Robin Odell - A Ripper Icon

[Stewart P Evans]

I unashamedly regard Robin Odell as one of the icons of Ripperology. As a teenager his classic book Jack the Ripper In Fact and Fiction enthralled and inspired me. He is one of the elder statesmen of the field.

So you may imagine how thrilled I was to receive, just now, a copy of Written & Red The Jack the Ripper Lectures by Robin Odell, Timezone Publishing, 2009, a limited edition of 100 copies. It's a fascinating illustrated book and transports me back to the mist shrouded early years of my interest (the 1960s) right through to the present day. And no one does that like Robin.

[ChrisGeorge]

I unashamedly regard Robin Odell as one of the icons of Ripperology. As a teenager his classic book Jack the Ripper In Fact and Fiction enthralled and inspired me. He is one of the elder statesmen of the field.

So you may imagine how thrilled I was to receive, just now, a copy of Written & Red The Jack the Ripper Lectures by Robin Odell, Timezone Publishing, 2009, a limited edition of 100 copies. It's a fascinating illustrated book and transports me back to the mist shrouded early years of my interest (the 1960s) right through to the present day. And no one does that like Robin.

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Very fine, Stewart. Thanks for the heads up on this new title by the eminent Robin Odell, Written & Red The Jack the Ripper Lectures, published as a limited edition. It would be nice to think that the book might go on to be published in wider distribution.

Best regards

Chris

[Stewart P Evans]

Thank

Very fine, Stewart. Thanks for the heads up on this new title by the eminent Robin Odell, Written & Red The Jack the Ripper Lectures, published as a limited edition. It would be nice to think that the book might go on to be published in wider distribution.
Best regards
Chris

I think we have Frogg Moody and the Whitechapel Society to thank for this wonderful contribution.

[ChrisGeorge]

I think we have Frogg Moody and the Whitechapel Society to thank for this wonderful contribution.

Ah, excellent. I have just posted on the Beadle Lecture thread and now make the connection. Good to know. Thanks, Stewart.

Chris

[John Bennett]

Agreed.

I got my copy at the meeting (no.16) and have been reading it enthusiastically. The lectures are often peppered with anecdotes and reminiscences of the 'good old days' of Ripperology and allow a relative newbie like me to get a little taste of what it was like to be involved in the field way back, complete with peculiar correspondences and all.

Mr Odell is often described as a gentleman (he is, in my experience), and this is something which is apparent from the wording of these lectures.

A nice book to have.

[Garry Wroe]

Sadly, the immense contribition made by Robin to our present understanding of the Whitechapel Murders seems to have gone largely unrecognized over recent years. Along with Colin Wilson, Joe Gaute and a number of others, he helped to transform what was an inconsequential parlour game into a sphere of genuine historical study. Elegant and eloquent, Robin’s work is always underpinned by an intellectual gravitas that is all too often absent from many Ripper contributions. His literary credentials apart, I know from personal experience that Robin is a man of seemingly inexhaustible patience and generosity.

For anyone unfamiliar with Robin’s work, I would suggest that a quick look through the dissertations’ section will yield two or three examples of a real master at work.

Regards.

Garry Wroe.

[frogg moody]

Hello all,
Stewart, thanks for starting this thread, the kind words and also for including the book cover.

Robin and I have become good friends over the years and when he first mentioned that he had a series of written lectures (going back to 1976) gathering dust, I jumped at the chance of publishing them.

I set up my 'Timezone Publishing Group' a few years ago now and its great to have a Jack the Ripper title included. The Whitechapel Society was not involved in this publication apart from the fact that we used the Jeremy Beadle lecture last Saturday as a book launch and signing session. I decided that, with 'Written & Red' being a limited edition of 100, we would auction number one in the series at the Whitechapel Society meeting for the 'Children with Leukaemia' charity. This we did and the book raised £160.00.

Regarding the purchase of 'Written and Red' - the price is £9.99 and interested people should contact me on anirtep@rocketmail.com

I am updating the 'Timezone Publishing' website at present where more details of 'Written and Red' plus my other historical titles will appear in due course.

Best wishes,
Frogg.

[Captain Hook]

Hello everybody,

I was also introduced to the real Jack the Ripper - as opposed to the top-hatted, opera-cloaked, in-darkness-lurking character of thrillers, movies and comic strips - by Robin Odell's wonderful Jack the Ripper in Fact and Fiction. We have come a long way since 1965, when the book was published. Yet everybody who has written on the Whitechapel murders since then has of necessity built on the work of Mr Odell and Tom Cullen, who together introduced far stricter standards for research in this field than had ever existed before.

In addition to JTR in Fact and Fiction and his other books on the Whitechapel murders, Ripperology and JTR: Summing Up and Verdict, written in collaboration with Colin Wilson - another author whose contribution to the field should not be neglected - Mr Odell has published a series of seminal books on crime in collaboration with J H H Gaute: The Murderers' Who's Who, Murder Whatdunit and Murder Whereabouts. All of them are, as could be expected, first-rate.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Odell a few years ago at the then Cloak and Dagger Club, now Whitechapel Society. I'm pleased to say that his company is as enjoyable as his books. Written and Red is definitely a must.

Cheers
Hook

[frogg moody]

Cheers Captain,
In the back of 'Written and Red', I conducted an interview with Robin where he talks about the history of many of his books and how they came into being. This in itself is really interesting and Robin continues to write with several projects in the pipeline.

Just to note that for those interested in obtaining a copy of 'Written and Red', please contact me for details on anirtep@rocketmail.com

Cheers,
Frogg.

[dixon9]

recieved my copy this morning thanks Frogg