Hello and welcome to Brunch 10 otherwise known as our "Easter Brunch." For Easter
we'll be first exploring "The Warden." The Warden is a book that was first written
in 1855 by Anthony Trollope. It's a story written while he was a postal clerk in
England trying to make extra money. It tells the story of a man in charge of a hospital
for the elderly. These were elder laborers and workers who when their work was done
could retire in to the care of the Anglican Church and know their worries would be
cared for. The story starts when the Church is investigated for fraud and mismanagement.
It's told in flashback. It's quite detail oriented and definitely another of Matt's
"intellectual" finds. It's in two parts and begins with "The Barchester Chronicles.”
"The Barchester Chronicles” was originally a twenty part series but each novel has
its own and can be listened to at different times. "The Warden," was first broadcast
as a daily serial from August 29 1988 and stars Alec McGowan as Septimus Harding.
After we've begun the Trollope book we'll switch to Fred for…
“As Time Goes By.” Second Lieutenant Lionel Hardcastle and Nurse Jean Pargetter met
in the summer of 1953 or 1954, depending on the episode, and fell in love, but when
Lionel was sent to Korea they lost touch until 38 years later when Lionel uses Jean's
secretarial firm, "Type for You", to write his book My Life in Kenya. He had sent
her a letter when he arrived in Korea, which she did not receive, and both assumed
the other had lost interest. Jean had married David, and after his death set up "Type
for You". She has a daughter, Judith Hanson, who had married twice, once to Ken then
Edward, but both marriages ended in divorce. Lionel had gone to Kenya and became
a coffee planter. He and his wife Margaret had divorced on the grounds of "mutual
boredom", and he had moved back to England. Join us as Lionel and Jean meet in the
1990’s for the first time in 38 years. Note that this is TV audio adapted for radio.
Then we will continue or journey along the Bing Crosby Trail with Michael Freedland
and episode 5 (of 6), as Bing Sings. We’ll start in London and continue to Hollywood
as we follow Bing’s performances.
Matt and Fred