PAUL LICENSE - Speak up, Brown. We can't hear you
BRYEN Hillerby popped in the office the other day to talk about old theatres in Sheffield, among other things.
Now the thing about him is that he knows his stuff.
He is justly proud of his book, The Lost Theatres of Sheffield, the result of 10 years of research and two of actually writing the text.
Clearly a labour of love.
As we talked he tripped out anecdotes and episodes not only from the book but also from his life as he met and was befriended by the stars.
A glorious cast of performers from the past came to life.
He can't help but get excited about it all. It's called passion.
We parted with him musing on the prospect of once more giving talks about those Lost Theatres.
Maybe he will. Maybe not.
But one thing I can say is that if he does decide to share his knowledge and passion in public, it will be worth the effort of getting into the audience.
As I say, he knows what he is talking about and speaks with authority.
This came to mind when I read reports which suggest someone else may be planning to go on a public speaking tour: Gordon Brown.
Apparently the former Prime Minister wants to tell his audiences about how to avoid financial crises such as the one which is currently crippling the country.
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but if the honourable member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath knows how to avoid a credit crunch, why didn't he do something about it when he was in charge of one of the most potent economies in the world? Instead, he seems to have stood by blaming everybody else.
He is right, of course. The bankers and financial whizz kids put greed before everything else.
Sustainability was an alien concept to them.
But I can't help but think that the political view that we should be spending as though there is no tomorrow didn't have a small part to play in our current troubles.
There doesn't seem to have been anyone around to suggest that we couldn't quite afford all the programmes and projects which fluttered out of Whitehall like Monopoly money in the breeze.
Now that the money tap has been turned off, anyone who is prepared to look can see that none of this was sustainable should the impossible happen - which is did when the world was brought to the edge of bankruptcy.
So now we seem to have the man who was at the helm of our run-away steamer when it was sinking in its own excesses suggesting he has the answers to prevent it happening again.
Mr Brown wouldn't be the first politician to take to the lecture circuit.
Among many more who now call the lectern home is another former Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Neither man comes cheap, though Blair is reported to be a real cash cow, on one occasion bringing in a mouth watering 240,000 for a 20-minute speech in Japan. Brown, on the other hand, is reported to be seeking a more modest 60,000 per speech.
Modest, of course, is a relative term.
To most people, sixty grand is a small fortune. Give that to any family around my neighbourhood and it would change their life.
And I wouldn't mind betting it is a hell of a lot more than Mr Hillerby may ask to talk about the Lost Theatres of Sheffield - and you'll get double the passion!
Got a view? Leave a comment below.
Follow The Star on Twitter and Facebook:
For breaking news and sport follow The Star on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sheffieldstar and Facebook at www.facebook.com/sheffieldstar.
JOIN THE STAR READER PANEL: The Star is YOUR newspaper, so tell us what you think about it and what you want to see - CLICK HERE.
Don't miss our daily pull-outs - only in the The Star: Monday Star Sport, Tuesday Class Act; Wednesday Business; Thursday Grassroots; Friday Time Out; Saturday Retro. Subscribe to The Star - CLICK HERE
READ MORE
Join the Star reader panel
Main news index
Your letters
Features
South Yorkshire's environmental news
Kids Zone
More business news
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Latest sport
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
