At The Tomb of the Inflatable Pig
'The Pig' was launched in the UK in January 2003 and in New York in February 2004. The British paperback version also came out in February 2004. It came out in Italian shortly afterwards.

Following the launch of 'The Pig', John - together with a number of other emerging authors - was featured on the cover of the Waterstone's Magazine in January 2003. He was also interviewed on BBC Radio 4's 'Excess Baggage', on LBC and on Radio Scotland. Extracts from 'The Pig' were serialised in The Times and The Independent.
 
The Reviews of ‘The Pig’ are set out on a separate page. It was nominated as Matthew Parris’ Book of the Year in the Sunday Telegraph’s round-up, in December 2003. In December 2004, it was named as one of the New York Times Review of Book’s 100 notable books of the year.
 
There have been a number of developments since the book was published. The Colorado Party continues to hold the reins of power, although, as a party, it is deeply divided. The British Embassy has closed, and all its staff have been withdrawn. As to the characters in the book, Robert Eaton has died (well into his nineties); Jorge Halke of Neuva Germania was assassinated as a result of a labour dispute; Jakob Unger migrated to Canada, and Nurse Baker has retired.

Meanwhile, John has received a large number of emails from readers. Of particular interest are those from young Paraguayans. Many have commented that they have discovered more in the book than they ever learnt at school. It is a matter of some sadness that only now the truth about Paraguay’s recent political past is beginning to emerge.

But perhaps the most remarkable response of all has been that of a number of British firemen. Reading of the plight of Nurse Baker in ‘The Pig’, Firefighter Colin Cunliffe (of Preston, Lancashire) and his colleagues arranged for a container of medical supplies to be shipped to the Chaco. It arrived at the end of March 2004. ‘This,’ wrote Nurse Baker, ‘is one of the good things to come out of your book.’
 
On 29th March 2004, John gave a lecture to the members and fellows of the Royal Geographical Society on the subject of Paraguay.
 
Since then, John has maintained an active interest in Paraguayan affairs, and is a keen member of the Anglo-Paraguayan Society.

Theatre of Fish
John spent much of the summer of 2002 in Newfoundland and Labrador, researching his second book, Theatre of Fish. It was published in 2005.

In February 2005, John was invited on Radio 4’s Midweek programme to discuss the book with Libby Purves. The show can be heard on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/midweek_20050209.shtml.
 
In March 2005, John went to Toronto and Newfoundland for the launch of the book. He gave several radio and television interviews, to CBC and local networks.
 
John has also been interviewed on two occasions by CBC radio, St Johns. The first interview yielded an interesting contact. A listener got in contact with John, having heard him interviewed, and was able to provide him with some useful information as to his great-grandfather's visit to Labrador. Until then, there had been some mystery as to what happened to some archaeological artefacts that Dr Curwen had collected near Hopedale. The listener was able to tell John that the artefacts had been presented to the British Museum in 1933.
 
In 2007, the Gimlette family donated Dr Curwen’s collection of photographs and diaries to the government archive in St John’s. The family retain full copies of all the documents presented.
 
Panther Soup
In 2005, John began work on a new book which this time involved a journey from the South of France up through Alsace, Lorraine, Swabia, Bavaria and finally into the Austrian Tyrol. For some time he’d been intrigued by the question of what had become of the Europe that had been so bitterly contested in 1944-45. The future of our world had been contested here, but what had become of the battlefields today?

The journey itself was based on the wartime experiences of an American WW2 veteran called Putnam Flint. John had met Flint quite by chance through friends in London, and after some hesitation, Flint agreed to accompany him back along the old campaign trail. It would be Flint’s first return to France in 60 years.

The journey was completed in October 2005 although John returned to the continent several more times over the next year or so, in order to research the story further. As to what the book is about, see ‘Books’ below.

Putnam Flint continues to thrive, as does another character in the book, Nancy Wake (who is comfortably into her nineties). Sadly, however, Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges and Charlie Kennedy did not live to see publication of this book.

As a result of the publicity surrounding the book, Putnam Flint was reunited with his old wartime buddy, Max Heller, of Camarillo, California. They had not seen each other for 60 years.

Work in Progress
During the course of the last few years, John has written a number of travel articles. These have included features on Venezuela, Spain, Greece, Laos, Morocco, Kerala (India) and Libya. A selection of earlier articles can be found on the ‘Articles’ page.
 
John is now working on his fourth book, which is set this time in the Guianas of South America.


March 2009