I was having a cup of coffee before leaving for work and idly scrolling through Twitter when I became aware of the contretemps because I follow Tom Holland, whose tweets are generally a bright spot in the dark abyss of that site. I immediately flicked on my Kobo (I had to plug it in because it was nearly dead) and purchased one of Holland's books- Athelstan: The Making of England. I then tweeted in reply to Mr. Swist saying that I had done so, and encouraging others to do the same. Because this is the way to deal with this sort of pusillanimous attack by despicable and dishonest operators like Swist. Of course, he didn't much appreciate my gesture; I was swiftly blocked by Mr. Swist. I shall endeavour to bear this deprivation with fortitude.
I wasn't planning on purchasing any new books right now... I've got a large stack in my "to be read" pile and have been slacking off all summer, rereading old 1940's mystery novels and such. But the other day a nasty piece of work- one Jeremy Swist, PhD - took it upon himself to try to "cancel" British historian Tom Holland. What was Holland's crime? Well, he tweeted in reference to the online hate to which JK Rowling is being subjected, suggesting that threatening women with rape and murder is bad. Mr. Swist then galloped valiantly to the defence of the rape fantasists, taking to his keyboard to inform the world that Tom Holland had gone on a transphobic verbal rampage. Swist is apparently a faculty member at Brandeis University (the motto of which, ironically, is: "Truth even unto its innermost parts") in the Department of Classical Studies where his specialty is, um, the connection between Greek & Roman and heavy metal music. Mr Swist then followed the well-trod path of many a social justice warrior before him, attempting to derail Holland's career as an author by telling his followers not to buy Holland's books. I suspect that a good deal of Swist's animus is the result of jealousy; Mr. Holland has written several successful books about the Classical period- Persian Fire and Rubicon, for example- as well as a number of other popular books and also has a successful historical podcast. Mr. Swist's musings on the Greco-Roman roots of heavy metal don't seem to have generated quite the same level of interest. This may, come to think of it, go some way to also explain his visceral hatred of Ms. Rowling. I was having a cup of coffee before leaving for work and idly scrolling through Twitter when I became aware of the contretemps because I follow Tom Holland, whose tweets are generally a bright spot in the dark abyss of that site. I immediately flicked on my Kobo (I had to plug it in because it was nearly dead) and purchased one of Holland's books- Athelstan: The Making of England. I then tweeted in reply to Mr. Swist saying that I had done so, and encouraging others to do the same. Because this is the way to deal with this sort of pusillanimous attack by despicable and dishonest operators like Swist. Of course, he didn't much appreciate my gesture; I was swiftly blocked by Mr. Swist. I shall endeavour to bear this deprivation with fortitude. I think that it's important for us to support authors and others involved in art and literature- and academia- when they are brave enough to take principled stands. Too many are intimidated into silence by fear of losing their careers and income... we must make it clear to their employers and publishers that in reality it's just a few illiberal malcontents that are kicking up a ruckus over nothing and that we're willing to put our money where our mouths are. Of course, it was no hardship for me to buy Holland's Athelstan; I already own his excellent Dominion and enjoyed it immensely. I've never read the Harry Potter series- never been interested, frankly, though some of my nephews and nieces are big fans. But dang it, if this online persecution of Rowling continues I may be forced to purchase her works, just on principle.
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The above image is from the 1981 film Chariots of Fire which is based on historical events leading up to the 1924 Olympic Games, and the rivalry between British athletes Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. In the scene pictured, Harold Abrahams is attempting the Great Court Run at Trinity College, Cambridge. The race traditionally takes place once a year at the Matriculation Dinner; runners race around the enclosed Great Court (a distance of 339 meters) at noon, attempting to do so before the tower clock strikes twelve, which takes approximately 43-44 seconds. This is so difficult that only two men have managed to beat the clock in the entire history of the race. The first was Lord David Burghley in 1927, the second was George Mears in 2019. There were a couple of others in the early 2000's who beat the clock, but they were running a shorter track- on the Court's cobblestones instead of the flagstones, reducing the distance from 339 meters to 297 meters, so they don't count. The chap racing against Abrahams in the above scene is Lord Andrew Lindsay, whose character was based on Lord Burghley, the original race winner. They changed his name due to the fact Burghley refused to be associated with the film because it played fast and loose with the facts. Chariots of Fire shows the race won- and the clock beaten- by Harold. In actual fact, although Abrahams did attend Cambridge, he never attempted the Great Court Run and was not even a student there at the same time as Burghley. So David Burghley was understandably ticked off as being portrayed as having lost a race he'd actually won, to someone who wasn't even present at the time. Oh well, it's still a great scene in a wonderful movie.
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