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John Rhodes, who died shortly before Christmas |
Writers call for recluse’s work to be preserved
Poet, author and actor say mysterious literary scene records should be saved
FOR 40 years he chronicled the insights and observations of Hampstead’s literary scene, but never allowed a soul to see his records.
Now the death of the Belsize Park recluse John Rhodes has stirred some of the area’s best-known writers and poets to save the enormous, mysterious archive he left behind.
The poet Alan Brownjohn and the best-selling author Deborah Moggach have called on Camden Council to “preserve, preserve, preserve” the thousands of diary entries stored in Mr Rhodes’s tiny bedsit flat in Lambolle Road.
The writer, an eccentric character who walked with the aid of a fallen tree branch, left no will or next of kin when he died of cancer late last year, aged 71. It is feared that bailiffs could throw away the manuscripts when they enter the property.
Mr Brownjohn said: “He did it so thoroughly, in such detail. It could well be a treasure of odd information and reflections. Anything that could be a store of comments and insights into local artistic events is very much worth taking a look at.”
During the 1960s and 1970s Mr Rhodes mixed in the same circles as the writers John Heath Stubbs, Stevie Smith and Michael Horowitz.
His encyclopedic database was revealed for the first time by the New Journal last week.
Ms Moggach said: “It’s a tragedy if somebody’s whole life work, whatever its literary value, is just thrown into a skip without somebody doing him the courtesy of having a look at it.
“It seems terrible that it’s now just waste paper. It’s one man’s imagination and brain.
“It may be that he casts an interesting light over intellectual life for the past 50 years.”
The film actor Judi Bowker, star of Clash of the Titans and Black Beauty, said that the archive was an “essential” record of Hampstead life.
Tudor Allen, the senior archivist at the Camden Local History Centre, said he had spoken to Town Hall officers about the need to examine Mr Rhodes’s records before any action is taken.
“It’s likely his writings will be of interest and they should not be just thrown out,” he added. “We would give a home to any material that relates to Camden.”
A council spokeswoman said: “If a council tenant dies intestate, with no will or next of kin, the District Housing Office analyses the situation and a decision is made on the deceased person’s belongings. The belongings are usually put in storage for up to six months before a final decision is made.”
She added: “The council will make every effort to preserve Mr Rhodes’s writings and contact will be made with John Rhodes’s friends.” |
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