Chapter 1 - 1 Excerpt

I got to visit the area in the first two paragraphs during the 1998 Who convention. Here's a picture of the White Hart Hotel I took then:

Look closely and you can see some of the detail Pete talks about seeing from the bus.

We then meet his grandfather Horace. A slightly odd fellow for a slightly odd family. Do not forget that England was a terrifically class-conscious society at that time. Very pregnant brides were simply not done and one didn't touch musical instruments unless it was a little piano playing for a good sing-a-long on occassion. A bit of the non-conformist in this family.

And why wasn't Pete confirmed? Look at this passage I snagged from an Anglican website:

...you have to be confirmed before you are able to take Communion. Being confirmed means that you accept the promises made for you when you were baptized - to love God and obey his commandments. Normally you are confirmed as a teenager, but there isn't a set age - you can decide when you are ready...

Did Pete just never decide to go through with it? Did he not believe? Interesting question considering the giant role religion will play in his later life.

Also don't miss the business with the busking on Brighton Pier (the one Ken Russell would burn down filming Tommy?). His grandmother's response that they were performing to raise money 'for ourselves' is more than slightly ironic considering the hot water her grandson will get into by daring to link his music and money later in life. The Townshends Sell Out!