I regard things posted on Facebook as being largely "of the moment". It's a useful platform for sharing photos and snippets of news but not for storing detailed information that people will want to access again. I read Tony's concerns and Fiona's response with interest and it's somewhat disconcerting to hear what has happened to the fan clubs of other authors such as Monica Edwards and Antonia Forest, Tim. Enid Blyton's books have remained remarkably popular when compared to the books of most other authors of her era (or at least certain series and short stories have remained popular, despite others being sadly sidelined in recent years as outlined in 'Six of the Best'!) Because of Enid Blyton's continued popularity, I hope there will always be fans who will be interested in having meatier discussions and in being able to access a wealth of organised and illustrated information about her life and works. Only time will tell.timv wrote: ↑19 Nov 2021, 09:22My Journal has now arrived , and was full of interesting pieces as usual; thanks to Tony and all the contributors. (Also to Fiona for her news about the Enid Blyton group on Facebook. I tend to treat that institution with some suspicion, not least as its new author fan groups have taken over a lot of members from some existing author fan clubs on the internet eg Monica Edwards and Antonia Forest, and outsiders can't view posts! Ditto the original Old Students group club for my old secondary school, which has replace the original one where I could see what was being written without having to join the group . A thought-provoking editorial from Tony; if more articles are needed I can put in some of my pieces on the Blyton family books or even on the Famous Five and the Adventure series, which are intended for my still-delayed Blyton book.
Enid Blyton conveys the joy of shopping for presents and keeping happy secrets in her 'From My Window' column, and it's lovely to see the "birth" of Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories with the statement (in the Woman's Own advert) that it "contains no frightening or other undesirable elements."
I like the memorial to Joel Chandler Harris depicted in Angela Canning's article, though I find his prose better than his verse! It's interesting that Enid Blyton removed references to spitting and fleas!
Enid Blyton's nature stories from the Sunday Mail sound like gems. As a child, I was a fan of the 'Pip the Pixie' nature tales so I'm sure I'd have loved the Sunday Mail ones too. Enid really does have a way with words - "a great cloud of swift-winged birdism" (from 'The Swallow's Journey is Really Necessary') is delightful.
In 'Enid Blyton, Influencer', Judith Crabb voices some thought-provoking comments on Enid Blyton and her influence. Although I haven't read L. T. Meade's Beyond the Blue Mountains, I've long wondered whether it might have been an inspiration for Enid Blyton's The Land of Far-Beyond.
I also like Judith's remark about an old book enabling us to "hold the past in our own hands".
Although I didn't read The Land of Far-Beyond as a child, I read a great deal of Enid Blyton's output and was impressed by the strong sense of fairness that runs through her work - through the Pink-Whistle stories, the cautionary tales about naughty children (or naughty toys or fairy-folk), tales of farm and circus communities, adventure and mystery books, school stories and family books like The Family at Red-Roofs, in which Jenny Wren repeatedly utters 'Fair's fair.'" Nowadays we hear of people on social media who describe themselves as "influencers" but Enid Blyton has influenced generation after generation of youngsters and continues to do so more than fifty years after her death.
