Walsall, my North Americans cousins, is Britain’s version of Cleveland but without LaBron James. Walsall really hasn’t got much going for it. It’s not pretty and its once-famous manufacturing industry has long since seen better days. A few years ago, out of nowhere, Walsall suddenly opened an amazing art gallery that stunned art fans around the country….because it was very good and it was in Walsall.
However, Walsall won’t honour its most famous son - Jerome K Jerome, author of Three Men in a Boat, a book that remains eternally popular with our customers at least. The Daily Telegraph reports.
In Three Men, Jerome’s cast of elegant layabouts, enjoying lives of leisure, may seem outmoded and elitest, but to most on the streets of Walsall, the reality is not so complex: they have simply never heard of him.
“You what?” asks Kate Jackson, who works at The Bike Shop in the city centre. “What is he? An actor?”
“Isn’t he that guy who…” flounders accountant Rajeev Patel, before admitting: “Nope. Sorry – never heard of him.”
How can you have never heard of Jerome K Jerome? His book is legendary and his name is unforgettable. It’s not an ordinary name like Dan Brown - it’s an extraordinary name.
