Question for Dan Norder, Wolf Vanderlinden, Stewart P. Evans

[Magpie]

Don't worry, Archaic, I consider my a$$ as thoroughly whipped. Stewart and I will be the best of pals. (And I promise not to call him a Ripperologist - ever!)

You could always call him a "Behemoth" instead.....

[HelenaWojtczak]

frequently shares rare items from his personal collection when he finds a forum member is interested in a particular topic.

No matter how important, urgent and "new" a particular question or topic might seem to one of us, Stewart has probably encountered it numerous times over the years.

If I were you I would try to understand, be patient, and not take any perceived "delayed" response personally. As you can see, he has contributed some interesting documents to help answer your questions.

Best regards,
Archaic

Don't worry, Archaic, I consider my a$$ as thoroughly whipped. Stewart and I will be the best of pals. (And I promise not to call him a Ripperologist - ever!)

Btw I am writing the first proper biography of Chapman, not as JtR but as the ruthless psychopath he was in his own right, and it would be a pity not to see the various snippets that are tucked away, because they won't get another opportunity to be used in a book unless someone else in the future wants to take on this gruesome task I have set myself.

I have already put Stewart's name in my book's acknowledgements, and am busy retyping that delighful prison warder article. I hope Stewart will send me the rest and that the rest is as good as the first page!

[Archaic]

Hi Helena.

In Stewart's defense, I have to say he's always been very kind and helpful when it comes to responding to requests for information and assistance. He's known here on the boards for going above and beyond when it comes to helping others with their research, and frequently shares rare items from his personal collection when he finds a forum member is interested in a particular topic. (Sometimes I imagine he has a magic he reaches into to pull out the perfect ephemeral jewel for every occasion! )

I think it helps to bear in mind that Stewart must be bombarded with inquiries, some of them no doubt frivolous, and many no doubt tedious and repetitive. No matter how important, urgent and "new" a particular question or topic might seem to one of us, Stewart has probably encountered it numerous times over the years.

Considering that he's a retired individual with a family, friends, personal responsibilities, other hobbies, and no private secretary, I find him to be remarkably generous, patient, prompt and well-organized in responding to requests for information.

And as he says, everybody needs a vacation from Ripperology now and then.

If I were you I would try to understand, be patient, and not take any perceived "delayed" response personally. As you can see, he has contributed some interesting documents to help answer your questions.

Best regards,
Archaic

[HelenaWojtczak]

I'm not offended, I just don't particularly like it.

There are always things that are confusing, no matter what the research. Yes, indeed, where do you draw the line? I shelled out over £1,200 on research for my first book, although it's fair to say that I have always received five figure advances for my commercially published books. The first one sold over 45,000 copies in all editions.

Yes, I can let you have a copy of the Weekly News piece, but please be nice to me.

Well you have the advantage over me, I'm not writing a book on Jack the Ripper and nobody is giving me any advance, I shall publish this book myself and hope that the ten people on here who said I should write it will buy a copy LOL.

Course I am nice to you!

I am enjoying the piece so much already -- it's terribly funny when you read one source saying that "a woman and child arrived from Poland", a second source that claims "a woman and two children arrived from Poland," then a third which asserts: "a woman and three children arrived from Poland." My mind is boggling -- how many will she have in the next source I read?

Best of all is your fellow police officer Fabian. The woman never made it over here at all, because he'd beheaded her!

I do need this light relief because the story of the slow, torturous murders had got my spirits down somewhat.

