New Statesman -- posthumous revelations winners
No 4257
Set by Chilli Baran
Recently, we’ve seen some people’s reputations deteriorate after their deaths. We asked you for examples of this happening the other way round, with posthumous revelations enhancing people’s reputations . . .
This week’s winners
Superb. And welcome back, compers! The winners get £20; the Tesco vouchers go, in addition, to David Silverman.
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney’s reputation as a footballer suffered greatly due to England’s repeated failure to qualify for the World Cup and Manchester United’s long slump, which threatened them with the Sunday Sevens League. His reaction was to follow Eric Cantona’s suggestion to pursue his youthful interest in mathematics, an ambition secretly cherished over many years. What followed was the writing of a series of monographs on number theory, commemorated today in the opening of the Manchester Modern Mathematics Institute. Who can forget 1, 2, X: Football Pools as an Introduction to Game Theories, Divisions and Their Properties, Science and the Sphere or Nets: Applications and Failures? Sadly, he never completed his immense work Field Theory Beyond Einstein and Higgs.
Charles Curran
Jeremy Clarkson I
Delicacy, stillness, attentiveness to the fragile beauty of nature, perfectly matched by language – this collection of haikus reveals Jeremy Clarkson to have been as sensitive as a feather to a baby’s breath and as responsive as a harebell to the summer breeze. Poetry-lovers applaud his scrupulous detailing of seasonal changes: he hears the fall of cherry blossom and sees the notes of blackbirds on frosty mornings. Clarkson kept this side of himself hidden from the machismo world of noise, speed and competitive vulgarity, concealing his love of silence and nature and the demands made on his inner life. The Japanese are particularly interested in his work.
D A Prince
Silvio Berlusconi
“New Renaissance”, on loan from the Uffizi, is an exceptional exhibition of religious paintings and sculpture by the late Silvio Berlusconi. These masterpieces, which were a closely guarded secret during Berlusconi’s terms in office, rival anything created by da Vinci, Raphael or even Mario Balotelli. Berlusconi’s keen interest in the female form and his evident empathy with the inner lives of his models – much misunderstood during his lifetime – result in an attention to anatomical detail reminiscent of Michelangelo’s best work. Conversion of St Matthew reflects his interest in the salvation of tax collectors. This spiritual work reveals Berlusconi’s profound appreciation of things eternal, perhaps at the expense of a grasp of more worldly matters, such as tax and other mundane aspects of running a modern democracy.
David Silverman
Mark Thatcher
It was only after the death of Mark Thatcher that his remarkable contribution to archaeology was revealed. Alongside his business ventures, he applied his intellectual skills to the practical study of unexplored ancient civilisations. To protect the sites, secrecy was paramount. In 1982, when he was reportedly lost during the Paris-Dakar rally, he was masterminding the discovery of human burials on the Gobero site, which brought to light 10,000 years of Saharan ecosystems. More recently, behind the smokescreen of an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea, he was able to study ancient settlement patterns in western Africa, funded by a generous grant for “unspecified projects”. He leaves behind many priceless artefacts and records that will become the definitive academic papers for future archaeological research.
Sylvia Fairley
Jeremy Clarkson II
The discovery of a library of feminist literature in the garages of Jeremy Clarkson has taken the motoring world by surprise. First editions of works by Julia Kristeva, Betty Friedan and Germaine Greer have been lovingly preserved and marginal notes indicate that they have been studied with close, thoughtful attention. Journals, also found with the cache, record some exciting and perceptive aperçus relating to feminist issues. For example, Clarkson wrote: “How can the glass ceiling in Formula One be broken? I shall press hard for positive discrimination (Under my pseudonym of Andrea Pizzey, of course.)” Also found with these was a large number of gardening magazines, clearly well thumbed, as the earthy smudge marks testify. Perhaps most surprising of all, there was a collection of lovingly preserved but very foxed bus tickets, for routes including the 137 Routemaster, from Crystal Palace to Muswell Hill (35p), along with thousands more.
Josh Ekroy
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