Carolyn, your book Knifing the Famous seems to be predominately about your father's possible involvement in the disappearance of Lord Lucan. Although there is much more to him than this account, was it your primary motivation for writing it?
"No, it wasn't! He passed away quite suddenly, having just gone shopping and bought himself a new TV. I was in the habit of emailing at least twice a week and phoning too. So when I got that dreaded phone call, I sat in my office with a huge heap of emails around me - all interesting and all uplifting if you know what I mean. Because I couldn't afford the trip I decided to try and record his life in a personal way - after all, I already had his own account of his time as a Medical Officer in the East and in what they call the Forgotten War - in Burma. So I typed all that up and added in extra stories which were sent in other emails. Then I sat back - the 'book' at this point was about 100 pages - and started to make a sort of chronological account of his life. Perusing through his papers I came across a manila file marked Lord Lucan, and to my surprise I found a medical record of Lord Lucan's surgery and this is where I added the chapter on Lucan. I thought I had better get myself informed so I looked at some of the material on the web - then I read about the man in New Zealand (Roger Woodgate) that a couple called Harris thought was Lord Lucan and I telephoned them and had chats with Mrs Harris about this man and found she was pretty scared. Eventually Woodgate took them to court for defamation and the police stated that Roger Woodgate was not Lord Lucan. So I began my chapter on Lord Lucan!"
Your father was an accomplished esteemed surgeon, worked with early computers, designed electronic control systems for a telescope that he built, even grinding his own lenses! How much of the book is dedicated to telling of his other pursuits?
"A lot of it. He invented the Watson skin-grafting knife while peeling potatoes at the kitchen sink because using the current instruments did not 'cut it' - he needed to make large thin grafts and so he invented what he needed - this knife never paid him any royalties and is still used worldwide. The book also covers a bit about his astronomy, his more unusual operations, and quite a bit about his autistic son - Johnny was a huge and deep tragedy. Dad was enormously mentally active - yes, astronomy, bee-keeping, travelling - he even came to Australia to visit me, to see the Forbes Telescope, and to explore this country when he was in his seventies. I also added his explorations into seances in the book but there wasn't room for other numerous bits and pieces - like the time MI5 asked him to watch a surgeon at the Queen Victoria Hospital for suspicious activities!"
Has any of his wonder lust rubbed off on you? What other interests do you have aside from writing?
"His wonder-lust' and sense of adventure, which was also a trait of my mother's too, has definitely rubbed off on me, and that is probably why I came to Australia - initially for a holiday and then I sort of stayed for longer periods. My father's mother was Mrs Farnfield MBE OBE and her ancestor (Joshua Thorp) came to Australia and New Zealand in 1850 and I have a copy of My midwifery certificate was not accepted here so I looked at other ways of making a living. I could do art commissions and also play the piano so I joined a jazz band, learned to sing, did some large commissions and repaired antiques! I remarried, and became involved in doing company audits and tax returns - an eye opener! I decided to continue study having been poor at school and completed a BA, and also part of a B Sc. majoring in psychology which has given me food for thought and further study. These days I still play piano and conduct singalongs and also still paint. In fact our art group - the Emu Swamp art group at www.srag.org.au has an exhibition running at the local art gallery right now."
Opinions of Lord Lucan vary quite a bit. Some say he was innocent of the murder and a fine man. Some go so far as to say he was a despicable, murderous, playboy gambler. Your father's relationship to him, may raise some eyebrows. In light of that did you have any reservations when writing this?
"I did. In fact when I found the medical record I became quite nervous. I wondered why my father hadn't destroyed the record. Then I came to the conclusion that he couldn't take it to the police because of medical ethics. My old nanny mentioned, only last year, what a wicked sense of humour Dad had - and I agreed - and I had to weigh up the potential seriousness of the situation with the British 'mythology' of the Lucan disappearance."
You were the one who discovered in your fathers papers, his possible involvement in the disappearance of Lord Lucan. You even brought them to the attention of the authorities. What was your motivation for doing that and did you have to battle with your continence when deciding to do it?
