OTIS REDDING IS DEAD

T U E S D A Y,  1 2  D E C E M B E R

It’s AWFUL: Otis Redding is dead. Pam told me when I got in, I could hardly believe it when I heard. He was killed on Sunday; his private plane crashed. He was 26. To think what else he might have done in his lifetime, he’d done so much already. I bet Carla Thomas is terribly upset about it. Pam said she practically cried when she heard.

After lunch Lucy, Pam, Pat and Pat and me hurried like anything to get the train to Raynes Park Grammar School. It was drizzling so my fringe was revoltingly curly. Arrived just in time for Luther, and I can’t say I like the play at all. It’s dreadfully religious, but it was a marvellous production, especially considering it was a school one. There was one girl in it – Luther’s wife – and she was the only bad actor in the whole thing. Martin Luther really was marvellous, how he learnt his part I don’t know, and the ghastly chap who sold the indulgences was equally brilliant. They livened it up with all sorts of things such as dramatic lighting and music (taped of course).

The school is full of narrow corridors, and there are millions of paintings on show that the pupils have done themselves - a jolly good idea. Quite a lot of snazz boys compared with Glyn. 

“There was one really super one with longish hair and a droopy moustache.”

I fall automatically for anyone with a moustache! I don’t think he belonged to the school though. He looked at least 18.

Got the train to Epsom with Claire and Pat. There were these six ghastly girls in the carriage and we had fun listening to them. Sometimes it strikes me how different people are - I should think I’d have more in common with a Japanese person than 80% of the British public. Rang Ma, she fetched me outside the chip-shop.

Am quite distressed about Otis Redding.

"Can’t say I like the play at all, it’s dreadfully religious."