Gay Byrne

Gay and his wife adopted 2 daughters, and a few years after the Late Late started, he also undertook a radio programme, called the Gay Byrne Hour, which broadcast in the middle of the morning, Monday to Friday. Again it was light entertainment, music, jokes, lively news stories.. but again it became more serious and became a focus for Irish people to write in and discuss issues. Gay got a letter from a woman listener (most of the audience were stay at home wives) describing her silent marriage, where she and her husband did not speak to each other and communicated via their children. He said how sad it was, and then was inundated with letters describing the same problem, a silent marriage where 2 people had grown to dislike or hate each other but had no prospect of divorce. Another issue, even more tragic, came along in the early 80s where a young girl in a country village gave birth to her baby alone, in a field, and both of them died. Gay again found that he got hundreds of letters about this, about the shame that an illegitimate birth still caused in rural Ireland, and about young girls some under age, had pregnancies and attempted to abort themselves or were forced to give the child up or to bear the child in secret. People who had had nowhere to turn, in the secretive society of Ireland were able to write in and pour out their woes to Gay.. and it sparked off discussion. The Late Late Show, while still being a fun to watch chat show, discussed issues like homosexuality, contraception, AIDS, sexual molestation and rape, women's issues and the like. There were also unusual shows where all the audience were priests. Gay was not really a card carrying liberal.. he tended towards middle class conservatism in many ways but he had an instinct for what people wanted to see and how Ireland was changing... He was also willing to be critical of the Catholic church when it still held a lot of sway over the people.

Gay Byrne and Irish history

I hope to write a blog about the late broadcaster Gay Byrne, who was one of the best known hosts of a talk show and was an important figure in Irish life for decades. Gay was from a modest background, his father worked in Guinness's brewery, and he was one of 6 children. He was bright but not academic and there were no opportunities for him to go to University at the time. He was born in 1934 and was educated at the Christian brothers' school, in Synge St. He was turned down for a job in Guinness, and went into insurance to earn a living. However he was friendly with another broadcaster Eamon Andrews, and he went to work for Granada TV in England. He then spent some time in the BBC and was offered a position as host of a chat show, which was meant as a summer filler for RTE the new Irish TV service. He still had a contract with British TV and spent some time commuting between the 2 countries on a weekly basis. The Late Late Show was meant to be light entertainment, with music, chat, and light hearted debates. However it did not stay that way and began to cover more serious issues. Gay married Kathleen Watkins, a continuity announcer and after a time he settled in Dublin, and his show became increasingly popular. M/F

God Rest Ye Royal Gentlemen, By Rhys Bowen

This is one of the more recent books in the Royal Spyness mysteries, featuring upper class girl Georgiana Rannoch, a relative of the Royal Family... and her husband Darcy OMara. Georgie's mother is a former actress who has been married several times and her maternal Grandfather is a retired policeman. But on her father's side, she is a cousin to the King. It is 1935 and the King, George V, is in very poor health. Georgie wonders what will happen when his son David inherits, as he is still in love with Mrs Simpson. It is her first Christmas after her marriage and she and Darcy plan to spend it quietly in the house given to her by her mother's ex husband. But Fate intervenes. She is asked by Darcy's elderly aunt, Lady Aysgarth to visit her - she has been widowed and has recently gone to live in a house on the Sandringham estate, as she used to be a lady in waiting to the queen, Mary. She and Darcy have invited a few people to share their Christmas, including her mother, Claire, and her brother and sister in law, Binky and Hilda (known as Fig) and their 2 children. Georgie's grandfather decides not to go, as he is awkward with upper class people, so he stays in her new home, where he will enjoy himself more. When they get to Lady Aysgarth's house, Wymondham, she welcomes them and they meet her other guests. She is an eccentric lady who fancies herself as an artist. She had an unhappy marriage, and lived for years in isolation in Yorkshire; she and her husband had no children and then he died. They learn that David, the king's eldest son was away skiing with Mrs Simpson, and that he has grudgingly come home because his mother is worried about the state of the Kings health. The holiday starts well but the King is clearly very ill, and the queen wants him to enjoy himself at Sandringham, as he may not have much longer. Then incidents start to happen and Georgie learns that someone was killed at a shoot the previous Christmas. People are now being injured or killed and it is looking like the attacks are directed at the Prince of Wales. Darcy takes it seriously and wonders if it is a terrorist attack on the future king or something more personal. Then evidence begins to point to his Aunt Ermintrude, their hostess and his mother's sister. Darcy adored his mother who died young and he can't quite make himself believe that his aunt could kill anyone or make an attack on the heir to the throne. Georgie wonders if it could be Lady Aygarth's companion, who is a mousy shy little woman.. but she and Darcy go out to the lake which is frozen and find that Ermintrude has come after them and she admits that she was the one who killed people, in her attempts to kill the Prince and Mrs Simpson. She had a horrible unfaithful husband and she is out to get other selfish unfaithful men and to stop the scandal of the Prince marrying his divorced mistress. Darcy, attempting to take her in, falls into the lake and she says she will finish him off. Georgie manages to rescue her husband but cannot save Ermintrude. However she thinks that perhaps it is for the best, as she had become completely unhinged and was facing either life in an institution or hanging. Georgie speaks to Queen Mary, who tells her that she was worried about Ermintrude who had an unhappy life and it clearly drove her mad. She agrees to try and find a job for her companion and says that she is giving the Wymondham house to her youngest son George, so the servants can be kept on. Georgie returns home with Darcy. She has been married now for several months and has been a bit worried that she has no sign of a baby yet. Then she feels ill, calls a doctor and finds out she is pregnant. They are very happy... then news comes that the King has died. So David is now the King. They wonder what the future will bring.

