How I met British writer William Sansom
How I met British writer William Sansom
William Sansom
By Joel Recla
Towards the end of my stay in London, England, a week before my departure for Canada, I became friends with one cancer English patient, at St Mary’s Hospital, where I worked. We talked and shared about our travel, and places that we both have seen. He seemed to be amused at how far I traveled, from the Orient to Europe, just to work.
In between our conversations, I informed him that I was leaving the following week, to migrate in Toronto. With a great enthusiasm and excitement, he claimed that Canada was a wonderful place to live in. He sincerely expressed the thrill and enjoyment that I will be going to move to Canada.
I felt as if we were migrating together! He wished me the best of luck and handed me a pocket book as a gift. With a personal note, I think I read the note, but I don’t remember. I absolutely thanked him for all the kind words and his encouragement. We said our farewell goodbyes to each other and we never saw each other ever again. All I know, he was a friendly English patient in the hospital.
In August of 1974, I arrived and lived in downtown Toronto for years. And moved around for maybe seven to nine times more. Finally we settled at the Guildwood area, twenty kilometres from downtown Toronto. When we moved, all the boxes were tagged with their corresponding contents, three boxes were my books and literature. I went through each and every one of them, while I stacked them accordingly and neatly on the book shelves, down my basement office. Till I came across the book that was given to me by that English patient from the hospital. The book is obviously fictional. “The Body” is the title of the book. I don’t read or keep any fictional book except this particular one, reason being, given to me with personal significance. Biographical, poems, and historical ones, are the ones I enjoy reading, and for keeps.
For curiosity I read the cover and the back pages, and a few pages in between till I came across the inscription on the second page, where the English patient wrote, “Joel – I have watched your energy at work with the greatest admiration. Good Luck in Canada! William Sansom (patient at St Mary’s Hospital. London) 15 VIII 74. THE BODY. The Story of An Obsession, by William Sansom. His first fictional novel, published in 1949. I could not believe it. I read and checked again one more time the title of the book and the writer. First I said, why? this patient has the same name as the author. I looked again. Yes! He is the author of the pocket book, that nice English patient that I became friends with. I was so astonished and amazed. Right away, I Googled his name, in seconds, there he is, on my computer screen, his name, his pictures, his works, all his accomplishments. With all interest and curiosity I read passages from his quotes and columns about him. Conclusion: the English patient and the writer is one person.
To me this experience is so fascinating in every way. If I knew he was the writer, I probably would have read the book then. I never read a novel, except literature books for school credit. This experience to me is a paradox, a great serendipity to my never ending curiosity and never ending learning process. This English patient was a human being with a brilliant mind. I’m am so honoured and so privileged to be a friend, even for a short time. The literary world claims William Sansom is the most celebrated British literary writer of the nineteen century.
William Sansom was born on January 18. 1912 in London England. A british novelist and a short story writer known for his highly descriptive prose style, (meaning ordinary language that people use in speaking) He moved to Bonn Germany, worked in a bank for the British Chapter of a German bank. But moved back in London in 1935 and worked for advertising and became a full time London firefighter serving throughout The Blitz, the period of strategic bombing of the United Kingdom, by the Nazi Germany during the Second World War. In 1941 there were major aerial raids with more than 100 tons of explosives dropped in 16 British cities in 267 days. In London, one million homes were destroyed and 4,000 civilians killed. With these experiences, this inspired William Sansom to write and appear on films about The Blitz and he was awarded two literary prizes by the Society of Authors in 1951. William Sansom married actress Ruth Grundy. He also played the piano. His famous quote was “London is a bad habit one hates to lose.” He died in April 1976 at 64 in London.
Writers use words in various styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce literary art and creative writing, such as novels, short stories, poetry, play, news, screenplay, or essay. Writers use language to express ideas that contribute significantly to the cultural content of a society. I must and love to share a few non-fictional books I had read more than once. My House Has Two Doors is an autobiographical and history. It tells the story about China’s cultural revolution. Love is A Many Splendoured Thing, based on a true story, made into a movie with Jennifer Jones and William Holden, both written by Dr. Han Suyin. Selected Poems by Baroness Mary Wilson, (wife of the former Prime Minister Harold Wilson of England). The great poems by William Wordsworth. I must say, writing poetry is to express thoughts in verse which rhymes to a flowery metaphor that fit into the framework of poems. Poetry can capture emotions and possibly find to match everyone’s mood. And Carol Thatcher’s, A Swim – On Part In The Goldfish Bowl. This book made me sad and very emotional, because of personal experience about dementia. There are words that writers or composers use to create songs and melodies that we sing and listen to passionately. And to most of us, the greatest and sacred words written are words we use for prayers.
——————–
Joel Recla is Producer/Radio Host, C.H.I.N. Radio and Television International.
Comments (2)
Categories