Originally Posted by
researchwriter
I'm very happy to learn that Mr. Whittington Egan is alive and well and must apologise if my earlier post sounded like a criticism of his work. I quite agree that he is a hugely important figure, highly influential in his field and an excellent writer.
The elusiveness or sources I was referring to is something that has cropped up recently during my researching a piece on Spring Heeled Jack where I came across some data from one of Mr. Whittington Egan's publications which didn't quite fit. On the whole I think he treats the supernatural accounts which he writes about much more as ghost stories and a bit less seriously than his historical stuff. That said, he's a good writer and can get away with it; he makes it a pleasure to read. However, from the point of view of myself researching a ghost book, some of the data is slightly lacking. Not really a criticism at all, just me moaning about me book being hard really. Sorry.
Hi researchwriter
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As noted in the Wikipedia entry on Mr Whittington-Egan, he was for some thirty years or so a Fleet Street journalist. I would suggest that in that case, his writing to some extent in terms of features and even his books were influenced by the need to tell a good and enthralling story. So yes I should say that he probably accepted the ghost stories at face value because he knew they would interest his readers. In his crime writing, such as his book on American actor Philip Yale Drew, accused of the murder of a Reading tobacconist, he tends to be much more careful of his facts and his analysis thereof.
All the best
Chris
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