100 people gathered in the impressive new Mathematics Institute to celebrate launch of Oxford Castaways 3 (OC3) and to say farewell to the castaway series. Ten years ago I came up with the idea of a mythical desert island called Oxtopia. The first feature appeared in Oxfordshire Limited Edition in January 2008 and the last at the end of 2016.
Why do I think the series has been so popular? Being a citizen of the world is important to me and what I have appreciated the most about the series is the diversity of the people I have interviewed. The thirty castaways in Oxford Castaways 3 were born in five continents. (The series has connected to six continents if you count Roger O’Neill and Helen Peacocke who worked in Australia.)
In OC3 you can read the stories of Lady Fiona Carnarvon who is mistress of the real Downton Abbey and of Icolyn Smith whose parents were subsistence farmers in Jamaica, Dennis Harrison went from a council estate to Christ Church College and Legs Larry Smith – so named by George Harrison- whose life took him from East Oxford to LA and tea with Mae West dancing in a Tutu for Elton John along the way.
The proceeds from Oxford Castaways 3 go to Sobell House and can be bought from their shops and from www.sobellhouse.org or www.oxfordfolio.co.uk
Here’s a short film about Oxford Castaways 3: View Film