From: John Green <jgreen@jongrin.co.uk>

Date: November 2, 2009 3:50:43 AM PST

To: Christine Bate <batece@yahoo.com>

Cc: John Green <jgreen@jongrin.co.uk>

Subject: Re: Fergus…

Hi Christine

I can’t imagine there are many John Fergus Steels. I can only check the

Queensland death register entries up to 30 years ago (the marriage records

are unavailable for 75 years).  But it costs A$18.50 per five-year period

for them to search them, and it’s a 25-year period from 1954 to 1979 even

assuming he was dead by then. He would only be 69 by 1979 and given our

family’s longevity, he would probably still have been alive.

I did a search for ‘John Fergus Steel’ on Google and the only thing that

came up was a “supplement to the London Gazette” dated 13 Jun 1946 with this

entry:

Petty Officer Engineman John Fergus STEEL LT/KX.132776

I eventually managed to find the previous page and he’s in it because he was

‘mentioned in dispatches’.

I had a nice weekend up at the cottage with some old friends of mine a week

ago. The weather didn’t look very promising at first, but improved rapidly.

On the Saturday evening we went to see Independent Ballet Wales do A

Midsummer Nights Dream at the Ludlow Assembly Rooms. It was very

entertaining. I was impressed. And there turned out to be only eight of

them. I shall have to look out for further performances.

I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to NC. You told me your were going, I think,

but it must have been Judith who got the details. She’s over in Egypt with

Mike at the moment and Ginny went with her. Back this Friday. Mike’s coming

back with them for a week and taking his Le Creuset frying pan back with

him. God knows why – last time I saw it, it didn’t look terribly

prepossessing. He could have an interesting time explaining why he has a

cast-iron frying pan in his luggage…

This last week I have been learning about virtualisation – making one

physical PC look like several pretend ones, which is the way the industry

seems to be going. Nearly all the advantages of having separate computers,

but taking up less space and, importantly with energy costs climbing, using

less electricity. I’m hoping to get ahead of the game.

I managed to get through Halloween without a single ‘Trick or Treat’ caller,

which is just as well, because I haven’t the foggiest idea how it works –

not any interest in finding out. It seems to have become just another

opportunity for the supermarkets to cash in.

Diwali was early this year, which means that the week-long firework barrage

doesn’t overlap with the week-long firework barrage of Bonfire night. I’m

just glad I no longer have a pet to worry about. The people next door’s dogs

are really suffering.

That about it for now.

Love John

On 2/11/09 01:39, “Christine Bate” <batece@yahoo.com> wrote:

I don’t know how many John Fergus Steels there are in the world.

Perhaps he moved from New Zealand to Australia. Any way of finding

out? His English wife was called Florrie but he abandoned her.

Just got back from a string quartet concert by the St. Lawrence String

Quartet who are  based at Stanford. An all Haydn performance. I was

there with a group including a casual acquaintance who had spent two

weeks in England in September. I felt a pang of envy.

I had a good short trip to NC. We ate a lot and did a lot. Perhaps I

already told you, or was it Judith I wrote to?

I’ll save John Fergus Steel’s info. Love –  C.

— 

Bagdikian’s Observation:

   Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper

   is like trying to play Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” on a ukelele.