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| Stamp licker |
Apart from
spreading laughter far and
wide , the one
and only
Spike Milligan of the BBC
Goon Show was a serious man with a monkey on his back , longtime deep depression .
Edited
by Norma Farnes , his agent , manager , mother confessor and friend for 36 years , this book , published by Viking , 2013 , reveals his deep concern
about over population
of
the planet , his embarrassment at having to wear backless hospital gowns ( shared by this writer who once
was rotated in 57
positions at Royal Darwin Hospital in such a revealing garment and then suspended on high
in front of about five female staff when
the imaging machine failed to function
due to a power
cut or surge ) , mental health and many other community issues.
Over the years he wrote tens of
thousands of letters
on many subjects to newspapers,
Buckingham Palace, reprimanded imperious Maggie Thatcher over approval for
destruction of buildings . Hilarious were his letters dealing with publishers . On a visit
to
Australia he asked what the
nation would have to show - apart from large
holes - for digging up its resources and exporting them overseas.
