| Chapter 1: | Revisiting Fred Ball: Reminisces on One of The Damned |
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Again, however, he found he was in a restrictive environment and had to conform to the institution that he was working in. He found this claustrophobic, and although he was great with the children, his creative side felt stifled.
Politics introduced Fred to a lot of people who were to become very good friends of his. They used to meet regularly in one another’s houses, where they would discuss the politics and philosophy of the day and get drunk listening to music ranging from Monteverdi to the Rolling Stones. This is where the name of Tressell came to Fred’s attention. A man by the name of Len Green, who was a friend of Tressell (Robert Noonan), lent Fred a copy of TRTP. This book impressed my father greatly, and he felt the book deserved a biographer. Little did he know that he would later fill this role. Whenever Len Green wrote to Dad, he always signed himself off, “here’s to the revolution, Len Green”. Tressell’s book inspired him as much for the fact that this man had written it in his spare time whilst having the same kind of jobs as Fred, as for its political views.
Jacquie’s Childhood
My mother, Jacquie, also came from a working-class family background and talked to me about her life, which is transcribed here in her own words.
My father, who I adored, was a strong man of large frame. He was a local builder in Hastings and very popular in the town knowing a lot of people. It was fatal taking him out shopping as he would stop and talk to all who knew him. He was a very kind-hearted man with a great sense of humour and fun. However, he feared nothing and acted accordingly, especially when a drunken man was rude to me as a young woman.