On meeting a hero

Where, how do you start when writing about a hero?  Especially if that hero is a writer, a person whose command of language can transport you to places you've never seen and evoke such base yearnings that you would blush to admit..... albeit cravings of the stomach, a greedy longing that makes the categorisation of gluttony as a sin justifiable.

Before I even get to see Diana Henry take her place in the Orangery at Bristol,Food Connections, a serendipitous meeting brings home the impact that her writing has.
I was fortunate enough to procure a ticket to recording of an interview by Sheila Dillon for a future broadcast of the BBC Food Programme entitled, Diana Henry, a Life in Food.
Just in case you are reading this on another planet, here are some of the Diana Henry books pulled from my shelves.

This meant an early start; on a good day the trip to Bristol can take an hour and three quarters, but the M5 is a fickle and variable conduit and the same  trip can seemingly last all day. Add into the mix the fact that I wasn't entirely sure where I was going and plenty of leeway seemed a sensible precaution,

As it was, the motorway was blissfully free of traffic - so bizarre for a holiday weekend, that I feared I had the wrong day - and the directions provided on the cathedral website were disarmingly simple to follow.
Needless to say, I was ridiculously early.
And this is what led to my chance encounter with Helen.  I only know her first name and regret not getting to say good bye properly later that morning, but it was a genuine  pleasure to meet her and I can only hope that she reads this and recognises herself
She joined me at the window table of a coffee bar overlooking the College Green, where the advertised event was to take place and we fell into conversation about the city wide Food Connections and quickly established that we were attending the same event.
One thing led to another and I explained that I had come down from Shropshire - Helen was a Bristol resident - and "let slip" that we make pans.
"Aha" she said you are the company that Diana mentioned in her Christmas guide, where she said "Look out, Le Creuset".
My word, that was Christmas 2014, so you can see why I was so struck by the power of her words.

But, less about us and more about Diana Henry....
The recording was happening inside a wonderful wooden framed marquee, which was very atmospheric, resplendent with twinkling fairy lights, but which must have been a nightmare for the sound recordist. External noise which caused heads to turn included the throaty roar of a Harley Davidson motorbike, what sounded like the erection of scaffolding and the overhead pass of a helicopter.

Sheila Dillon, another hero, introduced Diana on to the stage and conducted an interview, which drew the very best from her interviewee, the conversation flowed, the facts and reminisces were skilfully elicited and praise was given with the lightest and most sincere touch that even the most self deprecating interviewee could soak up its warmth, without fear of  an overheated blush.

Diana Henry is a truly talented writer, and setting  her in the same pantheon as Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson, as Sheila Dillon did, is to site her exactly where she belongs.
Her sheer love of and joy in food, ingredients, travel and writing were evident and so readily shared. It would take a joyless soul not to be carried along with the flow of her words and the undercurrent of  gentle passion as she described how she came to write, how she writes in the middle of the night when she doesn't have to distracted by putting on a load of washing and about moving to London and discovering so many wonderful ingredients carried the audience on the journey with her.

She is truly enamoured of the written word and unstintingly generous in her praise of others' writing.
Her excellent and eclectic choices of inspiring writing were  beautifully read out by Becky Ripley and Sam Woolf.
Becky coaxed the words off the page and sent them skipping and dancing joyfully amongst the audience, whilst Sam's sonorous voice filled the tent with ripples and echoes of meaning and emotion.

I especially enjoyed the Seamus Heaney poem, Blackberry-Picking and one of Marina O'Loughlin's restaurant reviews.

Time past too quickly and the event was over too soon, but the icing was still to be applied to the cake and I got the opportunity to thank Diana in person for all the support she has given us and to say "Hello", in person to Sheila Dillon.
Thank you both for an uplifting, inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable morning.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2016

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk