I’ve been sent this great photograph from Spain, which I’d like to share. The Spanish gentleman is visiting the grave in Portugal of Roy and Mary Campbell, the great Catholic convert poet and his wife. He is holding a copy of the recently-published Spanish edition of my biography of Campbell, the Spanish title of which translates as “Spain Saved My Soul”. I find it quirkily amusing that one of my books has been taken on pilgrimage to the “shrine” of its subject! And since I’ve never had the privilege of paying my respects and praying at the grave of Roy Campbell, I find it somewhat consoling that someone had paid tribute to Campbell by placing my own tribute to him on the grave. It’s almost a pilgrimage by proxy!
Not only did I take your biography on pilgrimage to the shrine, Joseph, but also I had the chance to discover that human side of the poet I was looking for. Thanks to Francesca and Frankie, his grandchildren, I could learn and hear from the deepest part of Roy´s heart, I could understand all the feelings that made him such a great human being though many other literary figures worked hard to take him to that literary tomb they´d dug. As you know, it´s up to me to vindicate his figure and bet on that dark horse whose only policy was to satisfy his friends´ needs and, after his conversion, help and defend the weak ones despite his life and his family´s ran a risk.
He wasn´t a Spaniard but he he was Spanish in his heart.