James Herriot interview 

Find "Portrait of a Best Seller" on youtube. He was a good ten years younger, so cool, about an hour long I think.

Me too! I'm a life-long fan of James Herriot but only thought to look up anything on youtube just now. His books provided so much hilarity and humanity that he's very beloved to me.

Has that nice way about them, which was more a thing with their generation. Then again, show business is sincerity and how to fake it. Or, how not to look like show business. Not everything about those days was particularly nice. He himself lived in a crowded tenement building, I think, as a boy.

Connie - What a wonderful memory we both have! Unfortunately the book he signed for me was lent to a friend and never returned and I forgot who it was! Shucks!

His mannerisms didn't come across on the written page? We must've read different books! They came across brilliantly to me.

@@lacymacdougall9660 I think that his internal attitude came across well in his books because he knew his own thoughts and put them onto the paper. But how he looks physically to others...how he moves that is different from how other people move, that is something that didn't come across in the writing, because it is not something most people know about themselves.... unless they are screen actors and make a study of their own mannerisms on screen for professional purposes. You have to have seen yourself on camera to know what that looks like to other people. Most people haven't seen themselves on camera all that much....though with tictok and youtube and all those social media video posting services, that is likely changing. Most of us are quite surprised and even taken aback, the first time we see ourselves on camera. But you were just being nasty, weren't you, and not actually caring about the content of what you said....

Nasty? Not sure what part of my comment was nasty. No, I wasn't being nasty.

I wrote to him and received a very nice reply, only two weeks before his death.

Thanks for your post. I corrected the reference to Thirsk to be geographically accurate. I have visited there twice. What a beautiful area! Alf was a kind and delightful person and the BBC series my favorite. I still watch them!

You were quite fortunate to have met him. By the time I got to Thirsk, he was long gone, but I took my father for a drink in the pub he used to frequent. This is a real treasure you have here! Thank you again.

I just ran across this...have you seen it? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tFoLN-p6IUY.html

Find "Portrait of a Best Seller" on youtube. Hour long interview, he was much younger. Big screen if possible.

Agreed on all points! He was a very kind man and very welcoming to us and something I'll never forget! Don (in Grand Rapids)

Hi Adelia! Yes, my favorite books as well and for some time. Read and re-read! The original TV series was and still is great. The new series is avaialable here in the states as well, but I probably will not watch it as it just won't live up to the oringinal, and the oriiginal cast. Thanks for your comments!

Thanks for the comments, Eddie, and for the "heads up" regarding his son's book. I immediatlely ordered it from my library and am already into chaper 3. It's well written and very enjoyable..

Yes, it it really was very evident in the short time we spent with him.

You are welcome! He was a most kind and chaming man and it's an encounter I treasure.

That's not something I asked him but I would have liked to know his thoughts as well. I personally thought it was excellent. The whole series was grand, frankly. I still can't fathom how they got all the actors that portrayed local citizens and farmers. They are as authentic as can be, even to the extent that their local accent is sometimes hard to understand! I've watched the series many times over and still am doing so.

He once said in an interview that he loved the series, and watched it every week. :)

@@tinac3094 that right there is a good enough answer.

Thanks Gail! A great video and a wonderful person to boot!

I actually it was done via letter.

Ich auch. Er hat so ein liebes Gesicht. Für mich ist es sehr schade, dass es keine deutschen Untertitel gibt!

He moved to Glascow at a very early age and lived there for quite some time, hence his Scottish accent. When I interviewed him he was at his home/surgery and in his element and quite relaxed, but my guess is that at a more formal intereview he softened it a bit. I am currently reading a book by his son called, "The Real James Herriot." It's excellent and gives a great insight into the lovely man.

@@donfaber I'd love to read it, you were so lucky to meet him, he was so gentle, soft-spoken and retiring, yet with such an intelligent and good mind. You know I've often thought how much he did with this one series of books - entire worlds were created. All of the actors in the spin-offs had their lives and careers made through the writiing of this book - millions inlcuding myself, take comfort by turning to the tv series for that last bit of real, simply honest good innocent God-ordained living that Mr. Wight outlined in his gently lyrical and beautifully presented books - thank you for sharing this interview - look how seriously he took writing the dedication in the book to a fan - 100% of his attention and energy.

I took the video myself. What do you have in mind? What TV show are you considering and what does licensing entail?

Unfortunately we did not meet Sinclair. That would have been a double honor!

He was born in Sunderland but moved to Glasgow at a very young age. He did have a Scottish accent. I met him once when he visited a relative's farm at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe well before he became a famous author. The family was expecting his boss (Donald Sinclair) who always brought sweets for us children and was, by general consensus, a bit mad but very much loved. Instead "the Scottish vet" arrived and we got no sweets. He was universally liked and respected and I've never heard of anyone who had a bad word for him.

MrHistorian123 Fancy that I had no idea. I just assumed because of his Yorkshire practice he was from Yorkshire originally. He did you a favour. I consumed lots of sweets as a kid and as a result have always had bad teeth.

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