by Wendy Mansfield
The title of this month’s meeting reflects the fact that this was Mark’s second visit to Wickhambrook. With such a vague introduction it was impossible to know what to expect from our speaker. As it turned out it seems the talk was as much a surprise to Mark as to us! He listened to the business part of the meeting first and then picked up on several items that had been brought up. Mark Mason has the sort of mind that is able to pick up and hold onto any number of fascinating facts and ideas and somehow weave them together into an entertaining and diverting discourse. This is reflected in several books he has published including a book about Post Codes, a book of Quiz Questions entitled “The Importance of Being Trivial, and a book entitled “Walking the Line” which has nothing to do with Johnny Cash! It describes how he walked the London Tube Lines overground and the interesting things and people he saw.
What followed was a series of anecdotes and stories all linked in some tenuous way to each other. One of the most easily remembered facts is that if there are 23 people in a room, two will almost certainly have the same birthday. Sure enough two of our ladies present had the same birth date! From there we had stories about George Harrison playing the ukulele, Gordon Banks and Pele, Rick Wakeman to Van Halen. Mark’s butterfly mind flitted from one topic to the next and it was hard to keep up with his train of thought but it made for a very enjoyable and entertaining evening!