Danny's People, page 26
Sue Tyley – you are a complete star. Without you, the interminable process of writing would never have ended.
I also want to salute my friends and colleagues in Islington and beyond, as well as everyone – neurodivergent and neurotypical – who is engaged in the struggle to make the world a place that thrives through its diversity, and in which all kinds of people can have good lives. I learn from you every day.
Requiring particular thanks are:
• Elinor Pearce – the inspiration for her mother Clare Palmer’s activism. It is Clare – herself a writer – who first suggested I write about some of the events in this book, and whose friendship and insights continue to nourish me.
• Everyone involved in the TreeHouse story – the children and their families, the teachers, the trustees, the supporters and helpers. A luta continua – we are all part of something bigger than ourselves as we endeavour to keep listening and learning.
• My neighbours who tolerated the decibels of Danny’s distress, day and night, and who never complained.
• Nick Coleman – thank you not only for ploughing through a very early draft of Danny’s People with the necessary tact and expertise, but also – with Jane Acton – for supplying the lifeline of dancing to brilliant music during the Rarely Groove years; for loyalty and hospitality; for steadfast friendship.
• Jonathan Glover and Pat Walsh, who provided an all-important grounding in medical ethics, and – long ago now – Petal O’Hea, who taught me that we should approach the field of economics with our hearts as well as our brains.
• Saskia Baron, Penny Bernstock, Laura Fleminger, Sally Griffin, Philip O’Hara, Pamela Reitemeier, Paula Sanchez and Anne Tyley – how lucky I have been that our paths have crossed, and that you were kind enough to give feedback on drafts of the book.
• My lifelong friends – in (I think) chronological order: Susie, Philis, Sarah, Lucinda, Fiona, Carol and Christine (x 2).
And thank you finally to my three sets of family – Bovells, Hornby/Harrises and Hedleys. Here I run out of words. You are just so dear to me. Where would I be without you?
A Oneworld Book
First published by Oneworld Publications Ltd in 2024
This ebook edition published 2024
Copyright © Virginia Bovell 2024
The moral right of Virginia Bovell to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved
Copyright under Berne Convention
A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-86154-838-5
eISBN 978-0-86154-839-2
Typeset by Geethik Technologies
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Virginia Bovell, Danny's People
