I was just reminded on social media of a post by an old friend, ten years ago to the day, in which he suggested I write a book. He was used to listening to all my old stories of working on things like Hitchhiker’s Guide and he suggested Unbound as a potential publisher. In late 2020, totally out of the blue, that very company approached me and said that Douglas’ family and the agent for his estate had suggested me to investigate his archives in Cambridge, with a view to editing a book.
Well, this very weekend (after a difficult six months of illness, in and out of hospital) I finally delivered the last few morsels, so we now have a complete book!
My thanks to the patient kindness of Unbound and to Judy Barratt, the technical editor who took up the reins whilst I was in the caring hands of our marvellous National Health Service.
There’s so much in Douglas’ archive from which to choose, but I’m confident we have a collection both varied and detailed, bursting with newly discovered previously unseen material. We’ve including things from his childhood and schooldays, through University and his whole career right to the end, all replete with his hand-written annotations and deletions.
Checking, proof-reading, index and other technicalities aside, we’re on course for publication in August this year.
Kevin Jon Davies