[Stewart P Evans]

Not offended

"I don't like to be called a 'Ripperologist'."
No matter what terms are used someone will always get offended. Someone on another thread said "Ripperati."
"I thought that Debs had answered your query."
Yes she did I wondered if you had anything to add of your own.
Thanks for confirming it in more detail.
"Dan Norder, Wolf Vanderlinden and I had nothing to do with this piece, our names appearing on the cover of the magazine merely because we contributed unrelated material."
It's very confusing for someone coming to the subject anew.
"I don't understand why you didn't purchase that copy if it interests you so much."
The question is, where do you draw the line? When you think of all the books, magazines that mention Chapman, subs to online resources, train fares, photocopying, etc, etc, if you can see something online for free, that is where you try to make savings. For a book that isn't going to sell many copies, one has to keep costs down somehow. I've seen people shell out hundreds, even thousands on research and they never get it back in book sales. (One woman here in Hastings ended up losing her house, but that is another story!) I've been offered someone's entire Ripper collection for £3,000 but - alas! - a railway pension isn't as much a police one
Thank you for going to the trouble of sending the scans. Unfortunately the resolution is too low, and thus the print so small, that I cannot read the N.H. one
I can make out the prison warder one, that looks pretty hot, and would love to read the rest <grovel> Mind you, it's a bit worrying when he starts the piece by calling him "Leverino!" What is the date of that?

I'm not offended, I just don't particularly like it.

There are always things that are confusing, no matter what the research. Yes, indeed, where do you draw the line? I shelled out over £1,200 on research for my first book, although it's fair to say that I have always received five figure advances for my commercially published books. The first one sold over 45,000 copies in all editions.

Yes, I can let you have a copy of the Weekly News piece, but please be nice to me.

[HelenaWojtczak]

"I don't like to be called a 'Ripperologist'."

No matter what terms are used someone will always get offended. Someone on another thread said "Ripperati."

"I thought that Debs had answered your query."

Yes she did I wondered if you had anything to add of your own.

Thanks for confirming it in more detail.

"Dan Norder, Wolf Vanderlinden and I had nothing to do with this piece, our names appearing on the cover of the magazine merely because we contributed unrelated material."

It's very confusing for someone coming to the subject anew.

"I don't understand why you didn't purchase that copy if it interests you so much."

The question is, where do you draw the line? When you think of all the books, magazines that mention Chapman, subs to online resources, train fares, photocopying, etc, etc, if you can see something online for free, that is where you try to make savings. For a book that isn't going to sell many copies, one has to keep costs down somehow. I've seen people shell out hundreds, even thousands on research and they never get it back in book sales. (One woman here in Hastings ended up losing her house, but that is another story!) I've been offered someone's entire Ripper collection for £3,000 but - alas! - a railway pension isn't as much a police one

Thank you for going to the trouble of sending the scans. Unfortunately the resolution is too low, and thus the print so small, that I cannot read the N.H. one

I can make out the prison warder one, that looks pretty hot, and would love to read the rest <grovel> Mind you, it's a bit worrying when he starts the piece by calling him "Leverino!" What is the date of that?

I've had a read now and it's wonderful. He cannot have read Adam, so is it pre-1930?

[Stewart P Evans]

Many Articles

There were many articles on the Chapman case because it was high profile. Here's another example from the Weekly News (in one of my scrapbooks).

[Stewart P Evans]

Thomson's Series

Here's a partial scan of one of the parts from the Thomson's series.

[Stewart P Evans]

'Ripperologist'

Thank you for your reply.
As you are a Ripperologist, can you throw any light upon my original question?

I don't like to be called a 'Ripperologist'.

I thought that Debs had answered your query. It comes from an article 'When the People Were in Terror' by Norman Hastings with an itroduction by Nicholas Connell and originated in a series published in Thomson's Weekly News in June 1930, discovered by Nick Connell. It had been written in response to the then newly published Trial of George Chapman edited by H. L. Adam. Nick's presentation was published in Ripper Notes, January 2005, issue 21, pp. 34-87. Dan Norder, Wolf Vanderlinden and I had nothing to do with this piece, our names appearing on the cover of the magazine merely because we contributed unrelated material.

I presume that your misapprehension regarding authorship arose from the copy of the magazine as advertised on amazon at £8.95. I don't understand why you didn't purchase that copy if it interests you so much.

[HelenaWojtczak]

Thank you for your reply.

As you are a Ripperologist, can you throw any light upon my original question?

[Stewart P Evans]

First off...

