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the Friend - Independent Quaker journalism since 1843
June 20, 2007
Wheel-life Quakers
Sports Quakers are beginning to appear after our recent request for information of them.
Here is something from the intrepid William West of Mount Street Meeting, Manchester.
William writes: 'Dear Friend Eye, I have cycled since I was nine nearly 50 years ago. Last September I decided it was time to begin to train up for Lands End to John o'Groats and I will do the 1,000 mile trip this August, Deus Volens. My trip will raise money for HIV counsellor training in Kenya. I have set up a blog billonbike that shares my progress, bits of bike lore including creative use of bananas - cyclists' best food. Richard Summers from Quaker Life hopes to travel part of the way with me as do some other F(f)riends and my Meeting are very supportive.
'The impact of my training on me has been enormous, I am fitter and feel better in myself than for years. I find cycling gives me much needed solitude and sometimes resembles Worship so my trip will be something of a pilgrimage.'
You could buy anything on eBay, apparently, except Quaker books. But now that has changed as an enterprising Friend has set up a store for them on this extraordinary internet shop which is so popular with consumers.
'I found that if I typed the word 'Quaker' into the eBay search box, very little came up apart from the odd piece of ephemera relating to Quaker Oats, various Ercol chairs and sometimes an antiquarian book title from a US seller,' says Simon Colbeck.
Simon had been selling recycled student texts and revision guides after being on sick leave from work. He noticed that Faith & Practice and Advices & Queries produced nothing on the eBay search box. 'Any enquiring eBayer wouldn't get far', says Simon.
He talked to the Quaker Bookshop about what could be done and the upshot is that Simon has a batch of Quaker books to sell on eBay on a sale or return basis.
'So far I have sold only twenty Quaker books in three months but I have had some very interesting correspondence with buyers and the category has had hundreds of visitors who may have followed up their interest elsewhere.' Simon charges the same as the Quaker Bookshop, and his discount covers the eBay fees. His main purpose was to open a small 'extra window' for any eBayer curious about Quakers.
What titles are the best sellers? The Quaker Tapestry booklet Quaker Relief Work in Ireland's Great Hunger and Quaker Quest's 12 Quakers and ... series. The eBayer likes a bargain and a low price of course. No-one wants to fork out for QF&P or for Doug Gwyn's mighty The Covenant Crucified: Quakerism and the Rise of Capitalism. But Simon is discovering books such as this, which he would never have seen if not for his foray into internet selling.
He has also opened a small bookstall at his Meeting (Watford) for some of the books he has, and this stall has been remarkably more successful than the eBay shop!
So it has come to this! Eye pushed to almost the back of the magazine!
But we will not complain, as it is for a very good cause. Our page 12 slot is needed to expand the Arts section and bring more spiritual content into the magazine. We can hear some of you scoffing at this - aren't the arts leisure activities? Didn't our recent reader survey clearly show a lack of interest in coverage of such subjects? Well, here at Eye we have cherry-picked a sentence or two from something George Gorman said in 1982 (QF&P 1995 10.20): 'If we are sensitive, we find that everything that happens to us, good or bad, can help us to build a vision of the meaning of life. We can be helped to be sensitive by reading the Bible and be open to experience of nature, music, books, painting, sport or whatever our particular interest may be. It is in and through all things that we hear God speaking to us.' Eye looks forward to seeing the spirit emerge in human artistic endeavour reported in our new section.
Q-eye has moved to page 16 of the paper edition of the Friend.
Quaker outings can be very charming affairs. Ann Evans of Sawley meeting has sent us a snapshot (literally and metaphorically) of a day at Swarthmoor Hall when Friends - including two from the USA - picked a warm summer's day for their visit. 'Our picnic lunch was eaten in the formal garden area,' she tells us, 'its wild fringe of lush grasses and deep shade by the stream giving respite from the heat, and providing a haven for damp-loving beings, including our children.'
They noted a number of those small miracles one can see in gardens; woodpiles with associated insect life, well organised compost, and 'beehives at the far end of the wild meadow placed conveniently close to abundant wild raspberries; nettlebeds alive with Emperor butterfly larvae; wild roses gracing ancient walls where deep crevices harbour small mammals.'
Following the example of the Swarthmoor gardener, the meeting hopes to sink an old bathtub in its own garden to invite frogs. Eye thinks Ann and Sawley meeting might enjoy Narrative of a visit to the Australian colonies.
The news is often a target for Quaker wrath. Jack Lacey from Rochester PM sent us these verses after a debate with a Friend on the state of the world.
Before Breakfast and After the News The Daily Expert, the Daily Scare, Do I let loose my diatribe - I hardly dare! As I view the Daily Scandal laid bare The world! Before I've washed or combed my hair!
The interview for the selling of a book The newsreaders with their pretending look The Minister not brought to truth or book Driving his or her point by hook or crook.
Who is to deny the corporate lies - I despair? As my pen turns acidly to Bush and Blair That plausible, charming and murderous pair And they not the worst the world doth share!
