My first big magazine article in the 1980s was a feature about Alan Plater and The Beiderbecke Affair TV series for the British Film Institute. A thousand years later, my first book was exactly the same.

 

In between, Beiderbecke had become this beloved hit, this savoured memory and the basis for a jazz tour that ran until Alan's death in 2010. And he became a friend.

 

So this was an important book for me and

when it was first published in 2012, I produced a series of video and audio podcasts with extra details and an exclusive interview with Alan's widow, Shirley Rubinstein.

 

If you know Beiderbecke, you think it's the story of Jill and Trevor. But you'll find out that it's really Shirley and Alan.

 

William