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BBC World Book Club show cancelled
Author: Simon Sellars • Jan 22nd, 2008 •Category: Ballardosphere
From the BBC:
Dear all
We are very sorry to have to inform you that the World Book Club programme recording with JG Ballard - scheduled for this Thursday 24th January 2008 at 5pm - has had to be cancelled at short notice as the author is seriously unwell.
We do hope to be able to reschedule the recording with JG Ballard for a later date but, for now, if you were on the guest list to attend this event we can assure you that your name and those of your guests will immediately be added to the guest list for any future recording date.
Again, our apologies at having to cancel this recording. We were all very much looking forward to it.
Best regards,
The World Book Club Team, BBC World Service
Author:
Simon Sellars
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Newer: Hello America, goodbye Liberty »
Sounds like JGB is on his last legs. Sad.
I have a very strong urge to carve a mandala in the winter-bruised floor of the empty swimming pool next door…
I had a hunch that Kingdom Come was the coda to the work, the seal; the news of the autobiography was troubling. Immense loss; Ballard’s work is already posthumous. Immense loss; I have stopped working on my list of questions.
These are painful days for Ballardians. No doubt Self is preparing a tribute.
Let’s not act like he is dead already. Don’t want to tempt fate!
Greg’s right. The treatments for prostate cancer can be very debilitating, but he is far from gone. Is there anything we can do for JGB?
Greg and Crashman are right, but then again are Ballardians noted for their optimism?
Are our swimming pools drained or full?
In any case let us hope and pray that it turns out like the wry Mark Twain observation.
Let ’s hope for Ballard fast recovery.
Until this evening I had been pottering along, looking forward to reading the autobiography at some stage, and now I hear the great man has cancer. Terrible news. I started reading Ballard in my mid teens and have never let go - everyone else I liked from those days has long been discarded.
I’ve felt with the recent stuff (post Rushing to Paradise) that however sharp the satirical edge that each new book was something of a bonus, that age was against him, but to have that clarified is awful. Yes, we can remain optimistic, of course, but I carry a heavy heart around. Maybe a couple of drinks and a night drive will help.
A night drive, definitely! I myself might visit the abandoned petrochemical plant nearby…