Pamela Long
asked
Robert F. Barker:
I just had to tell you a about a strange coincidence .I have just read your book Last Gasp and one of the characters is called Evelyn Merryweather ,well that was the maiden name of my late mother-in-law also she was a seamstress in Manchester in the 1930's .Not producing outfits that the character in your book was making, I might add.Why did you pick a name with Merryweather ?as it's an unusual name .
Robert F. Barker
Hello Pamela,
Thank you for interesting question - and yes, what a coincidence. I have a stock of interesting names I have compiled over the course of my writing and which dip I into every now and then when I need a name for an interesting character. The names are either those of people I have come across in person, or just names I hear about from the news, papers etc. As you may imagine, over thirty years of police service I came across a LOT of interesting names! I seem to recall the name, Merryweather, from my earliest days in the police when I was a police cadet in Crosby, (then Lancashire, now Merseyside), where I am pretty sure - but may be mistaken - there was a police woman, (as there were known in those days), by that name. The name must have stuck and re-surfaced when I was writing Last Gasp and looking for an interesting name for 'Evelyn'. I thought the name just fitted, somehow, with her and her 'place of work'.
Hope this answers your question, and thanks again Pamela.
Happy Reading.
Regards,
Robert F Barker
Thank you for interesting question - and yes, what a coincidence. I have a stock of interesting names I have compiled over the course of my writing and which dip I into every now and then when I need a name for an interesting character. The names are either those of people I have come across in person, or just names I hear about from the news, papers etc. As you may imagine, over thirty years of police service I came across a LOT of interesting names! I seem to recall the name, Merryweather, from my earliest days in the police when I was a police cadet in Crosby, (then Lancashire, now Merseyside), where I am pretty sure - but may be mistaken - there was a police woman, (as there were known in those days), by that name. The name must have stuck and re-surfaced when I was writing Last Gasp and looking for an interesting name for 'Evelyn'. I thought the name just fitted, somehow, with her and her 'place of work'.
Hope this answers your question, and thanks again Pamela.
Happy Reading.
Regards,
Robert F Barker
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