Deric Longden

Deric Longden (born 1936 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire) is an English writer and autobiographer.

He married Diana Hill in 1957 and had two children, Sally and Nick. After various jobs he took over a small women's lingerie factory, but began writing and broadcasting in the 1970s for programmes like Does He Take Sugar? and Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. Most of his work was based on his own experience. His wife Diana's illness, subsequently believed to be a form of ME, forced him to sell the factory. Since then he has been a full-time writer, broadcaster and speaker.

He now has a grandchild named Katie.

The bestselling Diana’s Story, published in 1989, followed by Lost for Words, The Cat Who Came in from the Cold, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Enough to Make a Cat Laugh, A Play On Words and Paws in the Proceedings.

Deric Longden's first two books were adapted for television, the first retitled Wide-Eyed and Legless. Lost for Words, screened in January 1999 winning the Emmy for best foreign drama and a BAFTA for Thora Hird as best actress.

After the death of Diana, he married writer Aileen Armitage in 1990 and now lives in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Works

• Diana's Story (1989) concerned life with his rapidly deteriorating wife, who was suffering from an illness that doctors could not understand. This book became a TV production in 1993 called Wide-Eyed and Legless starring Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent and Thora Hird. In America this was shown under the title The Wedding Gift.

• Lost For Words (1991) continued the story of Deric's life, telling of life with his eccentric mother, as she gradually loses her memory. This was also made into a TV movie of the same title with Thora Hird, but this time with Pete Postlethwaite in the main role, Deric Longden himself appears as a voice on an answerphone.^[1]

The remainder of books tell of life with his near-blind second wife Aileen Armitage, also a best selling author, and their cats.

• The Cat Who Came in from the Cold (1991) introduces kitten Thermal.

• I'm a Stranger Here Myself' (1994) concerns his move to Huddersfield.

• Enough to Make a Cat Laugh (1996) continues the story of Thermal, and the other cats in Deric and Aileen's house.

• A Play on Words (2000) continues the story of the cats, but describes the making of TV movies about the earlier books, and the author's reactions to seeing actors take the part of himself, and his mother. He wrote that in the end, he gets images of his mother and Thora Hird mixed up in his mind, because her performance was so powerfully convincing.

• Paws in the Proceedings (2007) describes life with Aileen, his two aging cats, Tigger and Thermal, and wild cat Nokia who lives outside.

External links

• Deric Longden's official website
• Wide-Eyed and Legless at the Internet Movie Database
• Lost for Words at the Internet Movie Database

References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174882/fullcredits#cast

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Name	Longden, Deric
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Date of birth	1936
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