Martin Eve Remembered by Martin Eve Remembered

Author:Martin Eve Remembered [Remembered, Martin Eve]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Seafarer Books
Published: 2013-08-28T04:30:00+00:00

Tina Craig

Publisher’s assistant

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THOUGHTS OF MARTIN

SARAH TISDALL

I first came across Martin in March 1984. He wrote and offered me a job. Towards the end of my sentence my mum was dispatched to see if the offer was (a) genuine and (b) still open – it was. I went for an ‘interview’ in August that year, following my release. The interview consisted of moving a pile of paper from one chair to another, a tour of the premises and a cup of coffee. I was sent off with E.P. Thompson’s latest work and an invitation to give my opinion.

I liked the piece and so was deemed suitable material to work for Merlin.

At that time Merlin Press was based in an old coach house on the Isle of Dogs. There was a large shed at the back of the building filled with books; the ground floor was also filled with books. Upstairs there were three rooms, a library/kitchen, a room for the Augustus Kelley reprints and ‘the office’ – three desks, two large typewriters and a filing cabinet. There was no heating. (More of this later).

Lunch was always taken in Greenwich. We would walk through the underground tunnel to go to the pub where Martin would have a shepherd’s pie and a pint, followed by a walk back through the tunnel stopping only to collect a Kit Kat for afternoon break.

There was one memorable occasion when we took the man from Coutt’s on this trek and asked us to assist us in carrying some boxes back from the pub to help us with packing some books that afternoon. It was a long time before we heard from the bank after that!

The advantage of a small firm is that you can become involved in everything and I did with a lot of help from Martin. He was always asking me questions, not ‘Where’s that manuscript?’ or ‘Have we paid so and so?’ but ‘Yes, but what is it really about?’ The answer would usually involve and analysis of class and power, which at the time was all new to me and I didn’t usually understand.

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