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The English eccentric is under threat. In our increasingly homogenised society, these celebrated parts of our national identity are anomalies that may soon no longer fit. Or so it seems.
Henry Hemming will present an account of his highly unusual and fascinating journey around England trying to track down the last remaining English eccentrics. Using a mixture of videos, extracts, anecdotes and summaries of the book’s different arguments, Hemming will also describe the history of the word ‘eccentric’. The way different generations of English people have reacted to this playfully non-conformist character, at what point the term first appeared, and exactly when society decides someone is no longer ‘eccentric’ but ‘mad’, all combine to reveal a great deal about the English national character.
During his journey Hemming met an extraordinary cast of characters – from the ex-biker and ex-squaddie who has become the reincarnation of King Arthur, and the Leopard Man of Skye – 73-year old pensioner tattooed from head to toe with leopard spots who lives in isolation in the remote Scottish highlands – through to more obvious English eccentrics such as Dame Vivienne Westwood or the Marquess of Bath. Hemming also spent time with Pete Doherty, England’s leading crop-circler, a suburban dominatrix, a nihilistic Dandy and a superhero dressed as a baked bean, amongst many others.
His aim throughout is to try and update the term ‘eccentric’ for the 21st century. What emerges is the importance within any society of tolerating and, when possible, cherishing he or she who sees the world differently and as such represents the law-abiding limit of how to live your life. The people who make connections that others generally don’t and who have a more childlike and playful take on the world also tend to live longer than the rest of us. As Hemming will argue, it’s as important now as it was a hundred and fifty years ago that we don’t create a society that has no room for these inspiring yet marginal lifestyles.
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