Posted by Peter Ceresole on November 02, 2003 at 11:07:47 from 193.195.0.101 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: AR and John Walker. posted by John Lambert on November 02, 2003 at 07:59:07:
It seems to be that there were aspects of AR that were present in the character of Timothy Stedding.
I'd read that Timothy was based on Oscar Gnosspelius. But we have to remember that AR was a novelist, not a documentary writer. As Timothy was a character in an AR book, he is bound to share something with his creator. I'm sure that the main characteristics of 'Timothy'- extreme shyness, skill in prospecting, the floppy hat- came out of the technical requirements of the story. For instance the shyness was central to the whole story running as long as it did. A ring on the Beckfoot door bell on page 10, and "Good afternoon, my name is Timothy Stedding, I am a colleague of James Turner" would have made the story perfectly rational, but disappointingly short.