I loved the whole adventure: meeting the famous director Bob Brooks and the actor Norman Lumsden (a veteran opera singer) playing JRH, and having the house transformed with Victorian whatnots, antimacassars, cache-pots, jardinières – and wall-mounted glass cases containing prize trout.

Michael Russell, who has died in Norfolk aged 86, was a publisher, wit and author, especially notable in the latter capacity for writing the spoof memoir Fly Fishing: Memories of Angling Days (1991), by J R Hartley. Scott Eyman of The Palm Beach Post noted the book's humor as "intensely British", though he said it struggles to maintain the joke in its second half. He described the sudden tonal shift of the book's ending, featuring a ghost and a drowning, as disconcerting, though calling the ending itself well-done. [8] Mike Ellis, writing for the Indianapolis News, said that the book succeeds as a parody of "the tradition of genteel autobiographies about English country life". However, as a fishing book, Ellis observed that the book provides little to experienced fly fishers, "except some insight into British fly patterns and famous British trout and salmon streams". [5] Sidney Vines, writing for The Spectator, described his experience with the book positively, and said he was unsurprised at its popularity. [9] Legacy [ edit ] In 2001 Lumsden contracted shingles and died from subsequent infection at the age of 95. [9] After his death the "Fly Fishing by JR Hartley" advert was rebroadcast as a tribute.When people participate in the search, the ads are no longer confined to promotions, they become culture makers, as the original ad did. And, like Michael Russell did with his book, it can lead to new business development opportunities. The factual book used the knowledge and expertise of experienced anglers to promote their techniques, tips and locations. A follow-up book was also published in 1992, called J R Hartley Casts Again - More Memories of Angling Days. So, who was the actor that portrayed J. R. Hartley so realistically in the famous advert? Norman Lumsden was a veteran singer and actor, who at 77 achieved national fame by playing the fly fisherman. Among these were two productions involving the Duke of Edinburgh: A Windsor Correspondence (1984) and Survival of Extinction (1989). Other notable works included Paul Theroux’s Sailing Through China (1983); and Diana Holman-Hunt’s The Artist and the Autocrat (1988), a biography of George and Rosalind Howard, Earl and Countess of Carlisle. After Oxford came National Service. Michael Russell was commissioned in the Blues and served in Cyprus, where for some time he fell seriously ill.

In 1952 Lumsden married Irene Palmer with whom he had one son. His wife was a soprano and during the 1950s they appeared in cabaret together, performing extracts from musicals at seaside resorts and London hotels. In 1967 Lumsden returned to the English Opera Group to create the role of Luka in William Walton's opera The Bear at the 1967 Aldeburgh Festival. [4] Later career [ edit ] Mead recalls the ad could have been quite different though. Abbott’s first script was for a book on European butterflies, with the second ad set to be about a man trying to buy his daughter a pony. But after doing some research he decided “butterflies and ponies were a bit too elitist”, so they instead settled on a book on fly fishing for the first ad and a father finding a bike for his son in the second, which aired in 1985. It was the publisher Roddy Bloomfield, then at Random House, who came up with the idea of making the fictional J R Hartley’s non-existent book a reality. And it was an additional inspiration that he should turn to his brilliant friend Michael Russell for the fulfilment of this plan.We can even target the mobile devices of people inside bookstores. Towards the end of the campaign we see the story’s closure: The supportive daughter figure hands J.R. his book on a Kindle Fire and he looks jolly happy. But then drops it in a river! The most wanted used books, according to Bookfinder". Los Angeles Times. 2011-08-26 . Retrieved 2018-01-19. Fly Fishing: Memories of Angling Days, also published as Fly Fishing by J. R. Hartley, is a fishing book by British angling author Michael Russell under the pseudonym of J. R. Hartley. It was published by Stanley Paul in 1991 and was intended to capitalise on the popularity of the J. R. Hartley fictional character.

He performed at every cathedral in Britain, singing the bass solo in Handel's Messiah more than 200 times, including on a BBC recording marking the bicentenary of Handel's death. In his early career, Mr Lumsden was one of Benjamin Britten's favourite singers, with the composer writing the role of Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring with his bass voice in mind. With their first child imminent, they decided to leave London, taking on a 21-year lease of The Chantry, a fine house in Wilton, near Salisbury, at a peppercorn rent.

Changing perceptions

He performed the bass solos in Handel's Messiah more than 200 times, including on a BBC recording to mark the bicentenary of the composer's death, and sang in every cathedral in Britain. Fly fishing remains a much-loved sport and leisure activity today, with anglers enjoying its challenges - not to mention the spectacular views, and the peace and quiet that a day by the river can provide. The book, at once funny, knowledgeable and poignant, sold 130,000 copies before Christmas. There were two less successful sequels: J R Hartley Casts Again (1992) and Golfing (1995).