Arts ……………………. Nothing here Cinema ……………….. Nup Community ………………3 to

community The Beagle celebrates the Connect Today ini a ve

Celebra ng the ever increasing number of independent news Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 publishers across Australia The Beagle readers join with over 1 million other Australians every month keeping local communi es strong, informed and connected. Known as hyper-local, these news outlets are springing up across the na on as communi es look for accurate, mely and local news that is fast disappearing from the churn being witnessed as major mastheads present cloned, out of area stories and further downsize their staff and their newsprints. Locally we have seen the once proud Moruya Examiner masthead disappear from sight without any explana on. A er serving the community for 150 years the popular masthead vanished overnight as ACM closed down their Batemans Bay and Narooma offices sending their already skeleton staff to work remotely due to Covid in 2020. Since then the Bay Post has reduced its edi ons from twice weekly to just once a week on Wednesdays and has reduced its pages even further to just 16 with nearly 50% of its edi ons being adver sing. The once very popular Narooma News, under editor Stan Gorton, has sadly become a weekly clone of content from the Bega News and Bay Post. The many independent newspapers outside of NewsCorp and ACM are proven to be commi ed to keeping their communi es informed , included and most importantly in a mely fashion that presents the news as relevant. “There is nothing worse than buying a paper to read about what happened last week or last fortnight.” “I don’t buy the local paper any longer. It is adverts and rubbish and always out of date. I get the free one at the supermarket in winter to start my fire”. While independent media company ACM has launched a large-scale marke ng campaign to “seduce adver sers across the country” in a bid for a larger por on of the na onal adver sing market the majority of hyper-locals springing up across the country have stepped in to provide local businesses with affordable adver sing to support their own local economies.

Get to know your own local independent news sources: A spokesperson for the recently launched hyper-local Connect Today campaign said that Your News – Connect Today was is an ini a ve that encourages the community to support simply by becoming aware of who their local independent papers were and recognising that local businesses are being promoted rather than na onal adver sers.

“We have to remember that the budgets for many of our local businesses is very modest. They need to adver se so that we are aware of their goods and services. Facebook ads just don’t cut it. When you see a local business advert you can see the passion behind it. The owner, their family, their employees. They are our community. They are us. This is why they are given preference in our news feeds. Without those businesses we have nothing. No goods, no services and no community”.

Gadfly 191 By Robert Macklin The Labor Party at the federal level is playing an ever more dangerous game. As the election looms their plan, apparently, is to seek the best of both Vol 16 September 15th 2017 political worlds – a public fed up with a Coalition government that’s been in power Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 since 2013; and an Opposition with such a small policy target that their opponents have very little to rail against. As they constantly tell us, they’re saving their big announcements for the campaign. They’re hoping that by then Scott Morrison will be such damaged goods that a majority of the electors will be ready to vote for the alternative. All they’ll need is a range of attractive, broadly costed policies on climate change, aged care, early childhood and the gig economy and they’ll romp in. In the leadership stakes, Anthony Albanese will be a combination of trusted helmsman and primus inter pares in a team of engaging and competent women and unexceptionable blokes. It’s a natural response to the disaster that was the 2019 ‘miracle’ election that Morrison turned into a presidential contest against a Bill Shorten staggering beneath a policy overload and a reputation as a political hack. But will it work? On the one hand, Scott Morrison does seem to be following the Labor scenario. His stumbles include the arrogant use of government grants in sporting facilities and parking lots to feather the nests of Coalition and marginal electorates; ham-fisted, if not offensive, handling of the Brittany Higgins and Christian Porter imbroglios; climate change hesitancy; the bungled vaccine rollout; and the Afghanistan disaster. They must be thinking, ‘Wacko, we got that part right.’ But that’s not the whole Morrison story. By election time, the rollout will be complete and he’ll be claiming success. Memories are short, so the early mistakes will have faded away. And unless his polling has reached the point of no return, he has all the powers of incumbency to rebuild his image. (On the other hand, Peter Dutton has unresolved prime ministerial ambitions and a parcel of rightwing votes in his pocket, so Morrison will be keeping to the straight and narrow.) The Labor strategists’ big problem is ‘Albo’ as a figure of national – let alone international – stature. He’s obviously a pleasant enough bloke with a good political brain and well-earned aura of decency. But the simple truth is that we barely know him beyond his growing up in council housing with his single Mum. Google says he and his former wife, Carmel Tebbutt have a son Nathan at Uni and Albo has a warm relationship with another woman since the breakup. But that does little to fill in the blanks. He’s made few criticisms that have hit home. His one Covid initiative – the $300 incentive payment – really didn’t fly. Those ‘headline speeches’ passed virtually without notice. And the pandemic has prevented his female ‘team’ - with the exception of Katy Gallagher – from making any impact. By now, he can’t appear anywhere without being hit with demands for Labor’s ‘roadmap’ to reach zero emissions, the remake of aged care, tax reform, relations with China, refugee policy and sundry others. Taken together, they’re far too much for the electorate to swallow in a single mouthful. The problem becomes ever more acute as Covid extends the period where political gatherings are verboten… except of course the press conferences that have the Premiers - and the PM - front and centre. There is probably a way around it. But that’s for the geniuses who created the dangerous game to figure out. It will be fascinating to watch them try. robert@robertmacklin.com

ILLNESS. - It is with sincere regret that we have to report the serious illness of Mr. R. N. Carden, the popular host of the Royal Hotel, who is suffering from an affec on of the throat. On the advice of Drs. Quilter and Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 Henry, who held a consulta on, the pa ent (if strong enough) will be taken to Sydney today where he will be placed in the hands of Sir Alexander McCormick. PRESENTATION. – In Mr. Anne s’ Hall at Mogo on Sunday last, 21st inst., the Salva on Army held a service, the leader being Captain Hill, of Milton. A er the service a presenta on was made to Miss Elsie Anne s, daughter of Mr.and Mrs. H. C. Anne s, who is leaving Mogo to become a nurse in the Salva on Army Bethesda Hospital, Melbourne. Mr. F. Barling, of Tomakin, who spoke in eulogis c terms of Miss Anne s and of her un ring work, assisted by her mother, in connec on with Sunday School at Mogo, on behalf of her many friends presented the depar ng guest with a handsome bible. Miss Anne s in a neat li le speech thanked all for their kindness and presenta on. NEW GARAGE. – Mr. A. H. Preddy, district agent for the Chandler and Cleveland Six cars, and one of our most energe c ci zens, has purchased from Mr. J. McKeon two allotments of land, opposite Kea ngs’ Hotel, on which he has commenced the erec on of an up-to-date motor garage and showroom. WEDDING. – At St. Saviour’s Cathedral, Goulburn, on Saturday, the wedding was celebrated of Mr. Albert Edward Lavis, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Lavis, of “Glenella,” Bateman’s Bay, to Miss Minnie Louisa Willis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James. J. Willis, of “Swansea,” Auburn Street, Goulburn……The future home of Mr. and Mrs. Lavis will be at Oakbranch, Bateman’s Bay. Many valuable presents, including cheques, were received by the bride and bridegroom. NERRIGUNDAH. –(Correspondent) Mining is very flat in Nerrigundah. Our only hopes were in the dredge doing some good; now it is closed down, the manager, Mr. Roberts having returned to Sydney. An elderly lady named Miss Brice, of Wagonga, died at Cadgee on Saturday last. BATEMAN’S BAY. – (Correspondent) The Tennis Tournament is to be started on Saturday – the handicapping of the members was done by Messrs. Calcra , Ladmore, and A. Perry. The S.S. Bermagui on her last trip brought a 16-ton tug for the Starch Factory, which we understand is to shortly enlarge its opera ons. Our local Senior Constable Johnstone took up his du es on Wednesday last a er a three months’ leave, the result of a severe a ack of pneumonia. He has had a severe me and judging by appearance should s ll be on the invalid list, but the call of duty is impera ve. Extracted from the Moruya Examiner by the Moruya and District Historical Society Inc. h ps://www.mdhs.org.au Bored at home with Covid restric ons then why not try some of our simple Moruya Jigsaws h ps://www.jigsawplanet.com/wlsgb/moruya

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Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

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Dear Beagle Editor, I read with interest the views and concerns of new community group ‘Dalmeny Ma ers’. Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 It needs to be stated that the comments and publicly issued publicity material is such a misrepresenta on of the truth. As a long- me Narooma/Dalmeny resident I think some of the public commentary of this group need to be addressed. This land and the 2 blocks privately owned have been marked as ‘urban expansion’ for well over 20 years in Councils current and recent LEP How does this group arrive at 200 homes for Lot 54, the biggest lot when a DA has not been lodged with council? Affordable housing would be considered in any DA that was considered by council….as it is a requirement Yes, the land is ‘Bush Fire’ prone, however any DA for subdivision subjects the developer to the ‘Planning for Bushfire’ rules and regula ons that require any lot must contain a ‘Building Envelope of the dwelling to be able to achieve a maximum of BAL 29 or less. Building costs for BAL 29 are NOT exorbitant and infact many new dwelling in the ESC are condi oned to be constructed at maximum of BAL29 Any subdivision now requires a full and complete Biodiversity Assessment to accompany the applica on. This study iden fies all the environmental issues such as endangered species, vegeta on, riparian zones and is reflected in the overall design of the subdivision. To make the comment it will be ‘Bulldozed’ is simply not true. I understand the emo on of some folks about this land being developed, but there is demand from young families for homes in this area. As a person who raised children here only to see them have to move away for work as they got older, I fully support controlled and sensible development. There is of course a simple solu on to this issue. Dalmeny Ma ers group should get together and buy the land otherwise be proac ve in how this may look and how it will shape the future community in the south of the shire. Concerned Resident

When Luck’s a Fortune I was watching another council vehicle drive past the other Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 day and thought, “Gees this must be a really successful council”. I mean, the amount of council vehicles on the roads is constant and that’s just the ones driving around, there would have to be even more parked. late model vehicles of every manufacture, utes, light trucks, heavy trucks, tractors, dual cab trucks, ride on mowers, shining pressed metal aluminium tool boxes, trailers of every shape and size, all in new or near new condi on. Now that’s the sign of an extremely successful opera on. I mean, just in the equipment alone, they’re in be er shape than most any other business in Australia, up there with the best in the world, probably. Just looking around there would seem to be more council vehicles on the road than any other company or business, be they local, state or interna onal. Have you ever wondered just how well run and profitable you’d need to be to maintain that high a level of assets and manpower, and the logis cs of it all. Any large business knows the most crucial factor for success is keeping everyone gainfully employed and ac ve. On a reasonable sized construc on site the logis cs of keeping up progress relies on efficiently matching manpower, materials and the machinery required, so that the workers always have work in front of them with the materials required ready and the tools on hand, in good working condi on. Project managers are the crucible and, even on a modest site, there would be a number of project managers. Our council has an indeterminate number of workers to fulfil du es across a broad spectrum of services that requires skills ranging from caring for people through to major construc on projects. To get an idea just look at the diverse range of services on council cars. Euro Transport, Eurowaste, Eurowater, Euroworks and the simple Eurobodalla Shire Council sign on the doors of a flo lla of different vehicles. The scope of our council is so much more than roads and rubbish nowadays and the abili es required to successfully run any opera on of comparable size are of the elite order. And by comparable I mean our council is one of the biggest opera ons in the shire. There is no other shire based company that comes within a bull’s roar of our shire in terms of manpower and assets. And to think only a couple of decades ago it was just another small country shire with a Shire Clerk and a small workforce, working out of a small single level building a couple of streets back from the main street and now look at them, the biggest employer in the shire, with the biggest turnover and the most assets of any locally based company and they’re leading the pack by the length of the straight with clear daylight coming second. And the truly marvellous part is……. they’re just public servants. Albeit university trained in their jobs as town planners, engineers, health officers, sanita on inspectors and yet, unbeknownst to anyone, they just happen to be great, great business people who can build a business empire where there used to be a municipality

