I’ve been working on Clarence, his collection, his web site, on research papers about him, the book and the film, since 1988 on and off, since 2013 seriously. The satisfaction gets bigger with time as a) more researchers find our page of academic papers https://clarencebicknell.com/documents/ or by finding the name of someone they are studying in the Casa Fontanalba Visitors’ Book (https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/casa_fontanalba_visitors_books.xls) and b) someone discovers Clarence and orders a book or sends an email.
I received a simple but meaningful email from a new fan of his in Switzerland today…
Dear Mr. Bicknell,
Thank you very much for your kind message. The book and the postcards arrived safely today, and I was very pleased about your thoughtful gift. We spend time in Liguria every year and especially enjoy visiting the gardens there. Our next visit will be to Bordighera, and that is actually how I first came across Clarence Bicknell and became interested in his life and work.
Thank you again for your kindness and for sending the book.
With best wishes.
It really does make the effort worthwhile. I live in hope that the BBC or ARTE will phone and say they want to do a 6-part documentary on Clarence, but in the meantime these gestures suffice. Thank you.