Wednesday 8 February 2012

Ben Shephard & Harry Moseley

Ben Shephard
As some of you may have read in my previous blog on the subject, I’m putting together a ‘book of celebration’ for Harry Moseley – an 11-year-old boy who raised tons of cash for cancer charities, despite suffering from an inoperable brain tumour himself.

Tragically, Harry died last October, but his legacy and light is still shining brightly…

This week, as part of the process of collecting material for the book, I had the great pleasure of interviewing a friend of Harry’s - British TV presenter, Ben Shephard (@BenShephard on Twitter) an excerpt of which you can watch here:


Not having more than glanced at a lit televisualisation machine for more than a decade, I didn’t know a great deal about Ben before meeting him, except for what I could find on searches of the Interland – specifically his Wikipedia page, news articles mentioning his friendship with Harry and a very powerful photograph of him alongside Duncan Bannatyne (of BBC’s Dragon’s Den) at Harry’s funeral.

Duncan Bannatyne & Ben Shephard
Meeting Ben, at Starbucks in Richmond, London, was quite an experience. From the moment my girlfriend, Jen (who volunteered to be videographer for the occasion), and I walked in, we felt in the company of an old friend – he has such a gracious, engaging and charming nature, not to mention a brilliant eloquence in vocal expression. It could have been a bit unsettling - from the perspective of this mumbling, bumbling oaf - if it weren’t for the fact he’s a top bloke.

Very quickly, as the interview progressed, I knew that we were recording something a bit special that was perfect for the book – the right mix of the poignant, tragic and laugh out loud funny that I’d hoped could be captured through these face-to-face meetings with Harry’s friends.

The love for Harry, that so many, many thousands of people share, shone from Ben as we talked – in his physical expressions and through his words. I was humbled, once again, by the tremendous energy of goodness that Harry has given all the people he touched, in life.

The book is progressing superbly well. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be interviewing five more of Harry’s friends – Steve Jacques, Michael Johnson, Ian Taylor and James & Ollie Phelps, and I’m delighted to say that next week, we’ll be talking to the mighty Chris Evans.

There’s still an awful lot to do, but it’s going to be done, and with passion.

I hope you can pop along to Harry’s website and buy one of his special bracelets, or perhaps make a donation:


And please follow Harry’s mother, Georgie, on Twitter at: 


Ben, Harry & Gary Lineker


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8 comments:

  1. Great work, Les. You're doing a wonderful job.
    eden

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  2. Great blog mate and a cracking interview with Ben. That's from the heart!! Loving your effort and work. I will be for sure a owner of your book when released.
    Brian @bcfcboz

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    1. Thank you, Brian! It was a true pleasure to talk to him. Such a nice guy. :-)

      Love what you're doing, too! Much more strenuous than drinking coffee. Hehe :-)

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  3. I never fail to be amazed how one short life can influence for good the lives of many people. A plop as a pebble drops into a still lake and the ripples continue to spread outwards. But this is no ordinary pebble, this is a pure diamond cut and shaped by life's hard experience — short though that life might have been. Harry's sparkle lives on and will continue to do so in all those people he has personally influenced, and through the ongoing charitable work that his name inspires.
    Well done, Les. I look forward to buying and reading the finished book.

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    1. Wonderful words, Gladys. Yep, there's something very special about the little guy and his legacy is going to be rumbling on for years to come. The interview process has been extraordinary.

      Thank you for your help, Gladys! :-)

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  4. Great Interview!

    Well done and I am sure his parents must be so proud of him.

    A tragic and sad loss.

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    1. Yeah, they are - although they'd rather have him here. Thanks for your comment!

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