So what brought you here?

[sdreid]

Google

[Madam Red]

Hey, Sara, welcome to the club.


It's really fortunate that Richard and Phil got to speak with people who lived during these events. You get a better sense of how it effected their lives and opinions, I think.

Kinda like when I talked with my Nanas. Nana Dolly told me how, during the Great Depression, she would have to put cardboard in her shoes when she walked to school because there were holes in them and how her mother had to work especially hard to support her large family. Then Nana Gay told me how her father, a policeman, came home one night, horrified and exhausted from pulling out the chared remains of the victims of the notorious Coconut Grove Fire in Boston.

You get the personal stories.

Sorry if I went off track.

[SaraCarter33]

Thank you for the welcome. I remember back sometime in the eighties cbs aired a movie about jack the ripper it was a mini series, and i remember going to bed scared to death after watching it, i was just a kid at that time, I believe Michael Caine and Jane Seymour was in it i believe.

[Hunter]

Good God I feel old.

[Phil Carter]

Hunter,

Oh yes, time flies doesn't it? Will you kindly co-sign my letter to Age Concern?

best wishes

Phil

[Steven Russell]

My dad was a cop and a good story teller (he still is). I remember, as a child, we would be in the shopping centre and he would point out miscreants by saying something like, "Don't look now, son, but the bald bloke where my foot's pointing is John Francis Cole. Just got out after six years for armed robbery".

Occasionally, people would come up to say hello and, after they had gone, I would ask my dad who they were. "Stanley Victor Kovaks" he would say, "the best burglar in Hartlepool" and stuff like that.

Naturally, since my dad was my hero, I became interested in criminals and crime at a very young age. I read Stephen Knight's book aged about thirteen and became an instant expert (albeit one who lost more than a little sleep after seeing the MJK photograph).

Later, at university, the subject came up and I trotted out my expert opinion. It had been a while since I had thought of the case and, even as I spoke, the whole thing seemed to get more unbelievable. One of my friends commented on the implausibility of the tale and I had to admit that he was correct.

A few years later, my thoughts turned again to the case and I wondered whether or not there were any other books on the subject (!). That was the beginning of my real fascination and it continues to surface at regular intervals.

Joining this site has shown me that, despite having read about two dozen books plus, I know virtually nothing.

With apologies for the length of this post but you did ask,

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Steven Russell]

Thought I should point out that the names in my previous post are made up. Just in case anyone was wondering.

Cheers,

Steve.

[ChrisGeorge]

Thought I should point out that the names in my previous post are made up. Just in case anyone was wondering.

Cheers,

Steve.

Nice to meet you, Steven.

If you don't mind me saying so, and joshing you a bit when you say your Dad was a "cop", that sounds more American than British. I should say "copper" is the more usual term in the UK... or at least it always used to be.

Also you say your Dad would point out to you a man you both saw as "Stanley Victor Kovaks. . . the best burglar in Hartlepool". Yet Stanley Victor Kovaks sounds more like he should be the best burglar in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Just kidding.

All the best

Chris (Ex-pat Brit originally from Liverpool, now living in Baltimore, Maryland, USA)

[Steve S]

A Dad who was a market Policeman at Spitalfields in the 1960's..........And finding Tom Cullen in the library........

[Jeff Leahy]

The wine, the women, the song, but I guess basically the money .

(and that’s just last years conference)

Pirate

[Steven Russell]

Nice to meet you, Steven.

If you don't mind me saying so, and joshing you a bit when you say your Dad was a "cop", that sounds more American than British. I should say "copper" is the more usual term in the UK... or at least it always used to be.

Also you say your Dad would point out to you a man you both saw as "Stanley Victor Kovaks. . . the best burglar in Hartlepool". Yet Stanley Victor Kovaks sounds more like he should be the best burglar in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Just kidding.

All the best

Chris (Ex-pat Brit originally from Liverpool, now living in Baltimore, Maryland, USA)

Dear Chris,

Nice to meet you too. My dad still refers to himself as having been a "cop". Perhaps he's seen a few too many "Kojak" episodes, although our home grown "The Sweeney" is still his favourite. With all the American TV we get over here, and I'm not complaining - some of my favourite shows are from across the pond - American slang tends to get adopted in good old Blighty after prolonged exposure. For example, when I was a kid, I remember thinking someone was trying to sound American and therefore cool when they referred to a bloke as a "guy" but now it's quite widespread. Also just realised that I wrote "show" when years ago I would have said "programme".

SVK is a name I made up to disguise his identity (who knows, he may be a model citizen now) but the original was similar and equally Polish sounding.

I dont mind so much that US slang enters our speech and I like some of it but what is really starting to get on my wick is the increasing tendency for people to raise the pitch of their voice at the end of every sentence? or even clause? as if everything they say is a question? and they therefore doubt your ability to understand what is being said? Ngaaaaah! Aussie soap operas may be more to blame than US shows for this, I suspect.

I feel like a proper Casebook member now after having had a bit of a rant.

Best wishes,

Steve.

P.S. I wonder who is the best burglar in Hoboken.

P.P.S. And can anything be done to stop people saying "haitch" when spelling out words?

[TomTomKent]

P.P.S. And can anything be done to stop people saying "haitch" when spelling out words?

No... Just remember that the haitch in haitch is a silent haitch.


Sorry.

[Steven Russell]

No... Just remember that the haitch in haitch is a silent haitch.


Sorry.

Thanks, Tom. I don't know if it makes me some kind of idiot or what, but haitching can make me physically flinch, a bit like Oliver Hardy when a brick falls on his head.

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Mycroft]

Hello to everyone. As a newcomer to this site, I am grateful for this thread, as it gives me somewhere to start, as it's a bit daunting just to dive in amongst all the experts. Maybe a newcomers welcome section would be an idea.Anyway, throughout my life I have had an interest in JtR and was brought up, like others,being led to believe that it was all a royal plot. I have looked and re-looked at the case over the years, but have always been left with the maddening frustration, that the realisation that I will never know the actual answer brings. Despite this fact, I am back to have another go. I found this good site just by chance. My previous investigations had all been with the use of books, but when I had a few moments spare on the internet, I searched JtR and Casebook kept coming up. Appropriately, I was a "lurker" for a few weeks, before finally signing up. I have been greatly interested by all the threads and impressed by how thorough everyone is, in their detective work. I have a few thoughts and ideas of my own and many questions, but I will put them in another thread. I greatly look forward to having my ideas examined by the many experts on here and to having my "stab in the dark" (sorry, had to do it).

[Steven Russell]

Hello to everyone. As a newcomer to this site, I am grateful for this thread, as it gives me somewhere to start, as it's a bit daunting just to dive in amongst all the experts. Maybe a newcomers welcome section would be an idea.Anyway, throughout my life I have had an interest in JtR and was brought up, like others,being led to believe that it was all a royal plot. I have looked and re-looked at the case over the years, but have always been left with the maddening frustration, that the realisation that I will never know the actual answer brings. Despite this fact, I am back to have another go. I found this good site just by chance. My previous investigations had all been with the use of books, but when I had a few moments spare on the internet, I searched JtR and Casebook kept coming up. Appropriately, I was a "lurker" for a few weeks, before finally signing up. I have been greatly interested by all the threads and impressed by how thorough everyone is, in their detective work. I have a few thoughts and ideas of my own and many questions, but I will put them in another thread. I greatly look forward to having my ideas examined by the many experts on here and to having my "stab in the dark" (sorry, had to do it).

Welcome to the site, Mycroft. I'm pretty new myself but beginning to get the hang of it. Hope you enjoy it.

Best wishes,

Steve.