2011 – Bill Bryson
14th January 2011
The school was once again very proud to host the recent South Shields Annual Lecture on behalf of the Rt Honourable David Miliband MP. The guest speaker at the 9th annual lecture was Bill Bryson.
William McGuire “Bill” Bryson, OBE, (born in Iowa December 8, 1951) is, of course, best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on science. Born an American, he was a resident of North Yorkshire, UK, for most of his professional life before moving back to the US in 1995. In 2003 Bryson moved back to the UK, living in Norfolk, and was appointed Chancellor of Durham University. Apparently, Bill had called Durham the perfect little city in what is certainly one of my favourites of his many books ‘Notes from a Small Island’. In 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, voters in the United Kingdom chose Bill’s book Notes from a Small Island as that which best sums up British identity and the state of the nation.
I know that this event was completely full very soon after the tickets became available and it was clear to see why. It was yet another memorable evening and it was a privilege and honour to meet and listen to Mr Bryson.
I have included some photographs of the event.
Sir Ken Gibson (Executive Headteacher)