Well having read all of his books and followed many debates about this
enigma of a man, I was wondering what thoughts any regular
rec.boats.cruising members had about the revelations provided by
Anthony Dalton in his new biography of Arthur (tristan) Jones, Wayward
Sailor.

If Anthony is to be believed, and I see no reason not to, then Tristan
despite being a simple mortal with many faults, was never the boy or
man he claimed he was, from his birth to his last adventure in
Thailand before his death.

I personally thoroughly enjoyed all his books, even Aka (which some
didn't). But now having read Anthony's account, the excitement has
dulled. Tristan had been the hero that Boys Own books are written for.
Yes, he sailed and wrote books, the evidence is there, but he also
deliberately lied about his many adventures. Many authors do that of
course, but Tristan tried to convince us that his adventures where
true.

But apart from that Anthony and others now paint a more unsavoury
picture of the man, who was a loner and often anti-social and above
all else was always determined to get his own way against anyone who
got in his way come hell or high water.

Yes I always believed he was an a bit of an incorrigible rough, but
this expose of the man leaves me feeling 'let down' not just for
myself but for the many youngsters that looked up to his spirit of
adventure and to those that admired his support of the disabled, that
now appears to be more talk than action!

Tristan may have often felt that the world had let him down in some
way, but I feel he let us down too in the process.

andrew