long after.

I shall now lie awake all night trying to think of my 5 things. Good excuse to follow the cricket if I'm still awake by 2.30am!

[David Keen]

here they are:
http://davidkeen.blogspot.com/2006/12/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-me.html

[William P. Sulik]

I was very sorry to learn of your brother's death. Even after 20 years, it is not easy, nor, I guess, should it be.

May the love of Christ renew and restore your family,

sincerely,

wm.

[Solomon Tesfaye]

Hi Ruth,

You may remember Solomon (Ethiopian) friend of your sister Sarah who came to your house in the early eighties. I am now professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Sheffield. Recently (2003)married, I have 2 children Aida and Samuel. It would be great to get in touch with Sarah. Please pass my email to her.

Best wishes,
Solomon