Documents on the ; updated with Sept 30 entry, Those who essay to be the bride at every wedding, may well end up being the corpse at every funeral. [ Previous Radical’s Diary ] September 30, 2008 (Tuesday) Windsor (England) RATHER unexpected, I receive late in the day a top-secret provisional invitation , to appear on the television slaughter programme Celebrity Big Brother .
I am emailing you on behalf of Endemol Television to find out if you’d be interested in taking part in Celebrity Big Brother 2009 which is scheduled to start
on January 2nd and run for 3 weeks. If you would like to explore the possibility then let me know as I’d be happy to set up a meeting with our Executive Producer. I suspect they are just middlemen, and nothing will come of it. I check on Endemol and the programme in Wikipedia before replying: Yes I can make those three weeks available. I do not watch the show, and later on, in due course, I would be grateful for a brief summary. I have a vague notion that one does not emerge unscathed.
The first word, Celebrity , is flattering, but Jessica advises against, reminding me that every person appearing on it has been slaughtered. But financially they have made a killing too in most cases, I reply. October 1, 2008 (Wednesday) Windsor (England) TONIGHT I have to attend M’s little dinner; I shall go in the hope of chatting about the law with Adrian.
At 12:40 p.m I email to film producer Rex Bloomstein : “Dear Rex, I watched the film three times on Sunday with two friends, and we were all deeply impressed. Not only was the quality so good, but the lighting and background selection [Library at Chatham House] were brilliant, and the topic was interestingly conveyed and researched. Even I was taken aback by the quality of my arguments! You really put me at my ease.
Could I sometime buy a stack of copies from you at a suitable price for resale please? Let me know if and when the film gets a public airing. I drive into London in the evening after posting another thirty boxes of books, catching up with the backlog, and arrive at M.’s on the dot of seven. Bob phones with the disturbing news that British police arrested Fredrick Toben ( right ) at London airport on a European Arrest Warrant (Germany being the culprits) as he was changing planes.
I don’t much like him, but this is wrong. An Australian newspaper describes: “It is alleged between 2002 and 2004 Toben published online material of an anti-Semitic and, or, revisionist nature deliberately contrary to historical truth.” A pleasant dinner, well served. M. shows us the first half of her filmed interview with my defence counsel in Austria, Dr Herbert Schaller . Surprisingly good, though the sound needs working on.
I provide expert translation assistance, though as God knows, legal Austrian-German is a tangle of verbiage. October 2, 2008 (Thursday) Windsor (England) I INTEND braving the congestion charge and attending the Westminster Magistrates Court at Horseferry Road two pm tomorrow, in the public gallery if I can get in. The Toben case fills a lot of newspaper space. He is accused of racism and xenophobia, and of putting anti-Semitic opinions on his Internet website. And why shouldn’t he, I ponder.
Are these people to be protected from hostile criticism? Eternally protected, regardless of what they do? A criminal offence to criticise them — an extraditable offence? My friends email me from Tennessee: “Meanwhile, the DVDs are on the way to you. I did very little to the content – only took out the idiotic introductions by people who either can’t speak English or just drone on and on.” I reply: “Always a good idea.
I recall one painful evening in Cape Town where Clive Derby-Lewis , now on death row in Pretoria (but he will never be hanged), droned on and on for an hour ‘introducing’ me to my huge audience, oblivious to the fact that hundreds were getting up and slinking out!” An Australian stranger emails me about the Toben case, furious at the news.
I reply: “Thanks Michael; the traditional enemies of free speech don’t realise that every time they have a ‘victory’ like this it is another nail in some future coffin.” A Proverb occurs to me: Those who essay to be the bride at every wedding, may well end up being the corpse at every funeral. Lovely sunny but chilly day here today, sun streaming across the lawns, gardener mowing them, just took a lobster soup out to him and some crackers.
I write to M.: “The two books were twenty pounds each, and now I have my glasses on I see you gave me a cheque for twentyMy mistake or yours? I don’t think there’s much we can do for Toben, other than offer moral support in Court, and say farewell for five years. Who’s next?” From her reply it seems she thinks I gave one copy of Banged Up to her last night. I correct her: “On the spare book, an obvious misunderstanding. Bring it to court tomorrow if you’re coming please.
We really cannot afford to give books away. A common misconception about professional authors.” October 3, 2008 (Friday) Windsor (England) I DEAL with book orders until nine-fifteen a.m. At eleven a.m. I drive into Chiswick and London, then on to Horseferry Road magistrates court for the two pm extradition hearing against Fred Toben. M. has brought the copy of Banged Up