office. It’s a wonder they haven’t been approached by other big businesses and corpora ons to replicate their success with them. That sort of ability is in high demand all over the world. Any service based interstate, mul -na onal corpora on would love to know their secret of success and, I reckon, they’d be prepared to pay a pre y penny to get them on board. Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 You know, they probably have been approached. They’re probably just so dedicated to making this the best shire ever, that you could possibly imagine, that they are probably turning down offers like a model at a foo e doo. But, I guess, we’ll never know. Try as they might, nobody has been able to work out how they do it and that’s probably due to that “commercial in confidence” stuff. You know the old, “We can’t tell you because then you’d know” argument that they use so o en. And you’d want to be profitable, given how big council is…….the biggest employer in the shire. Any ques ons of stymying the growth of businesses in the shire or whether that impressive growth was a result of owning the marketplace that they have created, are treated with a knowing smile……..knowing that you’ll never know, and smiling about that. I was pondering this conundrum when reminiscing with one of the old boys about our wonderful scenic path around Tuross. You can walk from Kyla Hall along the foreshores of Coila lake un l you reach Coila beach where you can follow it past every beach in Tuross all the way down to One Tree Point and, if you keep going, you follow the foreshores of Tuross Lake un l you get to Lavender Bay, and the boat ramp and the play area and, finally, to famous Tuross eateries on the foreshore of the lake. The walkway is a tremendous example of a wonderful asset built by the community from funds raised by the community from an idea that came from within the community to the clear and obvious benefit of the community. I was in charge of the group who did the final sec ons along past the old council caravan park and along Nelson Parade to Jellicoe Road. A lot of the blokes had been in the gangs that did from One Tree to Kyla oval, the originals, led by erstwhile old local tradesmen, wizen elders and volunteers from local volunteer organisa ons like the RFS, the SES, the Progress Associa on et al. A bit of background, long story short, the idea was floated for a concrete path along the forefront, an op shop was started at the shops that raised the funds that enabled the laying of hundreds of square metres of concrete path by a dedicated mob of, basically, old blokes and their missuses. Laying concrete is not easy. It is, literally, back breaking work and the moaning and bitching was only subdued with beer and sandwiches and mateship. And that, li le kiddies, is how we made friends back in the day. It was a way to make a mark on your community and, in a very real way, become a part of your community and its history. So, as I was saying, our li le group was merrily laying our way along Nelson Parade and everybody was enjoying themselves and my appren ces were ge ng a solid grounding in the art of concrete laying when things started to go all herky jerky, you know, stop start and a bit all over

the place. We were doing what we had been doing for quite some me and weren’t much thinking past that, so it came as a surprise when council announced that Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 we couldn’t possibly do another meter of path without some form of OH&S. How we had survived thus far was a modern day miracle and, without further ado, we needed to do a site induc on, a site orienta on, a site safety check list and work method statements for each and every single one of us. This was met with mirth and merriment by the chaps and a few whispered…..I suppose council has to look like their doing something….smirk, smirk. An hour later the smirking had receded to farthest recesses of our minds as council officers read from an endless pile of laminated A3 sheets of endless warnings and safety precau ons to be taken, each different sheet reitera ng what the previous sheet had said plus one or two other new warnings and precau ons. Finally we were allowed to start working, which we did and council le as soon as the last laminated A3 sheets was thrown in the back of the council car. We all did a good amount of work and le with a “we’ll see you all tomorrow” saluta on. To be met the next day by council, with the same pile of A3 sheets, to go through the whole procedure in an exact replay of day before and no less, again. This was for our own good, we were told, as council had a well-earned reputa on for having the gold standard OH&S system and……we clearly had Alzheimer's. Just over an hour later we started and were a bit perplexed…..for a while, but then the fun and camaraderie took over again. Good day’s work, see you tomorrow. Which was also ground hogs day (this me everyone’s looking for Bill Murray, not just me). But ya go a do what ya go a do and we finished the sec on over the creek’s bridge winding up to the car park as the council con nued it’s helpful, almost parental, guidance in an cipa ng every possible, foreseeable, imaginable problem that may arise from our endeavours. Long story short. The next problem to arise from council was…..we now needed traffic control, even though we were now the furthest from the road we had ever been. By traffic control council meant a set of mobile traffic lights at each end of the 200 metre long stri Vulcan Street Moruya p of pathway we were doing. We managed to talk them down to a council lollipop man, who arrived late (sorry got held up) and who was called away less than an hour later a er having been told we needed to pack up as we couldn’t work without traffic control. We managed to convince him that we should be able to turn a lollipop a full one hundred and eighty degrees in the unlikely event that in the middle of winter, in the middle of the week, a car might appear. Old mate and I were musing over the Monty Python-ish memories of how our community project had been surrep ously and slowly choked out and then moved to the sidelines. There was the delay as council revised the engineer approved/common prac se details of the reo and concrete strength……oh and then we had to buy everything through council so there was a delay as they formulated project specific order forms and instructed us on their use……..and then there was the delay while council engineered the requirements for any retaining walls. And that was basically it. The boy’s had been on hold for months now and had wandered off to other projects while we waited. Although I’d like to, I really couldn’t begin to tell you of the joys of ringing council every week, talking to, usually, a different person each me, having to reprise the en re tale of the project and where we’re up to and what we’re wai ng on and then hanging on the phone for the longest of mes wai ng for whoever, to find out what was going on and let’s not talk about the mes when the line was inadvertently cut off.

