It was not the happiest of times, but it was mitigated by the fact that I was having some literary success. And, moreover, I worked... sorry, I've got this written down because I had forgotten... Oh yes, I worked on the Committee of Management… I used to go up to London and work for the Society of Authors. Very pleasant man in charge of it... I don't have his name... and, eventually I became the Chairman of the Committee of Management, and I enjoyed that, and so I met real authors, you know, and that was a treat in itself. They were all very pleasant, and I did that for some years, and then they retired me, of course. So that was my attempt to work for my fellow men, really.

And the number of books that I had written seemed to increase, and the science fiction community here and in the States, but particularly in the States, provided me with a lot of ready money and then… oh, yes, and another fine bit of kindness that came this way…

There was a man called Chawnley. I was in the antiquarian bit of the shop. Chawnley would come in to look after all the typewriters for the company. And so he'd stop and have a chat with me, and we were very friendly, and his offices were just down the other end of the Turl. So we knew each other quite well and eventually I went to see him, and said, 'Do you think you could lend me a typewriter? At the moment I'm so broke, I don't know that I can offer you any money, but eventually the money would come. Have you got something you could lend me?' And he said, 'Oh my dear boy, I can see that you're in trouble. Yes – look, have this'.

And he gave me a typewriter... a Hermes Swiss typewriter. Wasn't that kind? He gave me a typewriter, and so I could continue my trade. One never forgets those things.

And so that typewriter stayed with me for ages. When I'd cleared off to Yugoslavia, I took it with me and it served as a pillow, as well as typing out notes.

And things were moving on.