Itch
Page 29
COUSIN JACK
This is the name of a wonderful song by Show of Hands (Jon Lofte’s favourite band – hence the T-shirt). It is also the name that was given to Cornish miners when they migrated around the world to countries like Canada and Australia, taking their skills with them. Some think that the term became widespread, as miners would often call each other ‘Cousin’, and Jack was the most popular Christian name in Cornwall.
MINING IN CORNWALL
A great Cornish tradition, especially copper and tin mining. It dates back to between 1000 and 2000 BCE, when metal traders called Britain ‘Cassiterides’, meaning ‘the tin islands’. Cornwall and the west of Devon provided the bulk of the UK’s tin, arsenic and copper. As Mr Watkins says, the geology of Cornwall is still something of a mystery! Who knows what is down there? The Romans came to Britain because they’d heard there was gold here. There is certainly some at the South Crofty Mine near Cambourne, and many like Bob Evert who fancy getting their hands on some.
GAIA THEORY
Anything with ‘theory’ attached is usually pretty boring – but hang on a minute. This is the idea of James Lovelock, ‘one of the most original and influential living scientists’, to quote the Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees. Lovelock suggests that the Earth should be thought of as one big living thing, not a billion different ones; that the Earth is alive and looks after itself and disapproves of much that humans do. I know it sounds crazy – and Itch and Jack think so too when Jacob Alexander explains some of his ideas. But James Lovelock is widely respected now and has changed the way many view the Earth.
Acknowledgements
There are many fine brains who helped me put Itch together. Grateful thanks to a gallery of talent. To Hilary for telling me to get on with it and pointing out that Itch was a pretty cool title. To Charlie Fletcher, who helped steer me in the right direction when I was lost in the belly of the beast. To Jo Wroe, who encouraged me to write it in the first place. To my friend and enthusiast Martin Wroe for telling me about Stephen King’s On Writing – what a book! To Helen Kanmwaa and her punctuation skills. To Senior Vice-President of the Geographical Association Bob Digby for all Cornish and magma-based knowledge (no, Mr Watkins is not him!). To nuclear physicist Professor Paddy Regan at Surrey University, thanks for all the advice, and the use of the white coat and the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. To UCL’s chemist extraordinaire Professor Andrea Sella, who first told me about the ‘island of stability’. To all the scientists I interviewed while at BBC Radio 5 Live, particularly the extraordinary James Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS. I’m not sure Jacob Alexander is his best disciple! To Dr John Lee FRCA for his knowledge on anaesthesia. To Ian Rankin who, in a wonderful Twitter exchange, found me Sam Copeland at RCW, who believed in Itch from the off. To all at Random House, especially Kelly Hurst, for whipping me and Itch into shape. To Theodore Gray’s The Elements, an extraordinary book and source of the ‘everything you can drop on your foot’ quote which Itch mentions to his mother. To the original Itchingham Lofte and Nathaniel Flowerdew, I am in your debt. To the ‘radioactive boy scout’ Daniel Hahn, who showed what one boy was capable of. To Caroline Chignell and Emily Rees Jones at PBJ Management for reading and liking Itch in the beginning. And to Ben, Natasha (neat idea!) and Joe, who put up with a possessed wannabe author they weren’t quite expecting.
Any mistakes are, of course, all my own work!
About the Author
Simon Mayo is one of Britain’s best-loved and well-known radio presenters. He has worked on BBC radio since 1981 and is now the presenter of ‘Drivetime’ on BBC Radio 2, which features the regular ‘Book Club’ show. He is also the co-presenter of “Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review” on BBC Radio 5 Live. In 2008, Mayo was recognized as the “radio broadcaster of the year” at the 34th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and the “Speech Broadcaster of the Year” at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. ITCH is his first novel.
ITCH
AN RHCB DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 446 49541 4
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