COLLIE

[Mabel Constanduros [Mabel Tilling], radio comedienne.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Mabel Constanduros') to Fleet Street editor Collin Brooks

Author: 
Mabel Constanduros (1880-1957, born Mabel Tilling), radio comedienne, actress and screenwriter [Collin Brooks (1893-1959), journalist and Fleet Street editor; Collie Knox (1899-1977), journalist]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 9 Wetherby Gardens, S.W.5. [London] 13 December 1946.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight damp staining. Addressed to 'Mr Brooks'. She is sending 'the script for you. It can, of course, be knocked about how you like. It is just a peg on which to hang things.' She reports that 'Collie' (i.e. Collie Knox) was pleased with Brooks's message, 'and sent most cordial ones back to you'. She concludes: 'We had an extremely pleasant lunch, and I shall look forward very much to meeting you again'.

[Collie Knox, the Daily Mail's 'star writer', bemoans his sacking from his £4000 a year job.] Typed Letter Signed ('Collie') with Autograph postscript, to Fleet Street editor Collin Brooks, discussing the circumstances of his dismissal.

Author: 
Collie Knox [Columb Thomas Knox] (1899-1977), popular BBC broadcaster and Daily Mail journalist [Collin Brooks (1893-1959), journalist and Fleet Street editor]
Publication details: 
Whin Cottage, Beechy Leees, Otford, near Sevenoaks, Kent. (On cancelled letterhead of the Daily Mail, London.) 23 January 1941.
£130.00

See Knox's obituary, Times, 4 May 1977 (which refers to 'some passages at arms' he had at the BBC with Sir John Reith). 3pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor staining from paperclip. An interesting glimpse into the world of Fleet Street 'big salaries' during the war period. He begins: 'My dear Collin Brooks, | A letter such as yours, from a man such as yourself for whom I have so strong a personal, and professional, regard comes as a gleam of blue in a darkish sky.' He proceeds to bemoan his sacking by the Daily Mail: 'Yes, it is a bad business.

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