Charlotte and the Brothers Grimm; part I
Charlotte had attitude and flair. Discreetly gay, but highly intelligent with a wicked sense of humour and a unique dress sense that made eyebrows rise in astonishment and admiration, she was ideally suited to work on our floor. Few young women in her position would have lasted more than a week in our stressful […]
The bar fridge, Grimm Friday, and my first brief
After countless applications, tedious interviews by imperious floor clerks and intimidating Silks who let you wait for hours, I finally received the phone call I had been dreaming about for weeks: I had been accepted on a good floor of criminal specialists! The day a young barrister moves into his chambers is a day […]
The boy scout and the Pope
I still remember that sunny spring afternoon very well. We were living in my grandfather’s hunting lodge in Austria at the time, and school had finished early that day. Our little group of six keen Hungarian boys scouts was meeting in the stone cottage by the old mill. Our leader had a surprise for […]
Whatever happened to my Olivetti?
Like most writers, I have fond memories of my first typewriter. It was a portable Olivetti, the ant’s pants of its day at the cutting edge of technology. It looked great. Elegant and sleek with a shiny black case, it made you feel important. Learning to type was quite a challenge in those days. All […]
The Major and the photograph in the window
Ask any serious storyteller if he can remember the first story he told in public. I’m sure he can; most vividly. I certainly remember mine. It happened at school in Austria many years ago. I must have been about ten or eleven at the time. Before sending us home for the day, our teacher […]