Doreen Valiente’s Official Biographer, Philip Heselton and his wife Hilary.
The day arrived, 21st February 2016, and we were all assembled in the basement of Treadwells Book Shop in London, for the book launch. The room was packed, and there was a great atmosphere.
The proceedings were opened by Ashley Mortimer who has without a doubt worked very hard to get the book into publication, this book is now the centre piece of the Centre For Pagan Studies ever growing publications.
Philip Heselton gave an insightful talk into the life of Doreen Valiente, which included the part about the mystery of Doreen’s activities during the Second World War.
Julie Belham-Payne took the floor and spoke for a short while, she called for a short silence to mark the death of her husband, John Belham-Payne, and then after thanks to all those who were involved in the publication of this magnificent book, she called for three cheers for Philip Heselton. A very enthusiastic applause followed.
Then a presentation by Christina Oakley-Harrington, proprietor of Treadwells Bookshop on witches and the media. The slide show was wonderful and it was really informative as well as enjoyable to see many images of sky clad witches, and some who just couldn’t go the whole way so wore a necklace as a token gesture!
After that a short film on the life of Doreen which included clips of Doreen actually speaking.
Following on, a reading of “Elegy for a Dead Witch” by Sarah Kay.
Then we were treated to Ginger Wine, cucumber sandwiches (with the crusts cut off), and Battenburg cake – all favourites of Doreen’s.
The book can be purchased online from our online store: http://www.shop.doreenvaliente.org/
and all profits support the Doreen Valiente Foundation.