Caroline Sl Sl itibaren Pallur, Kerala, Hindistan
Miss Harrison, my temporary teacher in Junior 3 read this to us at the end of the day and I loved every minute of her readings of the whacky professor and his five pairs of spectacles and his coat done up with safety pins and his great inventions. I think Heath Robinson (hang on I'll check - yes) did the illustrations and Wikipedia have reminded me that the Professor invented a clock that didn't need winding up (this was the 30s)- 'but the omission of an important component ("I forgot to put a little wiggly thing in") means the clock doesn't stop at twelve but continues striking thirteen, fourteen and so forth until it can't keep up with itself.' There are many more of these type of inventions. Ah Miss Harrison. She said I was a good writer (I was 9) and set me up on a project to write a long story (over 10 pages she said but i think I did 30) and had another pupil do the illustrations, another one to bind it and so on. It was a Dr Who story (the Doctor was new then) and she said it was so good she was going to get it published. And then she vanished, after Easter she didn't come back and my MS had disappeared. Scarred me for life. And set me out on the quest to be a published writer. I always wondered what happened to Miss Harrison.
An odd, but fun little read. At some point I think we can all identify with Firmin.