There was a small rally amongst the fellas when council announced it had the details for the retaining walls ready and there was going to be a public exhibi on of the plans at the boat ramp at Lavender Bay. Everyone gathered around to view the plans and realised the plans were generic ones and were not specific to our walkway, which started a bit of grumbling. What’s the problem, the nice council man inquired? The plans are Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 generic and not specific to our project, came the answer. But they are, he assured us, but they’re not, we replied, what makes you think that, he politely asked…..the tle on the plans that read Generic Plans for Retaining Walls, we said. Oh he says with a laugh, looking at the tle block, that’s an oversight, the plans were derived from a template and just forgot to change the tle block, no biggie, it’s ready to rock and roll. Oooookaay we say, quite a few of us read plans as a profession and, well, the tle block wasn’t the only giveaway, but, okay, great. A week later having gone through the painful phone process we are informed, by an uninformed council chap that the plans were in the process of being drawn up. But they are ready to go, we saw them last week. Oh no replies the uninformed one, they were just generic plans, we’re drawing up site specific ones now. That pre y much did it. A couple of wasted phone calls on progress with the plans enquires and then, a few months down the line, unannounced, a large council crew with all sorts of capital equipment started work on the rest of the pathway. The council threw a bit of a sausage sizzle at the comple on of the pathway so the community could marvel. The lord mayor was there, as were numerous council dignitaries and workers and not one volunteer was contacted or invited, which saved a lot of explaining….like which was which, and, who did what, kind of stuff. Which is why I was musing at the unbridled geniuses in council who can take over a community project, with all council’s associated overheads and costs and s ll be a be er deal for the community than a motely group of volunteers, who had successfully completed two-thirds of the project using free labour and charity discounted materials from suppor ve local businesses. You can see what I mean, can’t you. The genius of being able to pounce on community work in order to give Council blokes something to do and, at the same me, moun ng a case that this was for the good of the community, is pure genius. Just as well too, Council’s got lots of blokes to keep occupied, a er all they wouldn’t pay the big boss the sort of money they pay him if he had less men. The biggest trick is keeping the largest council workforce (per head of popula on) in the state occupied and, if that means taking over volunteer community projects, then that’s a good th Vulcan Street Moruya ing. And what’s good for the big bosses is good for the council and what’s good for the council is good for the community, whether they realise it or not. And that’s the problem that our council execu ve have. They are, clearly, financial and business geniuses, building an empire upon shi ing sands, able to disable most of the community volunteer organisa ons and unable, or unwilling, to spend any me explaining their success to ratepayers who, and let’s be frank, don’t have the intellectual wherewithal to understand it even if they did. But, hey, that’s the way the system works, the success of which shows up as your rates……amongst the highest per head of popula on in the state. Michael Johnson Tuross Head

Reading—A beer with Baz

From the box labelled ‘school stuff’, Bazza picked out an old school report, read the comments, raised an eyebrow and half chuckled. He dug further into the box, found a yellow Bic ballpoint pen, some Derwent colour pencils and even an old slope card.

His wife, Fran, caught him eyeing the fridge.

‘Barry, if you’re not going to throw out some of that stuff from last century, at least take the dog for a walk. Gladys has grounded us, but she will let you go for a walk. Put a mask on and don’t put the pedometer on the dog. It doesn’t fool anybody.’

Bazza sighed and returned to his box of school memories and pulled out an old diary from the 1970’s, stretched back into the lounge chair and opened to a random entry.

