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I have never read Tom Dryburgh's Diaries. Supposed to be excellent. One for the book token, I think
There are many fabulous stories surrounding Tom Driberg. It’s no surprise given that this Lancing old boy managed to distinguish himself in so many fields: journalism, leftwing politics and cottaging. By far the best story (and one which may even be true) has him fellating Labour party icon Nye Bevan after a bibulous lunch, Bevan responding with the immortal cry : “tell me a story Tom, tell me a story”. The Labour Party’s traditional leftists appear in a whole new light after this.Like any true minor public school man, Driberg managed to balance a fizzing mass of contradictions with the constant threat of scandal throughout his life. He worked for the Daily Express as a gossip columnist whilst a member of the Communist party. He later became a left wing Labour MP who owned a mansion and was disgusted by the vulgarity of many of his party comrades. And, throughout his career, he defied conventional morality (and the more puritanical elements in his own party) through his prodigious appetite for casual gay sex.It seems unlikely that his Essex constituents would have approved of his behaviour had they known, so (like some contemporary closeted politicos) he took the precaution of getting married. Otherwise he remained gloriously indiscreet throughout his life. Although Driberg avoided any public scandal during his lifetime, it appears that the Kremlin was able to blackmail him into becoming a KGB agent – codename Lepage – after one blowjob too many in Moscow. He probably didn’t give them much useful information. He never achieved any real power and apart from a self-aggrandising year as chairman of the Labour party was kept largely in the background.His autobiography, Ruling Passions, gives a racy account of his sexual behaviour but, alas, he died before he could finish the work and there are still many unanswered questions about this extraordinary man. To be honest, few people really care whether or not he was a Russian spy. What we want to know is: did he really try to seduce both Jim Callaghan and Mick Jagger?
Winston Churchill said of him, "Tom Driberg is the sort of person who gives sodomy a bad name."[
I hope so, if not there is Francis Wheen's biog or many other books to tremblingly handle
Ahem...http://www.alibris.com/
