Drawn for renaissance party The Pillar House Harwell 19 March 1972 -ANDRE MALRAUX com’th at 9.30pm with old friend Beryl- this drawing by Peter J.P. Whitehead may represent JOSETTE mother of MALRAUX’s two sons-over life size-charcoal/gold spray/heat-sealed dry mounted/it is very much as she appears in Greetha’s memory- SUMMER 1937-upon the seashores-East Anglia- (Simonetta Vespucci-painting by Botticelli) -
1937 Summer- BLACK NIGHT- Part 2- Holland-on-Sea Essex…
Saint George-Andre Cassiopeia-JO & me the Prophet round their knees have lit a fire upon what is becoming spoken of amongst us & others as JO’s BEACH- We can always find her there-come from the Visiting Times a day of our hostess’s father in the Convalescent Home above- This evening they hath made a little fire- glowing on a quiet beach by collecting driftwood-ANDRE began collecting it before full nightfall for he com‘th alone earlier- A DARK NIGHT a black sky night but many brilliant stars appearing- the slow soft -lapping sounds of the sea talking to itself- two men come to speak about Spain -from finishing their work tidying the deckchairs the beach-I see darkness advancing into shadows outside the fire lighting a black sea edges when a flame ris`th- There are 3 specks of light far out-I do not love the sea but prefer the air with Lennie Flyer-
I awoke in JEAN’s land last year & they her kith & kin hath come on quiet feet-by flat boats like punts-made a fire with a hugh tripod-food is to be cooked-they wear little beaded caps & modern clothes- `Will she dance-when will she dance-they come over 2-3 days-they will arrive…Cousin Clarke has made a new film-San Francisco- `Yes- he has come with others-from Hollywood-` They came on such quiet feet from the waterways- I am remembering this- seeing it all again about this fire Holland-on-Sea beach- But here I will not speak upon INCA & AZTEC kin- THE MATTER FOR ANDRE & JO IS SPAIN-war & blood- & JO does not want him going back again- he wanders about in a dream-& doth not know how TALL he is…`
`SPAIN ?` Andre says not to go-it is too late-a statement has been made-IT HAS BEEN TERRIBLE…Soft voices I hear as if in memory of the dead- JO adds what she has seen-Andre repeats in clear English-
The men nod at Andre‘s introduction of us all-
`& say they know where we stay-know my grandparents-grandpa Mr George Gordon just dead-whom they miss- Miss Winnie- Harry- `young Esther soon to marry Mr Potter the newspaper-town printer-Lifeboat-they the young people training working in Town so will no doubt live up there a bit after the wedding-`
`…the dead Kitty-terrible loss for the parents-lovely hair-worked as a Nursery maid then an engagement-a quiet marriage made-family well known-India sometime-they can recall that last year 1929-terrible shock to Thorpe-le-soken where her parents were living before coming a few miles to the sea to be near The Misses Bessie & Annie-they worked hard with A Mission up North when they were young… `Oh young Harry not got over it yet-terrible shock to have a sister die so suddenly`
Kathleen Gordon - who had to marry in secret because of her sister Teresa’s wild days with the ever present nuisance Mr Jimmie Jong & her (they nod their heads & faces grim speak of troubled times in London & reaching to our seashores sometimes` -They will reason that these two young people will have been warned of what comes to misbehave on Clacton seafront- at their GRAND a low crouching grey Scots granite building squashed between Royal Hotel & Towers-that Police others forbid young girls and men to enter at any time-never take a drink from them-it will have a stain of purple inside the cup the glass…the Police call this narcotic `frog spawn` )…
KIT-Kitty-Kathleen Gordon the elder sister survived the epidemic that took her parents 5 children 1905 ages 13 to 2 years 4 of them- Kitty who becomes in a private officially unannounced service Catholic Tree Cathedral Mrs Guy Vansittart-her sister Teresa having just got herself a Prison sentence & escaped an incarceration in an Asylum (or could they have done something with her-for they’d have found out her friends-fiends on high now set about robbing the 60 thousand pounds of Jack Gordon made Ward of Court at 2 years-then his father a Naval medical man pushed overboard). Kitty who could not be buried with her married name as his brother is to do with the Government of G.B-she was attacked by 2 men outside CLIVEDEN-they knew her movements-REPORTS/witnesses (It was Jimmie Jong & another man killed her hitting her face until nothing was left after knocking her out & then they threw her in the ditch-typical Jong behaviour-Lindsaybuggarhs & Nobles of 20th century) Mary Gordon my grandmother is weeping to Ada Pin a friend of her youth in Christmastide 1942/3 Full accounts the XMAS days from when Greta Ransom is born- March 1933... THESE VIOLENT CRIMES HAPPEN BECAUSE THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID OF Gross Britain has no money-only massive debts from the previous generation & the system of privilege for uneducated nobles-
Esther said 1944 the SUMMER OF MARY GORDON‘s DEATH.… `the man with the romantic novel name she got engaged to him- I remember the ring- a diamond with sapphires the reverse of Mother’s engagement ring from Father- the navy blue sapphire with diamonds round-I wonder what happened to the ring-I must ask my sister Winifred-she does not tell me things just because I am the youngest in the family… ` (Because of her mother’s death & Teresa going nasty & spiteful again-sending Esther a bouquet of dead flowers etc etc-she was finding time to think about the years reaching back…many records/accounts/years of family histories)
