I'm A Stranger Here Myself
In 1990, spurred on by the success of his writing and his marriage to the writer Aileen Armitage, Deric Longden made a momentous move to a foreign country. Huddersfield, in Yorkshire, with its distinctive manners and customs and its wealth of remarkable characters, would surely provide him with all the material he needed for his planned book, one of the great classics of travel literature. But two years later, when he sat down to write, the major events of everyday life kept intruding: the demands of a houseful of cats, the problem of getting the cooker repaired, the memories evoked by sorting through old clothes in the wardrobe . . .
Still, I'm a Stranger Here Myself is a travel book of a kind, where the most hilarious adventures can happen between the kitchen and the bathroom, and where a morning's shopping can provide enough anecdotes to last a lifetime. Once again Deric Longden demonstrates his genius for taking the most ordinary materials of life and transforming them with his own special brand of gentle, inspired humour.
Deric Longden began his writing and broadcasting career in the 1970s. His first book, Diana's Story, about the death of his first wife, was a bestseller. He followed this with Lost for Words, The Cat Who Came in from the Cold, I'm A Stranger Here Myself, Enough to Make a Cat Laugh, A Play on Words and Paws in the Proceedings. His first two books were adapted for television. Deric remarried in 1990, to the writer Aileen Armitage.
Deric Longden died in June 2013.