THE DIARIES OF PAUL K LYONS - 1998
The year of the Kosovo war and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Life in Russet House trundled on, as did my business, with Theo and I making regular trips to Brussels. I put together a new book on EC energy policies, which, once ready, prompted a fresh marketing impetus for EC Inform as a whole. I ran into an unsettling commercial dispute with a supplier (whose services fell short of our unwritten contract) and only just managed to avoid needing (expensive) legal help. In April, the electricity industry association invited me on a press trip - the best freebie I ever received - involving a visit to a power despatch depot but also to a World Cup match at the Stade de France.
In the spring, a producer of the Radio Four series ‘Messages to Myself’ spent several hours at Russet House interviewing me to gather material for a half hour programme on my diaries. I was much excited by the prospect of the diaries receiving public attention. However, after weeks of hearing nothing, I was informed that the programme on my diaries had been spiked. Alas! I was told my themes weren’t strong enough.
Adam had a difficult last year in primary school, and was relieved to transfer, finally, to secondary school, Rodborough, in Godalming.
During the summer, I went walking in Ireland for a week (Diary 58 - not transcribed). For the first time, I joined a dating organisation, but it did not live up to its advertised benefits. Another disappointment was to discover that a neighbour was planning to build a brand new house in the space between his house and mine. (Diaries 57, 59)
Paul K. Lyons (November 2017)