Tag Archives: Perrin and the Literary Establishment

Part three of ‘Jim Perrin’s Wikipedia page’

R J Ellory has said that he ‘felt confused about [Wikipedia’s] policy’ and he pointed out that in his entry ‘the representation of his life to the wider world was not biased, inappropriate, incorrect or false.’

Neither, it follows, was the information that the author, Jim Perrin, had five other children. There could have been no privacy issue, nor was it ‘inappropriate’, as he himself had already recorded just one of his children: one  of his sons, who as it happened was also a talented climber…  or had sanctioned that entry. Posted on 24/1/2011 it remained for nearly two years; there is little likelihood that Jim Perrin would have been unaware, as he is frequently tinkering with his Wikipedia page, yet all details of this eldest son along with the mention, which later had been added, of the rest of his children (and it may be presumed not posted by himself) were speedily deleted by him on 15/11/2012. Possibly he felt that the extra information about those other children (that is, each by a different mother) might reflect unfavourably on his character — on his carefully constructed image — and his way around the ‘difficulty’ was to remove completely that part of the entry which dealt with all his children; to remove them from the record. If one reads Jim Perrin’s Wikipedia page and visits ‘view history’ all the many changes can be seen. Continue reading →

(Part 2) Should Roger Alton be thanked for favouring Jim Perrin?

Had Roger Alton, in 2005, agreed to our family’s request — as behoved any intellectually honest editor (given the circumstances we explained to him) to respond to the article by Jim Perrin which he had published in his paper The Observer — instead of favouring his friend and climbing partner by denying that request, in all probability we would never have created jacssisters, the site which has enabled readers to access some of the more unpalatable truths about Jim Perrin and emboldened others to come forward with details of their own disturbing, and in some cases traumatic, experiences with him.

There can be no doubt that Roger Alton should have allowed our voice to be heard in 2005. Perhaps our response would have restrained that author’s hyperbole when he was writing West, and the knowledge that we had publicly expressed our rightful concern might at least have curbed his Worst Excesses.

But no: Jim Perrin has ‘Friends in High Places’, and he went on to write, with apparent impunity, the book which was such a travesty: we noted that some of those involved with its progress, and they will know who they are — thought it lacking in the quality sufficiently acceptable to allow it to be (even) long-listed for the ‘Wales Book of the Year’. We are really very grateful (it would have added insult to injury had he been rewarded for such a vile book) but as he has always been something of a ‘golden boy’ in the Welsh literary hierarchy and had very close ‘friendships’ with many of the women in that circle, this must have come as a considerable shock to Jim Perrin: clearly he had felt his ‘trajectory’ was assured — he wrote in one of his letters to our sister: ‘My work is highly thought of and receives much critical acclaim: my star is rising’… Continue reading →

STOP PRESS: Jim Perrin to speak at Dinefwr

At the end of this month there will be an exciting new literary event in Wales. The ’Dinefwr Literature Festival’, is to be held at the National Trust property, Dinefwr Park and Castle, in Carmarthenshire, West Wales and is a collaboration between the National Trust in Wales; University of Wales — Trinity Saint David; and ‘Literature Wales’. Lleucu Siencyn, chief executive of ‘Literature Wales’ is the festival director. This is the first of what is intended to become a regular fixture in the Welsh literary calendar, and the dates are June 29th and 30th, and July 1st.

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We note that Jim Perrin (who, it is known, is a Wanted Man) is scheduled to appear at the festival ‘In conversation with Jon Gower’, and he is described in the information as: ‘One of our finest writers about mountains and climbing, nature and HUMAN NATURE’ — our capitals! Continue reading →