Gaudy Night Finale Part II

Peter is summoned back to a diplomatic mission, but before he goes Harriet goes to the room of Miss De VIne, the history tutor. She finds the room in darkness, and suddenly is attacked. Having the collar on protects her but she is knocked out and has to go to hospital. Peter has to leave soon but he tells Harriet that he can explain the mystery now and they have a meeting with the Dons. He reveals that the poison pen writer is Annie, one of the Scouts. He has found out her history, how she was married to a young academic, of a better class. She was his land lady's daughter. He was called Arthur Robinson. He had submitted an MA thesis to his college, and Miss De Vine was the examiner. The dons are astonished because Annie seemed a quiet refined little woman, a widow with 2 children who are boarded out. The head of college says that she wants Annie to be called in to hear the accusations against her. It turns out that Robinson cheated on his thesis, finding some evidence that contradicted it, and hiding it because he didn't want to have to write it all again. Miss De Vine exposed him and he lost his chance to be an MA. He went downhill, and lost his job and killed himself, leaving Annie very poor. In anger she clearly decided to pursue the woman who had as she saw it hounded him to death and she hated all academic women. She tells Peter that she did it and she'd do it again. That she despises middle class women like the dons who neglect their husbands and take on men's work... and who dont know what real hard work is. She breaks down, and is led away, and Peter is shaken. He wishes he had been able to stop the scene. Afterwards, Harriet apologises to Peter for getting upset and angry, and they go to a concert together. She tells him that the dons have decided not to prosecute Annie who was clearly a highly nervous case and could not understand why the academics reacted as they did. They will treat it as a medical case. Peter tells her that he is sorry for his behaviour over the last 5 years, of chasing her when she kept telling him she did not want to marry him. He was selfish and unkind. She says that she was sick of herself and could not respond to loving advances. But being at Oxford has given her back her self respect. He tells her that he will propose once more and whatever she says he will respect it. He asks her to marry him, in Latin and she says yes. But Peter has to go abroad on his diplomatic business, leaving her iwith his signet ring.....

Gaudy Night Final

I started to blog about Gaudy Night some time ago but lost track of it. The action of the novel is largely set in Oxford, where Harriet Vane goes to her old college to investigate an outbreak of poison pen letters. She collects some information and meets a young student several years her junior, who starts to pay court to her. She writes to Peter and tells him she is doing a private investigation.. and he seems interested but he has to go abroad. She wonders what he is up to but begins to be increasingly worried about the incidents at the college. She keeps trying to urge the dons to let her hire a professional detective, but they refuse. Then one of the more nervous students tries to commit suicide and she persuades them to let her call in Peter.. who is back from his trip abroad. He comes to see her and reads her documentation of the goings on at college. They get on much better than they had done before and she is surprised to find that he does odd jobs for the Foreign office, and realises that she had never cared enough to take any interest in what he did when he was not detecting. Peter is concerned about her safety and suggests that when she is patrolling the college at night, she wears a protective collar.

Steven Saylor Detective writer

Steven Saylor is an American author who was educated at the University of Texas. He writes historical novels about ancient Rome and a series of detective novels set in the time of Julius Caesar. The detective is Gordianus the Finder. Steven is gay and married. He has also written a couple of modern novels.

Beds and Blue Jeans by Nadine Sutton

This story is available on Amazon. It is a modern story of country music life in Nashville, about a young bar singer called Sam who plays for tips and makes a living at it. He and his girlfriend have had a baby, and their relationship is not going well. Sam finds himself tempted by fans in the bars, but he feels a bit guilty about it, and wonders if he can make his relationship work.