"As I sat with all the Lucan material in front of me, I thought that either Lord Lucan was guilty and should go to Jail, or he was innocent and should have a proper trial. From my very limited knowledge of the police work, I thought that the operation my father carried out would leave scars and traces and could be used to identify an man thought to be Lord Lucan, and sought to find a way of bringing this to police attention without losing track of the original documents! I tried to find the policeman who had written a book on Lucan but Sussex police told me that he had declined to make contact with me so when I found out the BBC were currently making a documentary on Lord Lucan I contacted them. Glenn Campbell was making the documentary and he flew to Australia to include father's story in the documentary. Together we tried to tease out as much information as we could, from my chats with Dad about Lucan and from his emails. Over all I came to the conclusion that Dad thought Lucan was innocent and that he wanted me to know this without specifically giving me more detail about it."
How long did writing the book take?
"Well it took about 4 months, then Tim Roux of Night Publishing helped a lot with editing it, and he wanted to tease out my father's nature more and he asked for 10,000 words of more personal detail! "
How about your efforts in getting published. Did you go through the treadmill of query letters or did you manage to avoid the slush pile?
"Personally, getting published for the sake of getting published wasn't an obsession - originally I only contacted one literary agent who, I believe was a bit worried about the Lucan angle. By now the BBC documentary had been aired and I 'found' Struggling Authors who seemed enthusiastic and really helpful in trying to direct my book to the right place. had this not happened I would probably have the book in a bottom drawer to read and remind me of my father in my dotage!"
If I'm correct, you have two sisters. Did they or anyone else have any objections to you writing this?
"My sisters didn't like it much! My younger sister expressed her disapproval at my web page where I had originally linked father to Lord Lucan. I explained to her that the BBC had advised me to make a web site to manage the media interest that would happen after the documentary - and I also told her that I had also mentioned his distinguished war record. The other sister wasn't too keen on the whole airing of the Lucan document."
I'm sure things are exciting around your house with the publication our your book. How did it feel to have that first "hard copy" in your hands?
"Pretty nice!!! "
Are you writing anything else now?
"I have already written one other book, a dark comedy about a couple who were taken in by the Nigerian fax scam. Funnily enough, its a similar situation to Dad's biography - because I have original documents coming from Nigeria, I decided to wrap these up in a comic drama. I enjoyed writing that and the characters seemed to take on a life of their own - I haven't submitted this to any publishers! I wonder if Nightpublishing want this one too! Then my husband and I co-authored one about the brother of Ned Kelly (Australian bushranger/revolutionary). My father and I explored this story too - Dan Kelly was supposed to have been burnt at the final shootout where Ned Kelly was captured after a huge siege situation and gun battle at Glenrowanin 1880. The only problem is that my husband met Dan Kelly in later years and had a family history of Dan's exploits after he was supposed to have been killed at Glenrowan. Similarly to Lucan, official records show him as being dead. That book is a sort of adventure story from the 1880's to 1948 ending when Dan was beheaded by a train walking from Brisbane to Fernvale along the railway tracks. This book has been debated wildly on the net. I think it would make a good Australian Western and may put some time into trying to make that happen. I also think Dad's war experience might make good film material too.
Was there anyone that you gave the first copy of Knifing The Famous to, or did you keep it for yourself?
"I have to keep it don't I! Anyway I need it in case I do some interviews for newspaper or TV. I have just done one radio breakfast program so far."
What is it like working with Night Publishing? Has it been an enjoyable experience?
"Night Publishing have been so supportive and so helpful. Tim Roux resonated to my father's generation and seemed to have a very deep understanding of people and their motivation. He helped to tease out some of the more deeper understanding of my relationship with my father. I have them to thank for this biography ending up so that other people than myself can read it - and there are a lot who have worked with my father or who have been his patient who are curious to know more about him. I think he would have been embarrassed and probably quietly pleased about this book!
Thank you Carolyn, it's been a pleasure talking to you.
David Kupisiewicz
Struggling Authors
You can see a short video of the author talking about her book below or here