Communicating strategically
When working as a civil servant, Jenny was seconded to No 10 for a few weeks to work in the Strategic Communications Unit. Her job was to assist Paul Brown, the Head of the Unit, to set up a briefing grid for Tony Blair (who was then Prime Minister) so he would be aware of all the Bills, White Papers, Green Papers etc going through Parliament for the next two weeks.
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She explains:
"Every Wednesday, I attended a meeting at which representatives from all the Government Departments were present (e.g. Department of Health, Home Office, Department of Culture and Sport etc.) I then had to read all the relevant material, make short summaries and flag up anything the opposition and / or media were likely to 'pounce on'. I sat next to TB's speechwriter who gave me tips on how to construct speeches.
"It was spring, and I walked to work over Westminster Bridge each morning with lines from Wordsworth's poem running through my head: Earth has not anything to show more fair/ Dull would he be of soul who could pass by/ A sight so touching in its majesty...
"During that time, my second collection, Fathom, was published by Oxford Poets/ Carcanetm and we had the launch at Foyles Bookshop in London, introduced by Bernard O'Donoghue. All my family and friends were there, including Michael and Helen Palin. A memorable time in my life!"
When I was a Dream Babe...
Above, the poster for Jenny Lewis and Angela Strange's single, Bring it to me. This - with a further track by Jenny and Angy, and Train Song developed by Vashti Bunyan and Alasdair Clare from 17 Pink Sugar Elephants which was co-written by Jenny and Vashti - features on the Folk rock and Faithfull CD, recently reissued by RPM records in their 'Dreambabes' series; and yes, that's Jenny on the back cover!
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Treading the boards
"When I was at the Ruskin School of Art with Vashti Bunyan," says Jenny, "I did some acting. One production was He Who Gets Slapped by Leonid Andreyev. I played the part of Zinaida the Lion Tamer and had to crack a whip while smoking Senior Service cigarettes (the whip got tangled round my legs and the cigs stuck to my bottom lip...). These two photos show me in my velvet costume!"
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