I too am a published author with several books under my belt; I also maintain several websites of information for researchers, I also give public talks and university lectures and am currently writing a book. I too receive many requests for information, help, etc. If I cannot respond quickly I send a "received and pending" receipt so the sender at least feels s/he isn't simply being ignored.
I have at least found on this forum people who will respond to enquiries.
As for not bringing up your name in this, your name is on the front cover of the publication that I am querying. Who better to ask?

First off, and most importantly, I am a retired police officer trying to enjoy my retirement. That means being with my family, helping my aged mother, and all the other things that go on in life.

I do enjoy engaging in debates (especially when they remain civil) and do not consider that to be a chore. I have a collection of around 8,500 books, hundreds of files, dozens of photographs and an office in which I never seem able to find things that I want. At the bottom of my list are emails, I am old fashioned, rarely use a mobile phone, and I am pretty basic at computer skills. All in all I'm a bit of a throwback to a past age when mail actually had stamps on it.

I am sure that as an author you outshine me, you definitely outshine me on the Internet (I don't even have a website), I don't do many talks now, I am turning publishers down as there are only meagre rewards on offer (yes I do write in an attempt to supplement my pension, how terrible of me) and there is more in life than 'Ripperworld'.

I apologise if you felt you were being ignored, that wasn't my intention (you didn't send me a reminder, did you?).

[HelenaWojtczak]

I receive many emails with requests for information and, usually, I try to respond.

However, when I receive long emails, with many questions, I sometimes procrastinate with any response as they can be very time consuming. Had I suggested that you do you own research it would be fair to question my courtesy. Your email is still in my pending list, I shall now delete it.

Apropos of the current discussion Nick Connell actually published the Hastings work in book form, a copy of which is lodged at the British Library. It is not too difficult to obtain back copies of Ripper Notes.

I too am a published author with several books under my belt; I also maintain several websites of information for researchers, I also give public talks and university lectures and am currently writing a book. I too receive many requests for information, help, etc. If I cannot respond quickly I send a "received and pending" receipt so the sender at least feels s/he isn't simply being ignored.

I have at least found on this forum people who will respond to enquiries.

As for not bringing up your name in this, your name is on the front cover of the publication that I am querying. Who better to ask?

[Stewart P Evans]

Many emails

Had you done me the courtesy of responding to my email of 2 - 3 weeks ago instead of just ignoring it, this question would never have been posted here with your name on it.
I am merely wondering if anyone could tell me where these assertions came from.

I receive many emails with requests for information and, usually, I try to respond.

However, when I receive long emails, with many questions, I sometimes procrastinate with any response as they can be very time consuming. Had I suggested that you do you own research it would be fair to question my courtesy. Your email is still in my pending list, I shall now delete it.

Apropos of the current discussion Nick Connell actually published the Hastings work in book form, a copy of which is lodged at the British Library. It is not too difficult to obtain back copies of Ripper Notes.

[HelenaWojtczak]

Please stop mentioning my name, I did not write this.

Had you done me the courtesy of responding to my email of 2 - 3 weeks ago instead of just ignoring it, this question would never have been posted here with your name on it.

I am merely wondering if anyone could tell me where these assertions came from.

[Stewart P Evans]

Please...

Regardless of whether the snippets I cited were written by Dan Norder, Wolf Vanderlinden and Stewart P. Evans, Norman Hastings or Fred Bloggs, the question still stands:

from those who knew him in those days, there is the assurance that he kept largely to himself owing to the intrigues with various women that he was conducting even then. He behaved like a lady killer, making appointments nearly every night, and behaving very secretly about them’... ‘in his early days in London he was pursuing girls of respectable family, delighting in his conquests.


Who did the author speak to who ‘knew him in those days’? What is the source of the information about his ‘making appointments nearly every night’ or the ‘girls of respectable family’?

I have read all the witness testimony, which is the only written source of information on Klosowski's early life in London, and not one person makes these statements or anything remotely like them. I suppose Hastings could have spoken in person in 1930 to people who had known him in 1888, but it was highly unlikely that anyone who was still alive then had that kind of detailed knowledge of his movements.

Please stop mentioning my name, I did not write this.