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

‘There is no point in becoming an astronaut. Neil Armstrong has buggered that up. No one can even remember the name of the second person who walked on the moon so what’s the point of being…… like…. the eighty first. Nah, I reckon I’ll become a Greek. I reckon the only thing wrong with being a Greek was the name calling. Anyhow, our family is pretty good friends with other Greek families. I don’t like looking like everybody else. White skin and sunburn in summer. My Greek mate just goes darker and no amount of coconut oil seems to change my skin colour. ‘Its good being a Greek in summer, mate’ he says. He talks about Greek Gods and I try to match with convict heritage. Nope, being Greek is the go. I have a boring biblical name. Lots of bloody JOHNS out there and the bloody Americans use the name for toilets in their movies. I’d trade for a SPIRO or MARIO any day. I chose LUKE as my confirmation name but my parents kept calling me JOHN. My Greek mate advised, get a nickname like ‘John the Greek.’ It did not ring true. I like Greek food a lot. Dolmades and taramasalata versus Vegemite crusts at recess. My mate never swaps. His mum has started packing me some of the good gear as well, so I reckon I am on the way to becoming a Greek. My Greek mate has become somewhat perplexed with all this trying to be a Greek stuff. He says “We spend all our life trying to be like you. You should speak to my old man about being a Greek.” His old man says it’s not always fun being a Greek in Australia. You had to learn English and even if you were good at it, you had an accent for life. He told me our family was a bit different. Not all Australians liked Greeks being Greek in Australia when all Australians should be Australians in Australia. In fact, he told me some stuff that has made me think twice about being a Greek. I am giving up trying to be a Greek This new kid from Vietnam has joined our school. Crikey, what a bloody adventure he has been through; surviving war and then open seas in a tiny boat to escape. Bloody hell. Why would I want to become a Greek, when I could become a refugee?’ Bazza grinned and turned the page. ‘I’ve decided to become a bushranger……’

Lionel Shriver, Borough Press, 2021, ISBN 978-0-00-845856-0, 266pp Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Lionel Shriver is possibly as well known for the controversy Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 that she s rred up some years ago following her remarks at the 2016 Brisbane Writers’ Fes val. At the risk of wrongly summarising things, she cri cised the argument that writers – most par cularly white writers – are guilty of “cultural appropria on” by wri ng from the point of view of characters from other cultural backgrounds. Her point, I think, was that it is the work of a fic on writer to - as she put it - “step into other people’s shoes and try on their hats.” One cri cism of Shriver’s speech was that it was “a celebra on of the unfe ered exploita on of the experiences of others, under the guise of fic on”. My purpose here is not enter any debate about the tricky subject of cultural appropria on but to review a book by a writer who is not afraid of s cking her neck out. I recall hearing her talking about Donald Trump of whom she had a pre y low opinion. Apart from thinking that he was suffering from demen a she also remarked that would have been “too far-fetched” to appear in a novel a year ago and that writers would have been cri cised for not inven ng a “more beguiling demagogue”. I was reminded of this because apart from reading Shriver’s latest novel Should we stay or should we go I have read a couple of recent books (see at the end of this review) about Trump driven by a prurient interest to understand the workings of a man so obviously peculiar. Whatever I may or may not think about Shriver’s views on cultural appropria on, I pre y much share her views on Trump. But, to the subject: Shriver’s latest novel, Should we stay or should we go. I would like to have been a fly on the wall for the debate about whether the tle should have a ques on mark. I am quite sure that in the relevant literary halls of power there were many heated debates on this important ques on. The “no ques on mark” party won the day. It s ll seems odd. Shriver is American and shares her me between London and Brooklyn. Should we stay or should we go is set, mainly, in London and Shriver manages to insert several colloquialisms that are definitely Bri sh. She has her characters ringing one another up, she has prevailed upon her editor to spell the verb to prac se with an “s” … these, to my mind, are important details not the least because her two main characters are very definitely English - and I mean English and not Bri sh. Cyril and Kay Wilkinson are in their 50s as the book opens. She has been a nurse and he a doctor, she is a bit of a free spirit while he is a frustrated socialist. They decide that they will kill themselves when Kay turns 80. They have a logic for doing this: Kay’s father was a vic m of demen a, and his death was proof to Cyril that old people hand around too long and consume medical and social resources that could be be er directed