Jeremy Beadle Prize 2009

[AdamNeilWood]

The Jeremy Beadle Prize 2009

The winner of the Jeremy Beadle Prize for 2008 was Timothy Riordan's The Nine Lives of Dr Tumblety, which featured the first known photograph of Tumblety. Our panel of judges said:

The photograph of Tumblety was fantastic, ...but of equal if less obvious value was Riordan’s analysis of Tumblety’s biographies, which set them in context and drew meaning from them. This added just a little more flesh to the skeleton of Tumblety and set him more firmly in his time and place. It was a good, solid piece of historical writing.

This year's competition is already underway! Every article featured in Ripperologist between issues 100 and 109 (December 2009) will have a chance to win the coveted title, not to mention £100 cash.

And entry is free!

Send your submissions to contact@ripperologist.biz

[Tom_Wescott]

I posted a bit about this on the 108 thread a minute ago, but this is a better place.

What essays would the READERS of Rip like to see the editors pick for nominees this time around?

One thing I noticed is that some of the best stuff this year were from collaborations - Arif/Clack, Bell/Clack (crap, I have to wait for Rob to work his way down to the W's before I get to work with him!), Mutt/Jeff (aka Begg/George).

This begs the question - should the editors choose the winner based on a single essay, or overall contributions that year? In the event a SINGLE winner is chosen, the favorite would have to be Rob Clack. And that's not a slight to anyway at all. But his name has appeared on more bylines than anyone else, and all the work has been exceptional.

If the winner is chosen based on a single essay, then Clack will find himself with some competition.

A few more thoughts. I just read Philip Hutchinson's latest book, and in it he talks about the present state of Ripperology. He feels there's little written evidence or information coming forth that's worthwhile, and that the best and most important finds of recent years have been photographs. Personally, I disagree with this.

The photographic finds are AWESOME, don't get me wrong. But by knowing what a witness looked like, does that help my understanding of the case better than a responsible and thorough re-evalution of OLD evidence (such as the recent Arif/Clack piece)? I would say it doesn't. But that's just me.

Anyway, I don't envy the editors in having to make their choice. Lotsa good stuff.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[George Hutchinson]

Tom, with all due respect that is a bit of a distortion of what I put in the introduction to the book.

The relevant passage reads :

Having moved on from generic knowledge of the case, many students of Ripper history now concentrate on other areas. A good proportion are interested in contemporary images of the East End of London and especially those locations with connections to the sequence of brutal murders that occurred in 1888. Although historical information is still being uncovered (albeit that it is widely acknowledged a ‘Eureka!’ moment is highly unlikely), some of the most exciting discoveries in research in the last few years have been photographic.

It's most of one paragraph in the introduction alone and is not referred to again. I do not say in any way that no worthwhile information has been presented, nor that the only finds of value have been photographic.

PHILIP

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Philip,

Thanks for setting me straight. What you said wasn't as all bad as I thought!

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Tom_Wescott]

So the nominees were announced, any thoughts from readers? Anyone piss their pants when they saw Simon Wood and Joe Chetcuti nominated? Just kidding...kinda. Some really good picks by the editors and I don't envy them having to decide on only ONE among that bunch. I know who I'd vote for though!

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Monty]

Im down to two Tom, though there all great pieces.

My favs are Debs and Robs work on Mylett. Rob didnt tell me he was moonlighting.

And John Bennetts piece is a little beauty. Certainly a good research reference.

Monty

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Monty,

I completely agree. I would like to see Debs and Rob tackle some of the other non-canonicals, starting with Smith. There could even be a book in it.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Natalie Severn]

Tom,
After their work on Rose Mylett ,that would really be something to look forward to.I couldnt agree more!
Best

Norma

[Suzi]

Go Rob and Debs- My GG one was OK tho 'eh xxxx

[Rob Clack]

I quite enjoyed your Donkey article Suzi.

Rob XX

[Suzi]

LOL eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww now was that the donkey ref you were referred to??

[Rob Clack]

Well I wouldn't make an ass of myself by suggesting anything else

Rob XX

[Monty]

Hee haw, hee haw, hee halways does that joke.

Monty

[Suzi]

Heeeeeeeeeeee too much of a lady me to make an ass comment!!

[Tom_Wescott]

Congrats to Rob Clack and Debra Arif for winning this year's Beadle Prize. It's well-deserved, in my opinion.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott