My guest today is the writer Roddy Doyle. Roddy has written lots of books. Every time I tried to count them, those little thumbnails on Google, I got a different number, but I think I'm safe enough to say over 50, since he first published The Commitments in 1987, including the Booker prize winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
As well as the books, he's written screenplays for the films of The Snapper, The Van, Family and When Brendan met Trudy and he co-wrote the screenplay for The Commitments movie, he's also written for the stage and as plays include. Brownbread and guess who's coming for the dinner.
And he wrote the stage adaptation for the musical of The Commitments which coincidentally starts turning in Ireland and the UK next week,
Roddy took the title of this podcast to heart and only sent me six photographs. But those six photographs led to a kaleidoscope of stories and memories about his Dad who among other things wore a Cape, which in my book makes him a real life superhero, The Commitments including the book, the film and stage musical. Winning the Booker prize and the story of the photo of that book cover, an early job as a copy boy, Seagulls and pigeons. His school days, both as a pupil and as a teacher known as Punk Doyle, having a pee with theatrical mice and how Desperate Dan reminds him of his mother! All told with that trademark sense of humor and a twinkle in the eye.