Guy-he will come to Colchester Museum & talk to H.W. Poulter Deputy Curator end of winter 1954- A medium height man in a belted raincoat a scarf high round his neck a trilby hat he came & spoke to me in The Castle at 10am the time I open the Book stall & prepare for any visitors who may like assistance-I also type-clean pot sherds-run messages-& have an hour or two in Hollytrees being instructed by Harold W. Poulter 19 Years Out East-student mature Camborne School of Mining after he & colleague had been 2 years CHINA studying Bronze making going across & round China from one Mandarin respectable family to the next- “learned Mandarin Child & we set off-two young men out of mischief-my mother kept hold of the Poulter Fortunes thank heavens-having a maternal line to the Family of De Quincey-a book `Opium Eaters` I will get you a copy from old skinflint Donovan on the corner-”
I was asked by Guy Vansittart kindly softly if I liked working there & replied `it’s a happy world archaeology-you can travel about TIME- He went to see Mr Poulter in Hollytrees-he came puzzled to me later in the day “ a sad man-asking about you Child-knew your Aunt the one that died- did History at the crack Oxford school-done nothing with it-says if the ring is still in the family he wants you and ANDRE to have it…” Greta Ransom has just been torn apart from ANDRE MALRAUX again & I am without a memory & during the whole time of his re-courtship the Marriage of Grace was some 2 or 3 hours in my head-I was under constant supervision by Mengele Naval Intelligence department of FRAUD etc My head is sluggish in the mornings when I arrive from Clacton the 2 room flat I have to live in with my mother Teresa Gordon R. & she paid well in Racing Credit by Lindsaybuggarhs-Angela-& noble scum for this removing of my memory day in day out- I have only the 10 pounds a week I earn at the Museum-& she will steal some silver from my handbag if I do not hide it- Records/diaries/ As Graham Greene says `Greetha can speak with me perfectly well after 1 o-clock ANDRE ! I do not trust the old woman Teresa-Oh everybody knows her before the War from the Races-Greetha is not aligned in the mornings-I come in here to do some work-scribble upstairs-Chapman the chief Guide & I are sometimes alarmed about things-Records/diaries 1952-1980s
` The peculiar Physician sent down by Big Guns from London Town` Doctor MENGELE H. has followed MALRAUX to Colchester Town & set up a spy ring about us all-we are all now `cases for treatment & under investigation of the Crown` The paedophile sadist murderer dope addict supplier to others of infamous narcotics Mengele Harrington is on SALARY from Naval Intelligence-he has been interviewed by his chum `Soapy the Greek` who seems scared that his mother-in-law’s part in the slaying of the million GROTE HOMES children will ruin his chances of being king-of-the-Castle- He too is on the PIN-its fashionable Playboy thugs stuff-& now they crash about with LSD-
If I had a memory I could remember this one with Lindsaybuggarhs & noble scum- when I am 10-11 years old-he also wants me dead ! They are all bilge rats in the RN & wear gold tinsel on their sleeves-dream of gold dust in their hair-1950s diaries/records/accounts/ iconography/violence against every nation the globe-& all of us !
Guy Vansittart will weep 1973 when he sees the 3 years of age little Peter Rathbone Whitehead with his golden curls-brought to visit him by Teresa Gordon Ransom-he wept & said “- with Kitty’s hair- ”
In spring 1946 ANDRE MALRAUX took the roses for KITTY’S birthday to her grave Clacton-on-sea cemetery- Aunt Esther/Estelle say`th `Our Clacton cemetery Andre…it’s a lovely place- I shall enjoy being there when I am dead…you can see the SEA I think…”
THANK YOU-Dear Auntie ESTHER- you the perfect beauty of form & face in our family-THAT IS A GOOD WAY TO LOOK AT DEATH…
1937 HERE AT THE SEA’S EDGES- A PEACEFUL NIGHT Summer 1937-A QUIET CALM SEASHORE NIGHT- All of us by the fire on the sands express sadness about Stella-stars father who may not recover-but we must hope-say a prayer- It was as if here on this beach I saw & gathered HOPE-for me-THIS IS WHAT IT COULD BE LIKE-living in safety & happiness-& I thinking HOPE- for them to-
I am surprised how they do settle in Andre & JO-in this small town & along the ancient seashores- I am already planning their Wedding and have begun giving advice on JO’s wedding gown- We the Ransom family could pay for it-so she can have a beautiful church wedding-perhaps in this one our Catholic church for which the Vatican sent us an antique font & paid for the spectacular Pulpit- The church a gift from two widows who simply said to an architect 1921-
` We‘d like something as we see in Rome-here‘s 20 thousand pounds to begin with-you can have a little more…`
JO & ANDRE-they are both Catholic-so I am at ease-but doth not forget my Quaker-Nonconformist roots 17th century & my schooling from 14 months of age in the Quaker enclave down from Great Clacton Manor- The white painted wooden buildings with steps just past us in the ancient Old Road where we hath our little ancient foundations house- on the way to the SEAS- My Father on Sunday mornings calls this route-THE WAY OF THE 7 Churches- & we pop in to sing a hymn in several of them-as we wind our way to the Sea-front & to take me to the Roman Catholic Great Mass in this beautiful great church of Our Lady beside the Saint Clares` Convent School-a piece of OLDEN ROME-
WE WILL ALL OF US AFTER THIS HAPPY SUMMER ENTER CATHEDRALS UNDER THE SEAS-not go to the stars….