That leaves but the 'Thought for the Day'! And who shall say that item should not stay? That as she or he of pain and hope doth say It comes - perhaps - that I too should pray?
We recommend a full English breakfast before listening to the news.
Travel books are a great way to see a place - no need to struggle with luggage, just leave the author to bring you the most important and intriguing aspects of a country. Such a travel writer was James Backhouse, a Quaker nurseryman of York in the 1800s. James could have spent his time with his plants in England but decided that he had to find out what was happening to Aboriginal peoples and British convicts in the Australian colony. We have to admire the bold Backhouse, who with his Quaker companion George Washington Walker, headed out to Oz as travellers under concern with the endorsement - and financial support - of London Yearly Meeting. For some years in the 1830s the two Friends walked the colonies caring pastorally for settlers, free and convict, and building the foundations of Quakerism in Australia. It was a tough-minded place (it still is, surely) but Backhouse sought out the colonial powers to speak his mind if the treatment of indigenous people, and convicts, fell below acceptable standards. From all this came the riveting Narrative of a visit to the Australian colonies. Not only are there episodes of actual 'speaking truth to power' but a wonderful recording of observations of the landscape and plants of the country. So there is a glimpse of the social and religious life of the time, and a portrait of abundant flora and fauna. A good read! Sadly, this marvellous book is out of print. But Australian Friends now want to introduce it to modern readers and are planning a reprint, with some additional material. There will be essays charting 19th century Quakerism in Australia to the present, explaining the meaning of travelling under concern, and a profile of conditions of the time for Aborigines in Tasmania and mainland Australia. The Australian YM Publications Committee hopes a reprint of this classic text will raise the Quaker profile among the general public. Social history with a splice of adventure, and horticultural interest in the background. Destined to be a bestseller.
Eye was delighted recently to realise that those wonderful 'the Friend' t-shirts are still available, free, to new subscribers who sign up before the end of June.
One is modelled by Jez, our newest recruit, above, although his photographer seems to have been more focused on a good view of the Quaker Street sign than getting a good view of the t-shirt.
You can subscribe through the website at www.thefriend.org for the online version or the paper version. Alternatively, you can visit www.exacteditions.com and sign up for their 'looks like the magazine but is still online' service.
Or, you can call the Friend on +44 (0)20 7663 1178 (dedicated subscriptions line).
Eye is not renowned for philatelic knowledge, but likes to imagine that knowing one's wildings from one's high-value definitives will hold one in good stead.
So, bumping into Quaker Peace & Social Witness volunteer experts was a pleasant surprise recently. Friends from around the country - and indeed the world - send their stamps and albums to Friends House, making sure to exclude first and second class stamps from Christmas. Every so often the bags are sorted and, where appropriate, rarer items are sold to raise funds for QPSW work.
This year, sales are expected to raise over £2,000, with £800 recently raised from sales to a wholesaler and other items being sent off to auction with Bonhams later this month.
The Friend of 12 July 1957 reported that 'Our Friend Stanley H. Pitt of Liverpool holed in one at the fifteenth (141 yards) at the Huyton and Prescot golf course on 1 July 1957'.
We are delighted to announce that Colin George, that consummate performer who has introduced audiences to George Fox with his one-man show, will be casting and directing our production of Two Caravans, the novel by Marina Lewycka, at the Edinburgh Fringe in August (see Eye 25 May) Yes, the editor did give this awesome job to Eye, but we know a professional when we see one, and Colin is our man.
Colin will be ably assisted in this dramatic adventure by his wife Sue, who will stage manage the production. Colin asks that any of you interested in taking part contact him for information on rehearsal times and level of commitment required. (The final date for applications is 20 June.) We are adapting the novel as a reading, which means you will not have to learn lots of lines.
Full rehearsals are likely to be evening or weekend, and take place in Friends House. So if our project appeals to you, please email Colin at editorial [at] thefriend.org or drop him a letter at The Friend.
Did any of you feel a twinge of interest in Joycelin Dawes' entreaty to get on your bikes (and other sporting pursuits) in last week's Friend (paper edition)? Joycelin herself favours good hill hikes and is also a 'Nordic' walker - you may have seen such hikers with their long ski-sticks walking at a cracking pace. Eye did a quick survey in the office and environs to see if any of our colleagues and Friends could be described as sports Quakers. Our new production manager Jez Smith recalls early editions of Young Quaker being awash with sports news. He tells us that regional Young Friends used to play each other at hockey, but he has noted a distinct lack of interest in developing teams. Well, we suppose Quakers as a species don't develop competitive instincts.
Simon Best, the under-19s man who has been seen in whites, is apparently also a big Yorkshire cricket fan, and Jez supports Essex. Warwickshire also attracts Quakers. As for participating in something, Jez finds that 'ultimate frisbee', which he learned to play at a QUNO summer school, is popular at events. The editor hill-walks when she can get away from the computer screen, and also swims - 'very slowly, and quite old people overtake' - and the news editor cycles to work, but generally speaking, not a good tally. Joycelin may have a long campaign ahead to bestir us.
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