I was delighted to see that Channel 5 were screening a new TV series of what has become a twentieth century classic, penned by Yorkshire vet Alf Wight better know to the world as James Herriot. I thoroughly enjoyed episode one and loved seeing placed that hold dear to my heart. I will be watching the rest of the series and hope that with the wealth of content in eight books, written under the pen name of James Herriot between 1970 and 1992, I hope that there will be further series for my personal entertainment. We visited the Herriot museum in Thirsk North Yorkshire a couple of years ago and loved every minute and learned more about the man behind the books than I think that I had ever known.
Alf wight had a reputation during the sixties of telling the stories of his life working as a junior vet, straight out of college in Glasgow and people kept telling him to pen his stories, for a long time Wight believed that nobody would be interested, in the same way as happens with a lot of published authors , his work was rejected until St Martin’s Press in new York published his first book in 1970. The name James Herriot was catapulted into the hearts and minds of ordinary people around the world. I remember my mum saying that she had to stop reading the book in public places, because she couldn’t help laughing out loud at some of the stories. Alf Wight, despite being a world-renowned author and a very wealthy man, continued to work in his veterinary practice in Thirsk (Darrowby in his books) until he retired in 1989, because at heart, he was a vet.
I am glad that the television schedulers have recognised the importance of entertaining their audience, because I believe, that particularly at times like this, we need to be entertained, not shocked, appalled and scared, but helped to feel good about the world. Alf Wight never lost sight of his core purpose, to heal sick animals and I think that at this point in the life of the Church, we too need to understand what we are about, worshipping God, healing souls and spirits, sharing the Gospel of Christ and being the light of Christ in a darkened world.