Tall And True Short Reads

Season Two: Episode 36 (18 October 2021)

Signed Stark by Ben Elton is a blog post from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the post: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/signed-stark-by-ben-elton

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books:     https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Episode Insight

I attended the Sydney premiere of Ben Elton’s Three Summers in October 2017. Afterwards, I shared a film review on Tall And True and later wrote this blog post.

As mentioned in the post, I had admired Ben’s work since watching him do stand-up comedy on TV in England in 1987. And I loved the hit TV series he co-wrote in the 1980s and 1990s, The Young Ones and Blackadder. And I’d enjoyed reading his novels from Stark in 1989 to Time and Time Again in 2014.

My brother was the First Assistant Director on Three Summers and attended the premiere with me. And after the film and Q&A, he introduced me to Ben. 

It was a surreal moment. Had anyone told me watching Ben on TV in 1987 that one day I’d meet him, I’d have thought they were mad. And yet, there I was, shaking his hand.

Of course, Ben was very popular on the night. And it wasn’t until towards the end of the evening I plucked up the courage to ask him to sign my copy of Stark. 

I mentioned to Ben how his eco-novels had encouraged me to act and argue for the environment. And that I’d often quoted from them, especially the closing lines from Stark. And this resulted in the “pinch-myself honour” of reading to Ben his searing indictment of humanity.   

It’s four years since I wrote this blog post and thirty-two years since I read Stark. Who would have imagined back then the present-day spectre of a global environmental disaster while billionaires blast into space? Ben Elton, that’s who!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Tall And True Short Reads. You can read my blog posts, short stories, and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections from the Amazon Kindle and Kobo online bookstores. 

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will appear in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, don’t forget to check your feed or the podcast website, TallAndTrueShortReads.com, for earlier episodes from Seasons One and Two. And follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. Doing so helps other listeners find my writing.

And finally, please support this podcast by telling your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:

• Applause: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/462362/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.

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