It?s impossible not to love Stephen Fry, even if he does occasionally put his foot in it, fly into a rage, disappear from Twitter then re-appear, sometimes with an apology attached.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in the 2,000-strong audience at the Bath Forum listening to him entertain with stories from his school days. This was part of his promotional tour for his new book, The Fry Chronicles. I?d never really heard him do impressions before, but he treated us to a few that evening, the most memorable being his Rowan Atkinson as he delighted us with memories of his time on Blackadder. After the talk, Stephen personally signed a copy of his book for everyone who wanted one. That impressed me, since the queue for a signed copy seemed to consist of every single one of the 2,000 attendees. At least that?s what it felt like as I battled (yes, battled!) to get out of the building against the rising tide of fans forming a queue in the opposite direction.
I must admit to not having the will power to wait in a queue that long to get my book signed ? mainly because I hadn?t brought one. Why? I?d seen the myFry iPhone app the day before at just �7.99, as I had been reviewing it for the launch issue of the excellent Tap! magazine (on sale 25 November ? look out for it!). Billed as ?a bold and beautiful, innovative and thoroughly fun way to explore The Fry Chronicles? I thought that would be a better deal than the hefty hardback at �9.50 or the iBooks or Kindle version, both at �12.99. How wrong I was! It uses a peculiar navigation system to encourage you to drop in and out of different chapters, rather than read the book in the order the author intended ? from start to finish, in other words. It?s most unsatisfying.
If you want a cheaper way to read The Fry Chronicles then I?d recommend the audiobook for just �7.95� and give the myFry experiment a miss. Sorry Stephen, but it?s not going to catch on.
As his most recent blog post points out, the latest silliness over his last interview seems to be a bit of a fuss about nothing, fuelled mainly by his temporary resignation (again) from Twitter. To be honest, I only heard about it because he had disappeared from Twitter, causing the usual media frenzy. The irony is that if he hadn?t resigned from Twitter so publicly then I think nobody would have really noticed this particular storm in a teapot. I certainly wouldn?t have.
The upshot is that Stephen has now drawn a line under all further print interviews/profile pieces, no matter how small the publication or how deserving the cause. It seems that one rotten apple has spoiled the barrel for everyone. And as the editor of a specialist magazine covering a subject Mr Fry holds dear to his heart (Apple), I?d beg him to reconsider. We ran a small profile piece on Stephen Fry a few years ago (issue 162, December 2005). It took regular MacFormat writer Craig Grannell a long time to get through to him, but the weeks ? nay, months ? of pestering finally paid off and he graced us with a few short words on his love for the Mac and all things Apple. I still remember the buzz the team got because we had Stephen Fry interviewed in the mag that issue. It was such a thrill for all of us, and his interview was, of course, both hilarious and insightful. In fact, I just dug out a copy and scanned it in for you to download (apologies for my rough and ready scanning!)
I understand Stephen Fry?s disdain for certain quarters of the national press, but I really hope he doesn?t stop doing these little pieces for specialist publications in the future, and I?d implore him to reconsider. In the world of technology, well-respected celebrities ? especially well-respected celebrities like Mr Fry, who actually know what they?re talking about ? are few and far between, and provide a touch of glamour to the magazine and a huge amount of pleasure to our readers.
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