Hawkins, Jack and Andrew Hawkins. Anything For a Quiet Life.
Reason read: as part of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to review really interesting books. This is one such book.
Anything for a Quiet Life was first published posthumously fifty-two years ago. Famed British actor Jack Hawkins had died of a complication with an artificial voice box implanted after throat cancer. Anything for a Quiet Life was Jack’s memoir about being an actor and going through cancer. From reading about his life one can tell he was a humble family man with four children who loved his second wife, Dee. It was one of his sons, Andrew, who wanted to bring his dad’s autobiography to the electronic age. If the purpose of republishing the book was to bring Jack’s legacy back, it worked. An unexpected interest in Jack’s career grew after I read Anything for a Quiet Life. I was four years old when he passed and until recently, had no interest in military movies as an adult. Now I plan to find Jack’s catalog and watch them all. My partner will be thrilled.
As an aside, I thought it was interesting that Jack thought he used his voice more strenuously than most people “except perhaps school teachers.” What about professional singers?
As an aside, did you know that the Thames River is a great place to find discarded furniture? You could outfit a whole flat on unwanted treasures.
Book trivia: the afterword was written by Jack’s wife, Dee.
Music: Chopin, and “Thora.”
~*LunaSea*~ 