In 1968, film maker and pop art
legend Andy Warhol memorably stated: ‘In the future, everyone will be famous
for fifteen minutes’.
I can clearly remember him
saying these words. I was only twenty-four at the time, fresh out of the
British Army’s Royal Corp of Signals, and steeped in the pop music culture of
the era. And whilst not totally buying into the everyone part of Andy’s
statement, there was still enough naïve hope burning inside of me to imagine
that I might even yet fulfil my long held ambition of playing cricket or
football for England. After all, the only missing ingredient as far as I could
see was finding the right coach. Somewhere, there had to be a life-changing
guru who was capable of bringing out the deeply hidden, international-standard
sporting talent I’d surely been born with.
Where’s a Mystic Guru When You Need One?
Sadly, unlike the Beatles,
whose association with a certain Maharishi Yogi the year before is alleged to
have inspired several of the songs on the group’s White Album, no magical guru
was destined to appear for me at this stage. It transpired that my turn for
fleeting fame didn’t eventually come around until 1999, by which time you can’t
blame me for having cooled somewhat in my belief of Mr Warhol’s theory. I mean,
thirty-one years had passed by. Exactly how long was the queue at the ‘Make Me
Famous’ desk in my little neck of the woods for crying out loud?
The truth is, I’d spent nearly
three miserable years amongst the ranks of the unemployed during the recession
of the early 1990s. With absolutely no educational or professional
qualifications to my name and my fiftieth birthday party looming large on the
horizon, any future employment of worth (let alone fame and fortune) appeared
to be about as likely as wind-up gramophones and 78rpm records making a
comeback. In fact, the only thing that kept me going through this dark period
was writing a minimum of one thousand words a day on my latest novel. To heck
with gurus, maybe it was to be some smart publisher who would eventually come
riding to my rescue.
Yea, in my dreams!
The Oldest Schoolboy in Town
But then came a remarkable
turnaround. In a last-ditch effort to get somewhere I applied to return to
full-time education. And that’s when those early novels I’d written really did
pay off. With nothing else to back up my suitability for this scholastic
adventure, it was these manuscripts that turned out to be the keys to the
college. As my only references, they certainly seemed to impress the right
people, and in 1995 I began a two-year Higher National Diploma course in
advertising copywriting. If I remember correctly, the average age of my class
was just under twenty.
Welcome to the World’s Most
Famous Advertising Agency
Right at the start of my
college days I was told that: “Major league advertising is a young person’s
business George, and however well you may do on this course, no big London
agency will ever employ you.” This wasn’t meant as a put-down, just a
realistic assessment of my post-graduation possibilities. I didn’t care. I’d
started out not daring to hope for anything more than a job at a small
provincial agency anyway. Even so, when a two-week work experience placement at
the world’s most famous advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, was offered,
I grabbed it with both hands. OK, it might not lead to that desperately needed
job, but I was going to make darn sure they noticed me. I remember writing
nineteen radio ads in one day for a pharmaceutical product. None of these were
ever used. But then the impossible happened. After my two-week stay there had
been extended to three, out of the blue, I found myself more shook up than
Elvis had ever been when the Creative Director offered me a full-time job as a
copywriter. That is, if I wanted it.
Were they joking? If I wanted it? You could bet your
house, your car, and even your favourite Disney character’s life that I did.
It’s Better Late Than Never,
Andy
Six months or so after starting
at Saatchi, the British media managed to get a handle on my story. And how,
because I’d spent the last of my money on the train fare to London at the start
of my work experience, I’d been forced to spend a few nights sleeping rough on
the streets of London. Of course, the agency knew nothing about this at the
time. To the TV, radio and press people however, this was a Cinderella type
story that ran for several weeks.
Following the publication of my first novel, and
with a good bit of help from my employers, I even managed a second bite of the
fame cherry in 2000. But far more than anything I did myself, the magic of
Saatchi’s name was what really created the headlines. I benefited enormously
from the association. No wonder I love the fabulous TV series Mad Men.
I’d finally experienced my
fifteen minutes of fame – twice over in fact. So Mister Warhol was right all
along. Thanks for keeping me going Andy.
* * *
George
Stratford’s latest novel, Buried Pasts, has recently been released by GMTA
Publishing as both a paperback and electronically. The kindle version of this
book has already been downloaded well over seven thousand times in the USA
alone. In an official review, the much-respected publication, Publishers
Weekly, described the story as: “A page-turner that blends suspense with
a cast of characters who genuinely care for each other. It’s an engaging and
satisfying novel for fans of adventure stories with a heart.”
Want
to dig a little deeper? You can see other reader’s reviews, and get to read the
opening three chapters of Buried Pasts for free on Amazon.com. Here is the link
to use: http://goo.gl/czR3T
About the book: Personal demons can be a killer
Even
after eighteen years, Canadian pilot Mike Stafford still carries a powerful
sense of guilt over the death of his best friend during a huge RAF bombing raid
to Berlin in 1944. He eventually returns to England for an inaugural squadron
reunion full of apprehension over what the visit may produce.
Siggi
Hoffman, then a young German girl of twenty, also has terrible memories of a
personal loss from that same wartime night. She too is unable to forget. Nor
has she ever been able to forgive.
When
fate throws these two together in a small north Yorkshire town during the
summer of 1962, the past collides devastatingly into the present. And all the
time, lurking ominously in the background, is an unknown enemy intent on extracting
violent revenge. Personal demons are only one of the many problems that must
now be overcome when Stafford and Siggi find themselves fighting to survive.
As
long buried secrets are finally revealed, events reach a literally explosive
conclusion.
PUBLISHERS
WEEKLY REVIEW:
'This page-turner blends
suspense with a cast of characters who genuinely care for each other. It’s an
engaging and satisfying novel for fans of adventure stories with a heart.'
If
you enjoyed this article, you may like to know that George has also written a
full novel length account of his time spent at Saatchi & Saatchi and in the
media spotlight. What’s more, for a limited period, GMTA Publishing is offering
a free kindle download of this light-hearted memoir to every reader who
purchases a copy of Buried Pasts.
No comments:
Post a Comment